| Book 4 The Heart of Goodness |
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Sample PDF
Lovingly selected, these famous and not-so-famous fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen are retold with a character education emphasis for today. From the perennially moving The Ugly Duckling and The Little Match Girl to the lesser known but delightful It’s Perfectly True and The Water of Life, the book takes teachers and students into a fantasy world that nevertheless contains the deepest truth: a heart of goodness is a treasure for life. The consequences of doing bad things out of a selfish character and the rewards of doing good things out of an unselfish character are vividly depicted. Fanciful illustrations add to the fun and poignancy of this treasure trove of meaningful fantasy adventures.
Chapter 17: It’s Perfectly True (Adapted from Hans Christian Anderson) Moral: Don’t gossip or listen to gossip. It was a Sunday morning, and the barnyard hens were roosting and cackling away. "I heard that Harriet Hen flew so awkwardly off the fence that she fell into the pig sty," said one hen. “That’s nothing,” said another. “I heard that Ronald Rooster forgot to wake up at sunrise and no one got up on time!” “Quiet down,” grunted mother pig to the cackling hens. “What’s all the noise about? Can’t you be quiet?” The horse neighed in agreement, “Those hens are always talking about someone. Big gossipers they are, indeed!”
Lesson PlanPlay the game of “Gossip.” Students stand in a line. You think of one or two simple sentences, such as, “I am going to the store to buy some rice and beans.” Then you whisper it into the ear of the first student, who then whispers what he or she heard to the next student, and so on. The last student says what he or she heard out loud. Usually the sentence gets very distorted by the end! After playing several rounds of “Gossip,” ask students if they learned anything from this game. |
