Terry Northcutt​
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  • Welcome
  • About
  • What is a Writing Coach
  • Memoir and Nonfiction
  • Writing Life Stories
    • Theme Roadmap Course
  • Fiction
  • Store
  • Blog
  • Contact
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Social Emotional Learning Library


This blog helps parents and teachers identify entertaining books for children that enable them to develop the following abilities:  



Identify feelings


Manage feelings


Develop healthy, rewarding relationships


Resolve interpersonal conflicts


Problem solve to make responsible decisions


​Understand the consequences of good and not so good decisions

​

"I'm Not a Little Kid Anymore:" What Does it Mean to be Grown Up?

1/30/2020

 
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In the next three posts, we will discuss one short story and two books by Jerry Spinelli, winner of the American Library Association’s Newbery Medal for his novel Maniac Magee. These works create opportunities to discuss questions about what it means to grow up and what happens when close friends have different ideas about what it means to grow up.
 
Questions for children to think about before reading the story Mongoose in The Library Card and the short novel Fourth Grade Rats:
 
What does it mean to be a baby or a little kid? What does it mean to be a big kid or to grow up?
 
If your best friend decided that growing up was about shoplifting, vandalism, and looking out for Number One which meant pushing little kids off swings and grabbing their twinkies, what would you do:
 
Would you go along with these things because your friend might ridicule you or maybe even stop being your friend if you didn’t? 
 
Would you try to talk your friend out of doing these things or suggest doing some other things?
 
What if your friend thought you were just being a “baby” and didn’t want to do the things you thought would be more fun? Would you stay friends with him? If not how would you make new friends?
 
After the summary of Mongoose and Fourth Grade Rats presented below you will find questions for children to consider after reading the selections.
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    Author

    ​​Terry Northcutt, Ph.D.
     
    I am a Psychologist with a love of entertaining and engaging stories that foster Social Emotional Learning.

    ​ I believe well written Children's Literature promotes rich discussions that enable  children and adolescents to acquire the knowledge and skills essential for rewarding relationships and responsible decision making. 

    It is a joy to read and share such stories with teachers, parents, and other adults who have a passion for Children's Literature.
    ​

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Terry Northcutt

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