Courageous Conversations in the Classroom Using Children’s Literature to Support Social and Emotional Growth, Positive Identity, and Mental Health

by Liang, Lauren Aimonette; Tao, Karen W.; Hosp, Michelle K.

• ISBN13: 9781462557332
• ISBN10: 1462557333
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-07-14
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

A complete classroom toolkit for grades 3–6, this book empowers teachers to leverage high-quality children's literature to boost emotional well-being, positive self-identities, social awareness, and civic engagement. Nine thematic instructional units are built around carefully curated book sets. Teachers are guided to spark meaningful conversations and foster empathy by exploring challenging themes like friendship, bullying, racism, disability, and mental health, through read-alouds and expert-designed activities. Step-by-step lesson plans include ready-to-use scripts, activities, and discussion prompts--all aligned with current academic and social and emotional learning standards. The Appendix features 30 reproducible and downloadable worksheets and handouts; the large-size format facilitates photocopying.

Author Biography

Lauren Aimonette Liang, PhD, is Associate Professor in Literacy in the Department of Educational Psychology and Director of the QUEST Program for first-year student success at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on the selection and educational use of children’s literature, particularly as related to student response and comprehension. Dr. Liang is the author or coauthor of many articles, chapters, and books, and has held leadership roles in international literacy and children’s literature organizations. She has served as a committee member or chair for several prestigious children’s literature awards.

Karen Weiwei Tao, PhD, is Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. She is a community-engaged scholar who teaches, conducts research, and facilitates workshops with a commitment to reduce disparities in access, service provision, and quality of mental health and education for historically marginalized groups. Dr. Tao collaborated with PBS Utah to produce an award-winning digital series, “Let's Talk.” As the host of this seven-episode series, she met with parents to discuss how to talk with kids about race, racism, and cultural differences. 

Michelle K. Hosp, PhD, is Senior Director of Assessment Innovations at Renaissance Learning and Associate Adjunct Professor of Special Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has over 30 years of experience working directly with students, educators, families, and researchers as a school psychologist, professor, and Director of the Iowa Reading Research Center. Dr. Hosp's research focuses on reading, assessments, and data-based decision making. She has published numerous articles, and book chapters on these topics.

Table of Contents

1. Welcome to the Conversation: An Introduction to Using Children’s Literature for Courageous Conversations
2. The Time to Start the Work Is Now: Let’s Get Started
I. Supporting Children’s Social and Emotional Growth Through Literature
Introduction
3. Bully or Bestie?: Talking About Getting Along
4. The Experience of Loss: Talking About Grieving
II. Supporting Children’s Understanding of Communities Through Literature
Introduction
5. It’s Not Fair! What Should I Do?: Talking About Civic Engagement and Taking Action
6. And Then We Had to Leave: Talking About Refugees and Communities
III. Supporting Children’s Positive Identity Formation Through Literature
Introduction
7. Where Are You From?: Talking About Race, Ethnicity, and Identity
8. I’m Me!: Talking About Gender and Identity
9. My Name: Talking About Ability and Identity
IV. Supporting Children’s Mental Health Through Literature
Introduction
10. Feeling Fragile: Talking About Worry and Anxiety
11. Losing Hope: Talking About Depression
Appendix of Reproducible Materials
References
Index