From the Trainer’s Corner

By Miryam Jannol

They say that “character counts” but just how can you, the volunteer, contribute and teach the children you are working with about character building, morality and how to be a good citizen.

You can, in fact, influence the students by just recognizing the people in the stories you select or the poems you read. These “fictional” people can influence children almost as much as the real people who read the stories with them---YOU. In talking with children about the books they read use questions to help them think about the values of stories. For example:

Motivation: How did the people in the story act?
Did they have good or bad motives?
Who were the heroes? Why were they heroes?
Were there villains? Why were they villains?
Judgment: Did the people make good decisions? Why or why not?
Action: How did the people carry out their decisions? What kinds of steps did they take?
Were there obstacles? How did they respond to the obstacles?
Sensitivity: Did the people think about the welfare of others?
Did the story have a good or bad ending? For whom was it good?
For whom was it bad?
How could the story have turned out better for everyone?

Reading is the perfect tool to introduce these kinds of questions, engendering discussion about strong characters and good citizens.