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=Promoting Altruism in the Classroom= Pages 220-224

What is altruism? Read the first paragraph of the article.

One theory about why people choose to perform altruist acts is that altruistic tendencies are biological. Another hypothesis comes from the social learning theory, which suggests that children learn to be altruistic through multiple social interactions. A final hypothesis discussed addresses cognition and internalized beliefs about helping others from a cognitive development theory basis.

Read/skim pages 220 and 221 to learn more.

So, how can educators increase students' altruistic behaviors? This article explores four (4) suggestions.
 * Increase student awareness of altruism and greed.
 * Increase empathic orientation.
 * Develop personal values about helping.
 * Increase self-perceived competencies for helping.

As a group, select one of the following activities:
 * 1) Brainstorm and organize a list of ways teachers can help children become aware of what constitutes altruism and the opposite of altruism-greed.
 * 2) Create a compilation of book titles or poems (include author and appropriate age group) that would be beneficial in providing experiences for students to explore emotions of characters, and to identify and recognize altruistic acts.
 * Ruby Bridges by robert coles (3-4th grade),
 * Bad Case of Stripes by david shannon (3-4th grade),
 * Charlotte's Web by EB white (4-5th grade),
 * Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (3-5th grade),
 * Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard and James Marshall (2-3rd grade),
 * Julius baby of the world by kevin henkes (2-3rd grade),
 * Chrysanthemum by kevin henkes (2-3rd grade)
 * To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (12-14 yr. old)
 * The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (5-8 years)
 * Pink and Say by Patricia Palocco (8-10 years)
 * Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (9-11 years)
 * James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (9-12 years)
 * Manic Magee Jerry Spinelli (9-12grades)
 * Stelluna (k-2 grades)
 * It's all right to be different (grade k-2)
 * The Kissing Hand (k-2)
 * Chrysanthemum (k-2)