Non-Fiction Book:
By: Debbie Reed Fischer. Published July 12, 2016 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers.
Content: Learning what it is like to have ADHD
Grade: 3-5
This book is the best option because it is a story line that the kids can relate to along with understanding what the character is going through. This book is about a middle aged girl who goes through life and school with ADHD and tells us all about her struggles with friends, family, feelings, etc. This is integrated with a read aloud so that the class can talk about the important facts and actions in the book and understand the learning targets throughout the book. This will be controlled so that the teacher prompts the discussions and the learning.
NHES standards:
NHES 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
Learning Objective: Students will understand and be able to identify the misconceptions and daily struggles that children with ADHD go through.
Core Integration:
This topic is not one to integrate into any other core concepts or learning targets. It can be grouped into the social and emotion health, however that is part of the health standards. It is important for the students to focus on this specific topic because it covers basic human interaction and morals. Making sure that empathy, sympathy, helping, and knowledge for your friends and fellow classmates are skills that they should take with them their whole lives. So in a way, this is a core concept all on its own.
Fiction Book:
Mrs. Gorski, I Think I Have the Wiggle Fidgets
By: Barbara Esham, Illustrators Mike Gordon and Carl Gordon. Published June 4th, 2008.
Content: What it is like and what happens for kids diagnosed with ADHD.
Grade: 3-5
This book is the best option because it is a book that can be used in a mini lesson or a full lesson, it is one that you as a teacher can come back to multiple times and gives a huge moral of the story for how to help and treat people along with understanding what it feels like to live with ADHD. This book is also great because it allows for connections with how David is feeling throughout the story but doesn’t give the answer as to what the solution to the problem, that way, the kids who relate can take time to figure out their feelings along with David in the story.
NHES standards:
NHES 2: Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors
NHES 3: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid information, products, and services to enhance health.
Learning Objective: Students will be able to feel empathetic for David and solve his problem by talking to an adult he trusts.
Core Integration:
Just like the other book, this will have to be a separate lesson on its own. However, this book is able to be taught with a large lesson or a mini lesson. With the large lesson, as a teacher you could have the kids write a letter to David about understanding what he is feeling and give some advice of how to help solve his problem. On the other hand, this could be a mini lesson with connecting with David and figuring out the text-to-self connections.