This book, What’s the Big Secret? has a lot of information that students might be curious about. It helps answer some of the tricky questions that they might ask the teacher that the teacher might not be able to answer with an age appropriate response, such as, do girls and boys have the same feelings? Is sex a dirty word? Where to babies come from? What does being pregnant mean? Etc. . It has information about both genders which is good so that each gender can learn about themselves and the opposite gender and it has fun ways to learn about it using stories about dinosaurs. It also includes the subject of divorce. You could add this into your classroom by having the students explain their understanding of the book and write some of their own stories (fiction) about the struggles of students going through puberty and explain situations they may go through, to see if they understand the concepts you are trying to teach them.
“How do boys and girls differ? From the moment your life begins, you are either a boy or a girl. How do you tell boys and girls apart? How do you tell for sure?”
Author: Laurene Krasny Brown
Publication year: 1997
Publication: Lake
Common Core Literacy Standard: “Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.”CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.D
HBO Standard: “Establish and maintain healthy relationships.” (HBO 1)
NHES Standard: “Comprehend Health Concepts” (NHES 1)