SEL Texts and their relevance

[wagnel03]

     The Science of Breakable Things is about a girl who is trying to cheer up her mother who has depression. She tries to do it by winning an egg dropping completion to earn money to help her mom to get back into botany. This is a book that can help students understand how its like to have a mother who has a mental health struggles. The girl not only makes scientific observations on how to win the completion, but also her own mother. This can support the growth of young readers by giving them some understanding on how some other children can have struggles with parents. In this case the parent is depressed and might struggle to give the child the attention they need. Learning this can help students understand that sometimes the parental arrangements aren't like theirs, so they do not disrespect the boundaries of others. One experience one can take from this book is the devotion to goal and assess the viability of the goal. Being able to identify character goals can allow for deeper readings into the story within the context of the characters. 

     The Seventh Most Important Thing is a story that can teach people about anger. The main character, Arthur, is mad at the world for good reason. His dad, who was a motorcyclist and tough living man, recently passed. Amidst his grief, his mother through out all the father's belongings. Arthur is being bullied in school, his sister aggravate him. What caused a snap, he saw the Junk man wearing his Father's hat. The Junk man felt the anger of Arthur in the form of a brick. Luckily for Arthur, he is not to be incarcerated. Arthur is to redeem himself be finding interesting valuable for the Junk Man. One thing readers can take from this story is to not be caught up in their emotions. Arthur likely did not plan hurt the Junk Man, it is just that the stress and anger brought out violence without care for the consequences. A lesson to extract is to try and not agitate people willfully and also to speak against bullying. This can be used children to learn coping mechanisms so they do not have such a snapping point. What students can extract from this is how to understand the emotions of characters. Starting from the death of the father to brick being thrown, you can observe a decline in mental wellness. While this may be obvious, you must also understand that the Junk Man likely saw little of this development. Being able to read the emotions of the characters, we can better understand the impact of their decisions.

     The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a story about a girl named Lucy. Lucy was struck by lightning and became a mathematical genius that can make calculations that no normal human is capable of. The power cam at the cost of developing a case of OCD. On such tick of her OCD is her ritual of sitting that results in the initial sit, then stands up, then sits back down, then stands back up, then ends off sitting. She could go to college with her math skills, but she was persuaded by Nana to attend school at grade level. She is worried that the other 7th graders might think her to be an odd kid and she is worried if she will make friend. if one has ever wanted to read into the anxieties of someone with acquired savant syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder, this is the book. Students can learn that even very talented people can struggle. Struggling in school is not always about academics, there is also a social aspect to school. This book can show the importance of social development free from academic development. The OCD can make Lucy look weird, but she has no choice but to do the ritual. This can help students respect that not all people are going to behave normally, and that is okay. This book can help students learn how to read the anxieties of characters. in many stories, the characters have worries and other anxieties. Getting to able to see them and pick them out can help students learn how to understand the deeper aspects of characters.