Politeness- Concept Book 1

Politeness

By: Lucia Raatma

Genre: Concept Book

Award: N/A

Grade Level: This book would be appropriate for a first grade classroom, because the book is not too long and gets its point across swiftly. The concept being taught is politeness and its elements which is completely appropriate in the school setting. In fact, the book includes specific tips about how to be polite at school. This book is ideal because it defines larger words and includes a glossary in the back. However, the interest of students for this concept book may lack.

Summary: Politeness is a concept book giving detailed descriptions of how to act in certain situations and examples of appropriate behavior. The book starts by introducing and defining politeness and respect. The book goes into further detail about how to be polite with friends, at school, in the community, and in public. A brief history about Emily Post’s impact on politeness is discussed and an encouragement to always strive for politeness ends the book. The actual photographs depicting children being polite reinforces the reality of the book, allowing students to understand the need and factual nature of the concept.

Classroom Activities:

On page 22 of Politeness is a suggestion for a classroom activity that is completely appropriate in the context of this book. The activity includes practicing polite tips as discussed in the book, through making introductions. The class should split up into small groups (the book suggests 5 per group)  and follow the guidelines on page 22 on what to say when meeting new people. Students will be utilizing role playing as part of this activity to reinforce the reality of the concept.

On page 23 of the book lists and defines key vocabulary from the text. To ensure comprehension of the terms instruct students to create sentences incorporating the defined vocabulary.

ESOL: ESOL strategies incorporated into this book through the classroom activities include identifying main ideas and vocabulary, role play, small groups, and interactive language tasks.

Read Aloud: I would read page 13 aloud to my students because this page focuses on how to be polite at school. In addition to the suggestions on the page, a great follow up classroom discussion could involve identifying other ways to be polite in the school community. This will allow the students to become actively engaged in the book.

Personal Opinion: Though the interest for the concepts discussed in this book was not there for me, it was a well constructed book informing students about how to be polite. I liked that the book defined all of the terms used as well as gave complete examples on concepts discussed. The background information about the history of politeness will add to the students scaffolding and can even serve as an introduction into a history lesson. The final encouragement to be polite under any circumstance keeps the reader thinking about how they can be polite today.