Books

Attention schools, and districts—Contact Origins for discounts on larger orders!

Some of the books available at the Origins Bookstore are particularly useful for middle school educators. The following either are expressly written for them or contain chapters that are focused on young adolescents.

Educating Minds and Hearts: Social Emotional Learning and the Passage into Adolescence, edited by Jonathan Cohen: Leading national experts describe the range of programs and perspectives that teachers, counselors, and administrators can use to promote social-emotional education in today’s middle schools.

Everyone Wins! by Sambbava and Josette Juvmour, presents over 150 cooperative games and activities.

Kids Guide to Working Out Conflicts: How to Keep Cool, Stay Safe, and Get Along by Naomi Drew: Two books, resource for young adolescents and Leader's Guide for educators, providing effective tools for improving conflict-resolution skills.

Teaching Children to Care, by Ruth Sidney Charney, co-founder of the Responsive Classroom approach: written for elementary as well as middle school educators, this book has great insight for helping middle schoolers build self-control.

Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages Four to Fourteen—3rd Edition, by Chip Wood, co-founder of the Responsive Classroom approach, gives valuable information about the social, emotional, language, and physical aspects of young adolescents.

Also, both The Morning Meeting Book, by Roxann Kriete, and Rules in School, by Kathryn Brady, Mary Beth Forton, Deborah Porter, and Chip Wood, have sections on grades 6-8.