Using Picture Books for Character Education | SEL Curriculum | Morning Meeting

Are you ready to Move Mountains with your students this year? We have created the perfect set of picture book companions to help students learn critical character and personal development skills and build classroom community.

Incorporating SEL activities into your classroom and integrating them with other subjects has never been easier!

➡️➡️ **PLEASE READ THIS LISTING CAREFULLY -- This is a presale on a growing bundle.** ⬅️⬅️

Are you ready to Move Mountains with your students this year? We have created the perfect set of picture book companions to help students learn critical character and personal development skills and build classroom community.

Incorporating SEL activities into your classroom and integrating them with other subjects has never been easier!

These book companions include EVERYTHING you need to implement these lessons. Just grab a copy of the book (you can also find fun read-aloud versions on YouTube), and you’ll be set to go!

**IMPORTANT PRESALE INFORMATION: Become an early adopter and purchase the Moving Mountains Bundle for this limited-time presale price. By purchasing as a growing bundle, you are guaranteeing a rock-bottom price on 40 book companions to use all year long. The total value of all 40 companions will be $199 with a minimum final bundle price of $99.99.

NOTE: There are currently 28 book companions included. Please see page 2 of the preview for detailed information on how the companions will be released.

**This is a long-term growing bundle. There are NOT release dates associated with each set of books, but they will be released at regular intervals over the course of the next 5 months.**

A Note on SEL: The term "SEL" is not incorporated into this product. Each book focuses on certain personal growth skills and themes.

The Following Companions are Currently Included:

1. In Our Garden: Classroom Community & Teambuilding
2. What If Everybody Did That: Responsibility & Rules
3. Where Oliver Fits: Self-Acceptance
4. The Starkeeper: Kindness and Compassion
5. Something Good: Accountability
6. Rescue & Jessica: Friendship
7. Quiet Please, Owen McPhee: Self-Awareness and Self-Control
8. Dragons on the Inside: Regulating Emotions
9. Sorry!: Giving and Receiving Genuine Apologies
10. The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt: Self-Esteem
11. The Thing Lou Couldn't Do: Growth Mindset
12. The Invisible Boy: Empathy
13. Thankful: Gratitude
14. The Very Last Leaf: Facing Fears
15. Sweep: Confronting and Managing Big Emotions
16. The Big Cheese: Sportsmanship and Humility
17. Ten Ways to Hear Snow: Mindfulness
18. What Do You Do With a Problem: Problem-Solving
19. Owl Moon: Patience
20. A Thousand NO's: Perseverance and Grit
21. Manjhi Moves a Mountain: Commitment
22. Last Stop on Market Street: Optimism and Perspective
23. The Hugging Tree: Resilience
24. The Magic Hat Shop: Being Yourself
25. Milo Imagines the World: The Dangers of Making Assumptions
26. Saturday: Adaptability and Flexible Thinking
27. Be a Maker: Curiosity
28. Out of a Jar: Emotional Intelligence

The final 12 are on the way. The price of this bundle will increase with each additional unit added. Buy now and get all updates for free!

What’s Included in Each Companion?

• 2-3 SEL Class Goals
• 5 Days of Complete Lesson Plans for SEL Integration + Printables
• Before, During, and After Reading Discussion Prompts
• Morning Meeting Greeting Cards  
• 5 Peaks and Pits Social Scenario Cards
• Extension Activity Suggestions
• Companion Book Suggestions
• Slide Decks for selected activities (see preview)

BUNDLE BONUS

When you buy the growing bundle you also get Moving Mountains Vocabulary posters. These carefully designed posters are the perfect way to display vocabulary terms in your classroom. They come in two sizes: full-page and student notebook sizes. Only available in the complete bundle!

How Can I Incorporate These Lessons Into My Classroom?

• Morning Meeting
• Literacy or Science
• Read Aloud
• As guidance or counseling lessons
• … any way you can dream up!

Our mission with Moving Mountains is to equip teachers with high-quality supplemental lessons that accompany exceptional picture books and teach students critical interpersonal skills. Our goal is to foster a strong classroom community and inspire lifelong learners.  It is our vision that through these lessons, students will become more self-aware about their place and purpose in their classroom community and beyond.

More about Moving Mountains:

❤️ Each book has been carefully selected to appeal to a wide age and grade range (2nd-5th grade) while being easily accessible to teachers. The accompanying lessons were designed with a specific character trait or personal skill in mind. Activities and objectives have been designed to fit within these skills, but please remember that there are many themes and relevant learning opportunities in each book.

❤️ Each week includes multiple lessons and activities. Depending on your classroom setup and the amount of time you have to devote to each book’s lessons, you may pick and choose which ones work best for you and your students. 

❤️ While the weekly activities are different to accompany each book, some consistent components include Peaks and Pits Scenario Cards, Morning Meeting Greeting Suggestions, Extension Activities, and Companion Book Suggestions. 

Why did we create Moving Mountains? Moving Mountains has been a dream of mine for several years – As a current educator, I am passionate about bringing picture books into my classroom, particularly during my morning meeting with the aim of helping my students develop their personal goals. Each week, I choose one focus book and a specific skill or skill that it teaches. Throughout the week, we discuss the book and complete different activities relating to it. I have seen incredible growth in my students’ social and personal skills using this method, and I have dreamed of creating full units that are ready to go for teachers! Moving Mountains was born from the need for excellent, ready-to-use companion activities. I have teamed up with Andrea Burns from BookishBurns to create these units for you. I hope you love them as much as we do!

What makes Moving Mountains different from other book companions? We carefully designed these activities to fit the unique elements of each book. With very few elements repeated throughout different books, your students will never tire of seeing the same template activities over and over again. This has also enabled us to create specific, SEL skill-based activities aligned to each book and maximize the impact of these beautifully written picture books. 

Why use picture books to teach reading and SEL skills? Simply put, picture books bring SEL skills to life! Picture books are short but beautiful authentic texts that help students see character traits and skills from different perspectives. We can use picture books to explicitly teach these important skills. Instead of telling students what it means to work as a team, we can SHOW them teamwork through character interactions in picture books and allow them to form their own definition of teamwork. Picture books have concrete stories and characters to reference as they continue to think about these skills. As an added bonus, picture books are highly engaging to students!