The Stories of Katherine Paterson: Interdisciplinary Teaching Units and the Development of Social Skills.

This paper describes the use of children's literature to develop interdisciplinary units, including components to help students (many with learning, behavioral, or emotional disabilities) develop appropriate social skills. The program focused on three books by Newbery award winner, Katherine Paterson: "Jacob Have I Loved,""The Great Gilly Hopkins," and "Bridge to Terebithia". The program's premise is that a well-written story can teach appropriate social skills and also serve as a basis for academic work. Teaching techniques include use of graphic organizers, linear models, and use of five-step lesson plans based on the direct instruction model. The three books allow for exploration of a range of characters, crises, social milieus, and various academic subjects. The paper explains the program's implementation in sections that address social stories, excellent literature, and teacher training. Eight attachments offer examples of relating books to contextual and academic subjects, graphic organizers, social skills addressed in the books, the five-step lesson plan, the planning pyramid, and examples of children's writing. (Contains 20 references.) (DB)