690.Resource, Gordon, One: Mentor Text for Public Spirit (K-2)

Public Spirit is about taking action. It means taking an active interest in the well-being of one’s various communities, including home, school, community, country, and the world. It includes respect for others, courage, ethical responsibility, civic responsibility, social justice, and leadership.

One offers a simple way to talk about several components of Public Spirit: leadership, ethical responsibility, showing courage, and taking action. The author uses colors and numbers instead of people. Red attacks Blue and while the other colors comfort him, no one stands up to Red. Red grows bigger and more powerful so that soon all the colors are afraid of him. The number 1 tells Red “No” and encourages all the colors to be brave. They follow his leadership. They retain their colors as they change shapes to become numbers. Even gentle Blue wants to count, to matter. When the color-numbers all stand up to Red to protect Blue, Red grows smaller and rolls away. Instead of celebrating, everyone befriends Red.

Heart of Georgia RESA teachers may request a free copy of the book to use with their classes by listening to the short VoiceThread about the book, reading a brief handout that includes the ELA standards and suggested strategies for using the mentor text, and completing a request form.