Tales Worth Telling: Stories of Selected Heroes/ Heroines Who Define Us as American [Hardcover]

In a set of stories about 17 American heroes and heroines, this book analyzes the hero concept in the nations history. This book unmasks and reveals some of the United States most beloved historical figures, reflecting their strengths, values, and flaws as no conventional history textbook can. Each chapter provides a comprehensive and complex look at the heroes and heroines who helped to shape a national identity. This book also examines the history, mechanics, and proven benefits of storytelling, identifying the form as an effective strategy to teach about some of the nations most famous men and women. Each story concludes with a set of discussion questions that allow both educators and students to probe transcending values that are still relevant for young Americans today.Tony R. Sanchez is Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of Toledo. He is also a former middle grades/high school social studies educator, where his interest in historical storytelling began, and has taught social studies on the public school and university levels for over thirty years. He has previously published many articles dealing with character/values education in leading educational journals.

Tales Worth Telling is a significant addition to an adolescents education. The books importance is multiplied when one considers contemporary influences in the lives of adolescents. Individualism and celebrity exert a strong influence in the popular media. Tales Worth Telling carefully separates the hero from the celebrity. Professor Sanchezs biographies skillfully develop the lives of flesh and blood heroes who contend with their weaknesses and failures, successes and triumphs, to devote their lives to the improvement of social conditions for other individuals and the betterment of society. Lynn R. Nelson, Ph.D, Purdue University, Retired

Tales Worth Telling stands as an example of new and exciting curriculum for the middle and high school social studies teacher. ló'