Reading Your Way to Greater Emotional Intelligence
Mission Statement: To help middle schoolers learn emotional intelligence skills when they might not necessarily have access to mental health support otherwise.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand our emotions as well as the emotions of others in social situations, and express them carefully. It is important because it helps us to connect with others and think more carefully about situations. Scroll down the video below to learn more about emotional intelligence and how you will learn emotional intelligence through this website.
Statistics
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-14 according to NAMI.
According to Mental Health Match, around 20% of middle schoolers have depression and later in high school, the amount goes up to 33%. According to the CDC only 5% of adults have depression. This is not because we get better when we get older. This issue is much more common in younger people due to changing times. According to UCL only 9% of teenagers had depression in the early 1990s. According to the American Psychological Association, there is a mental health crisis among young people in America. This could affect our future.
Emotional intelligence can give us skills to help our mental health because it helps us to be more open and flexible and flexibility helps us to be more okay and resilient when bad things happen according to GrowYourMindsetDaily and VeryWellMind. Emotional intelligence helps us to accept, process, and cope with our emotions which are all necessary for our mental health. Additionally, The National Library of Medicine found that experiments have shown a direct correlation between Emotional Intelligence and academic success as measured by grades and test scores. Emotional intelligence helps us to be more careful of the purpose and consequences of our actions, leading to a more fulfilling as well as successful life. It helps us to make sure we know what we are doing, how it can help us, and if it is worth the consequences.
How to Participate:
Reading Your Way to Greater Emotional Intelligence will teach emotional intelligence skills through hands-on practice. There will be website pages for different books where I will create videos with questions about the characters in the book that help us to think more about emotions and emotional intelligence in general. The first step is to scroll down to the Books section below and click on a book that looks interesting to you. This will open a page that has a survey. As you are getting access to a copy of the book, you can answer the chapter zero questions on the survey — the pre-completion survey — and then read the first chapter once you have the book. Next input the answers to the chapter one questions on the survey. I suggest writing your answers, as well as the links to the survey page, in a separate place and copying + pasting it into the survey to prevent losing your progress. When you finish, turn in the survey.
There is no one right answer to any of the questions. The goal is to take time to think about what answer makes sense to you and why it makes sense. Even if it is not the answer the author intended for us, we will still get to practice listening and paying attention to emotions.
Books
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Flying Lessons and Other Stories by various authors
Various Genres, Mainly Realistic Fiction
Suggested Age by Common Sense Media: 8-12
216 Pages, 10 Questions
Teaser from Amazon:
Great stories take flight in this adventurous middle-grade anthology crafted by ten of the most recognizable and diverse authors writing today. Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander delivers a story in-verse about a boy who just might have magical powers; National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson spins a tale of friendship against all odds; and Meg Medina uses wet paint to color in one girl’s world with a short story that inspired her Newbery award-winner Merci Suárez Changes Gear. Plus, seven more bold voices that bring this collection to new heights with tales that challenge, inspire, and celebrate the unique talents within us all.
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Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
Fantasy, Full of Twists
Suggested Age by Common Sense Media: 9+
512 page, 13 questions
Teaser from Amazon:
Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. And Sophie has a secret—she’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well…she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth, and almost instantly she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known.
But Sophie still has secrets, and they’re buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous and in high-demand. What is her true identity, and why was she hidden among humans? The truth could mean life or death—and time is running out.
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Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Sci-Fi Fantasy, Superhero
Suggested Age by Common Sense Media: 12+
556 pages, 13 questions
Teaser from Amazon:
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies―humans with extraordinary abilities―who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone...except the villains they once overthrew.
Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice―and in Nova. But Nova's allegiance is to the villains who have the power to end them both.
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Scythe by Neil Shusterman
Dystopian Future, Violent and Insightful
Suggested Age by Common Sense Media: 12+
448 pages, 12 questions
Teaser from Amazon:
A dark, gripping and witty thriller in which the only thing humanity has control over is death. In a world where disease, war and crime have been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ("gleaned") by professional scythes. Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythes' apprentices, and despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation, they must learn the art of killing and understand the necessity of what they do.Only one of them will be chosen as a scythe's apprentice and as Citra and Rowan come up against a terrifyingly corrupt Scythedom, it becomes clear that the winning apprentice's first task will be to glean the loser.
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The Lemonade War by Jaqueline Davies
Realistic Fiction, Competitive and Optimistic
Suggested Age by Redeemed Reader: 7-11
192 pages, 10 Questions
Teaser from Amazon:
For a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King.
Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart—but not especially good at understanding people. She knows that feelings are her weakest subject.
With just five days left of summer vacation, Evan and Jessie launch an all-out war to see who can sell the most lemonade before school starts. As the battleground heats up, there really is no telling who will win—and even more important, if their fight will ever end.
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The Isle of the Lost: A Descendants Novel
Fantasy, Takes place before the first Disney Descendants movie
Suggested Age by Amazon: 9-12
314 Pages, 11 Questions
Teaser from Amazon:
Evil tree. Bad Apple? Twenty years ago, all the evil villains were banished from the kingdom of Auradon to the Isle of the Lost—a dark and dreary place protected by a force field that makes it impossible for them to leave. Stripped of their magical powers, the villains now live in total isolation, forgotten by the world. Mal learns from her mother, Maleficent, that the key to true darkness, the Dragon's Eye, is located inside her scepter in the forbidden fortress on the far side of the island. The eye is cursed, and whoever retrieves it will be knocked into a deep sleep for a thousand years. But Mal has a plan to capture it. She'll just need a little help from her "friends." In their quest for the Dragon's Eye, these four kids begin to realize that just because you come from an evil family tree, being good ain't so bad.
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The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
Realistic Fiction, Sad and Hopeful
Suggested Age by Common Sense Media: 9-14
352 pages, 11 questions
Teaser from Amazon:
After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.
(Note: I made a lot of questions for this book)
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Bio
Caden Lewis-Shickman has loved reading since second grade and is now in 10th grade. Ever since he watched Inside Out, he wanted to convince people to not suppress how they feel even though there are still skills for how to best express their emotions. He is part of a Teen Advisory Council for mental health at The UCLA Friends of the Semel Institute and volunteers for The Yallwest books festival. He also got an acknowledgement in a chapter of a textbook for The Society for Brain Mapping and Therepeutics. With Reading Your Way to Greater Emotional Intelligence, Caden Lewis-Shickman plans to teach people emotional intelligence skills who might not have access to mental health care otherwise.