Honors Program Theses

Award/Availability

Open Access Honors Program Thesis

First Advisor

Sarah Montgomery

Keywords

Health in literature; Children's literature;

Abstract

The term health is multifaceted. Health can refer to one’s physical, spiritual, or mental state, among other things. The goal of this study was to determine how educators can use children’s literature to support students being introduced to healthy habits regarding these aspects at a young age, through children’s literature. A content analysis was conducted over a selection of 16 children’s literature texts. It was organized by thematic categories matching the aforementioned facets of health and assessed through a Likert scale. This analysis resulted in the development of a website intended to serve as a tool for teachers to implement literacy-integrated health education in the classroom. Major themes that were found in this study were the seemingly higher number of books available in physical health than compared to books available in spiritual and mental health, the lack of diversity within the books selected, and the need for nonfiction books regarding mental and spiritual health. The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze children’s literature that addresses aspects of health and wellness. It is important to teach health literacy through children’s literature to ensure better prolonged health benefits across the spectrum—physical, mental, spiritual, etc.

Year of Submission

2018

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Date Original

12-2018

Object Description

1 PDF file (43 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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