Later Elementary School Curriculum

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  1. Kio & Gus (novel)

  Matthew Lipman

  Kio visits his grandparents’ farm and becomes friendly with Gus, who lives with her family not far away. Gus helps Kio become aware of the world as the blind experience it, and some of the differences that characterize the creative activities of the blind. Kio's grandfather was once a sailor, and early in the book he tells of an encounter he once had with a whale. He is determined to visit a site where he can observe whales once again, and Kio persuades him to take the two families along.

  Kio and Gus consists largely of conversations, because these are children who are sensitive to language and ideas as well as to the animals, people and things in the world that surrounds them. Among the contrasting concepts that Gus and Kio wonder about are make-believe/reality, fear/courage, saying/doing, and truth/beauty. Young readers of Kio & Gus will find their sense of wonder challenged as much as their reasoning skills.

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  2. Wondering at the World: Instructional Manual to Accompany 'Kio & Gus'

  Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp

  This instructional manual for the novel Kio & Gus aims at helping children think about the world by encouraging them to acquire reasoning and inquiry skills. Through hundreds of exercises and discussion plans, children are shown how these cognitive skills can be applied to the concepts by means of which we understand the world of nature. As a result, this program is an ideal introduction to science and environmental education, as well as an excellent language arts curriculum. There is also a strong ethical thread in the novel revolving around a myriad of issues in environmental ethics, our relationships with animals and nature and the fostering of ethical perception.

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  3. Philosophical Sources & References for 'Kio & Gus'

  Matthew Lipman

  This sequential bibliography matches the 1982 edition of Kio & Gus page by page. It contains both sources—works that influenced Matthew Lipman in writing the novel—and references to philosophical works he and Ann Margaret Sharp recommend to explore the novels’ philosophical themes.

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  6. Geraldo (novel)

  Ann Margaret Sharp

  Migrating to a new country brings about enormous changes in Geraldo's life. Not only is there a new language to learn, but Geraldo must make new friends and adjust to significant cultural differences.

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  7. Discovering Our Voice: A Manual to Accompany 'Geraldo'

  Ann Margaret Sharp and Laurance J. Splitter

  Geraldo is a story about what an immigrant undergoes when he leaves one culture and tries to 'join' another culture. An immigrant suffers a triple disruption: he loses his sense of place, he enters into an alien language, and he finds himself surrounded by beings whose social behavior, norms and traditions are very unlike, and sometimes even offensive to his own. The explanation of the leading ideas in this manual help students and teachers explore the philosophical themes in Geraldo. The discussion plans, exercises, and activities are designed to foster and cultivate the process of philosophical dialogue in the classroom.

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  8. Nous (novel)

  Matthew Lipman

  Pixie has invented this short novel, which is the sequel to the story she narrated in the novel Pixie. In this story, we are introduced to an intelligent giraffe confronted with a moral dilemma. The Giraffe, whose name is Nous, thinks first of what her moral obligations would be as a person of virtuous character. Brian and Pixie, along with their classmates, try to help her by discussing what a moral education should be. In so doing they help Nous decide what to do, even though it is not a decision they favor. Matthew Lipman's Nous is a wonderful springboard for getting young people to focus their discussions on ethical matters.

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  9. Deciding What to Do: Instructional Manual to Accompany "Nous"

  Matthew Lipman

  Deciding What to Do consists of a variety of exercises and discussion plans with which teachers can initiate or flesh out classroom discussion of concepts in the Nous program. The program concentrates on some of the ethical considerations children should take into account deciding what to do when faced with a moral problem.