JUNIOR GREAT BOOKS
Join the Conversation
View this video, featuring Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia, to see how Junior Great Books programs help students at all levels express their ideas, listen carefully to others, and create more collaborative, caring communities.
Who We Are
We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit best known for having originated the Shared Inquiry method of teaching and learning. Our flagship K–8 program, Junior Great Books®, has been a favorite of teachers and students for more than 7 decades. We believe that literacy and critical thinking help form reflective, knowledgeable citizens equipped to participate constructively in a democratic society.
Our Mission
The mission of the Great Books Foundation is to advance the critical, reflective thinking and social and civic engagement of people of all ages through Shared Inquiry™ discussion of works and ideas of enduring value.
Brienne Cundiff, an educator in Crown Point, Indiana, has 19 years of elementary teaching experience, and has used Junior Great Books® as a classroom teacher with first-, third-, and fourth-grade students. She recently began serving as one of the high ability teachers in her district, the Crown Point Community SchoolContinue reading
Are your students listening, or just waiting to talk? And how hard is it to tell the difference? If you find teaching and assessing active listening skills challenging, you’re far from alone. But it is possible to teach students how to listen more effectively—and doing so deepens learning for everyoneContinue reading
Kathryn Karasek is the iDAL (instructional digital age learning) coach at Arnett C. Lines Elementary School in Barrington Community School District 220 in Barrington, Illinois. She spearheaded a Junior Great Books® implementation by arranging Shared Inquiry training for 33 teachers at the school in November 2021. More than 400 studentsContinue reading
Great Books Results Since 2010
Teachers Trained
Students Impacted
Schools Using Great Books
Junior Great Books teaches me how to talk to someone. It helps me think about how other people are dealing with stuff and how I could be a better person to help them get through that stuff.
Lower-ability readers worked collaboratively with high-level readers. The high-level readers gained oral skills and became more comfortable speaking in class. The lower-level readers gained confidence and deeper thinking skills. Each group grew in their thinking, writing, and reading skills. Best, they learned social and interactive skills.
In today’s world, what most companies or jobs are looking for is the ability to collaborate well, and I think the best collaborators are those that know how to listen to others, to take different points of view, and then take on a leadership role . . . That is a skill that is just going to be beyond helpful to students, and the fact that they are getting to practice it now, in a safe place through fun stories, is the greatest.
The students have gained confidence in sharing their ideas with explanations. They also communicate respectfully and have come to understand that different ideas and opinions are acceptable!
For students that are age 5 or 13 right now, we don’t know what the world is going to look like when they’re 25. I think Shared Inquiry then is a really powerful way to help kids learn how to think, how to analyze, ask and answer questions, the kind of skill set that in 20 years [will] be very helpful in every aspect of your life.
