A Story-Based Curriculum for Emotional Literacy and Digital Awareness in Middle-Grade Classrooms

The Magic Garden Education Guide is a comprehensive teaching resource designed to support educators in delivering meaningful lessons on emotional intelligence, ethical digital behavior, and media manipulation—all through the engaging lens of narrative.

Built around the middle-grade edufiction novella The Magic Garden, the guide transforms an imaginative fantasy story into a springboard for social-emotional learning (SEL) and critical digital literacy. As students journey with the protagonists through a seemingly enchanted garden that slowly reveals itself to be a cleverly disguised digital trap, they are invited to reflect on the very real psychological tactics used in video games and online environments.

This guide is designed to be flexible, inclusive, and ready to use across a variety of educational settings—from classrooms and small groups to homeschool and intervention programs.

Each chapter is paired with:

- Theme explorations (e.g., emotional self-awareness, digital autonomy, ethical decision-making)
- Discussion questions to promote reflection and critical thinking
- Role-play, journaling, and creative tasks that encourage empathy, collaboration, and self-expression
- Zero-prep printable activities for kinaesthetic, visual, and verbal learners (downloadable form author's website)
- Adaptations for neurodiverse students, ESL learners, and mixed-ability groups

Educators will find alignment with key curriculum goals, including ISTE digital citizenship standards, SEL benchmarks, and inquiry-based learning practices.

The Magic Garden Education Guide empowers students not only to recognize emotional manipulation in digital spaces—but to respond with clarity, confidence, and compassion.

A must-have resource for any educator ready to tackle 21st-century challenges with heart and imagination.