Fourth Grade
Kindness
Kindness is not built into people. It does not come naturally. Kindness is a conscious decision that keeps the world from falling into chaos. Kindness is putting others needs in front of your needs. Kindness is a small or big act that will make both the giver and the receiver feel great. Kindness can be going a little out of your way to make someone feel nice, like giving your grandma a call or giving someone a quarter for popcorn day. According to the youtube video, Josh- Opening Doors and Hearts, if you are kind to others they will be kind back to you.
Martin Luther King Jr. showed great kindness. He put others in front of himself on a march for freedom. He did that by risking his own life for thousands of other people’s freedom and happiness. He did all he could for people he did not know or hadn’t met and never expected anything back. His philosophy was non-violence, so he was kind to others by not getting anyone hurt, not even his opponents. He gave things to thousands of people and took nothing from the others.
There are acts of kindness happening all around us. For example, one time my neighbor showed great kindness to my family. We were catching a plane flight to Michigan early one morning so the night before that we stayed at a hotel in Seattle. My mom forgot her I.D. which was needed for the plane flight. My neighbor helped get the I.D safely to us before the next morning. Because of her we caught the flight.
Kindness is valued by many people all over the world. Acts of kindness everyday everywhere make the world a better place.
Tiarnan
Martin Luther King Jr. showed great kindness. He put others in front of himself on a march for freedom. He did that by risking his own life for thousands of other people’s freedom and happiness. He did all he could for people he did not know or hadn’t met and never expected anything back. His philosophy was non-violence, so he was kind to others by not getting anyone hurt, not even his opponents. He gave things to thousands of people and took nothing from the others.
There are acts of kindness happening all around us. For example, one time my neighbor showed great kindness to my family. We were catching a plane flight to Michigan early one morning so the night before that we stayed at a hotel in Seattle. My mom forgot her I.D. which was needed for the plane flight. My neighbor helped get the I.D safely to us before the next morning. Because of her we caught the flight.
Kindness is valued by many people all over the world. Acts of kindness everyday everywhere make the world a better place.
Tiarnan
Perseverance
Crack! The whip snapped near Sunny’s rump. “What’s going on over here?” Bella asked.
“Sunny won’t move for me. I’ve tried everything I can think of,” I said. “I have been working with him for an hour.”
“Can I try to get him moving?” Bella asked.
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
Click, clack, went Sunny’s feet.
“How did you get him going?” I asked.
“I pointed and asked with my mouth,” said Bella.
“I’ve been doing that for an hour!” I said.” All he does is keep circling me.”
I asked my trainer Dawn to come and help. She will probably get him going, I thought to myself.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet.
Yep, I was right, I thought. Then I tried. I again pointed and asked with my mouth. All he did was circle me. I asked Dawn how she had done it. She explained, “I point and ask with my mouth.”
“I do the exact same thing. I just don’t understand,” I said.
“Well, just keep working with him,” Dawn said.
“I work with him for hours a day. I try different things.” I whined. “So why won’t he work for me?”
“Just keep trying,” said Dawn.
Time passed and then one day he did exactly what I said.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet. Sunny did Walk, Trot and Canter. Everyone cheered, “You did it Jessie!”
“I did do it,” I said proudly. “Thank you Dawn, Leigh, Bella, Lexie and Danielle for helping me.”
“You’re welcome,” they all said.
Every day after that amazing day, Sunny has done everything I’ve asked. Walk, Trot and Canter.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet.
Jessie
“Sunny won’t move for me. I’ve tried everything I can think of,” I said. “I have been working with him for an hour.”
“Can I try to get him moving?” Bella asked.
“Yeah, sure,” I said.
Click, clack, went Sunny’s feet.
“How did you get him going?” I asked.
“I pointed and asked with my mouth,” said Bella.
“I’ve been doing that for an hour!” I said.” All he does is keep circling me.”
I asked my trainer Dawn to come and help. She will probably get him going, I thought to myself.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet.
Yep, I was right, I thought. Then I tried. I again pointed and asked with my mouth. All he did was circle me. I asked Dawn how she had done it. She explained, “I point and ask with my mouth.”
“I do the exact same thing. I just don’t understand,” I said.
“Well, just keep working with him,” Dawn said.
“I work with him for hours a day. I try different things.” I whined. “So why won’t he work for me?”
“Just keep trying,” said Dawn.
Time passed and then one day he did exactly what I said.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet. Sunny did Walk, Trot and Canter. Everyone cheered, “You did it Jessie!”
“I did do it,” I said proudly. “Thank you Dawn, Leigh, Bella, Lexie and Danielle for helping me.”
“You’re welcome,” they all said.
Every day after that amazing day, Sunny has done everything I’ve asked. Walk, Trot and Canter.
Click, clack went Sunny’s feet.
Jessie
Integrity
Integrity is an extremely fascinating and necessary character trait that everyone should exhibit. It is also constantly being used at Blakely. If you use integrity frequently, it will have a positive effect on the way people treat you.
Even though integrity is a character trait, it also owns a motto; do the right thing, even when nobody’s watching. This motto, for most people, is really what integrity means. If you start doing whatever you want whenever your parent or teacher turns away, there will be consequences. Whereas if you just do the right thing (whatever that might be in the case you are in), your behavior would have positive outcomes. An example of this is in a video called The Marshmallow Test, in which a young child is put in a room with nothing but a marshmallow. The child is told that they can eat the marshmallow, but if they wait instead, they get to have two marshmallows. This was a big integrity test and had a big positive outcome, too. The Marshmallow Test shows the importance of integrity and how it can be performed.
Integrity can be demonstrated in any scenario. For example, in a story called The Emperor’s Seed, a boy named Ling enters a contest to be the emperor’s heir. The emperor gives every child who enters a plant, with instructions only to water it. Ling does just that. A year later when they are all called back, the other children have beautiful plants while Ling has nothing. The emperor soon reveals that the seeds were boiled and could not be grown, so he chose Ling as the heir. This story is a great example of integrity. Throughout this story, trust was built between Ling and the emperor, just like how trust can be built any day between two people using integrity.
As you can probably tell, integrity is beyond necessary. It is an amazing character trait because it is beneficial to have for life. Remember—integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody’s watching.
Nila
Even though integrity is a character trait, it also owns a motto; do the right thing, even when nobody’s watching. This motto, for most people, is really what integrity means. If you start doing whatever you want whenever your parent or teacher turns away, there will be consequences. Whereas if you just do the right thing (whatever that might be in the case you are in), your behavior would have positive outcomes. An example of this is in a video called The Marshmallow Test, in which a young child is put in a room with nothing but a marshmallow. The child is told that they can eat the marshmallow, but if they wait instead, they get to have two marshmallows. This was a big integrity test and had a big positive outcome, too. The Marshmallow Test shows the importance of integrity and how it can be performed.
Integrity can be demonstrated in any scenario. For example, in a story called The Emperor’s Seed, a boy named Ling enters a contest to be the emperor’s heir. The emperor gives every child who enters a plant, with instructions only to water it. Ling does just that. A year later when they are all called back, the other children have beautiful plants while Ling has nothing. The emperor soon reveals that the seeds were boiled and could not be grown, so he chose Ling as the heir. This story is a great example of integrity. Throughout this story, trust was built between Ling and the emperor, just like how trust can be built any day between two people using integrity.
As you can probably tell, integrity is beyond necessary. It is an amazing character trait because it is beneficial to have for life. Remember—integrity is doing the right thing, even when nobody’s watching.
Nila
Kindness
I think kindness is a super important skill to have in life. Not only does kindness help you, it helps others in life. It can help people in many different ways. If someone is sad sometimes just one smile can make someone happy for a whole day. Or if you see somebody who is homeless or isn’t as lucky as you, you can give them some food or maybe even some money. Sometime, when I’m in Seattle, I will see a homeless person and give them a little money or food and often times, I will feel good after I do that!
One night, I was walking home from a restaurant in Seattle and I saw a man who looked hungry and cold. He didn’t look like he was happy. I felt bad for him so I gave him the food that I had in my leftover box from dinner. I don’t know if he knew it was me because he was sleeping but on the way home I felt satisfied too have done what I had done.
Just as I’ve shown kindness, so did a young man named Josh from a video called Open Doors. He opened doors for people even though he was new, and people thought he looked weird. But in the end, everybody signed a card for Josh thanking him for his kindness. Now Josh is a public speaker and to others, this is a form of paying forward. Another example of kindness is from an article, “A lonely man gets lots of internet love”. This man’s dog was viscously attacked. A few weeks later, a news reporter heard about the dog and set up a GoFundMe page for anyone who wanted to send a card or money to the man. Even you can help by sending a card to the reporter at [email protected]. In the end kindness pays off.
One night, I was walking home from a restaurant in Seattle and I saw a man who looked hungry and cold. He didn’t look like he was happy. I felt bad for him so I gave him the food that I had in my leftover box from dinner. I don’t know if he knew it was me because he was sleeping but on the way home I felt satisfied too have done what I had done.
Just as I’ve shown kindness, so did a young man named Josh from a video called Open Doors. He opened doors for people even though he was new, and people thought he looked weird. But in the end, everybody signed a card for Josh thanking him for his kindness. Now Josh is a public speaker and to others, this is a form of paying forward. Another example of kindness is from an article, “A lonely man gets lots of internet love”. This man’s dog was viscously attacked. A few weeks later, a news reporter heard about the dog and set up a GoFundMe page for anyone who wanted to send a card or money to the man. Even you can help by sending a card to the reporter at [email protected]. In the end kindness pays off.
My Recovery by Cat
“I will never be able to do anything again.” I thought as I tumbled off the sleek kick scooter of my friend’s onto the neighborhood street. As I screamed help I thought to myself I could never be worth anything now. I wanted to stop screaming and be left there all alone on the lonely road, but I couldn’t help it.
Once I had been found by my brother, Harry, and one of the neighbors, Harry called our mother on his hand-me down phone, she and the neighbor carried me home. After that, mother took me to urgent care at the clinic in Downtown Bainbridge. The doctors found out that I had broken the bottom of my left tibia and needed surgery. Five days later on my birthday, we went to the Children’s Hospital to get the surgery over with. When I woke up, I was in a new brace and this weird numbness in my knee.
When I started rehabilitation it felt near to impossible and was very frustrating. Also at school, I did my absolute best to feel happy and have fun, but I was in vain whenever I saw kids running around and playing or having some inside joke from recess I didn’t know of, instead I was just sitting around reading a book.
It's been a few weeks or so since I had started the rehab for my knee. It was sore and a bit painful, but in the very back of my head I knew it was for the better. Unlike me, I read from Famous Failures on YouTube, Dr. Seuss never gave up he had his first book rejected at least 27 times before actually getting published. This gave me a bit motivation but not enough for the future.
Once I’ve been doing rehab for at least a couple of months and I decided I’d just give up. I didn’t tell anybody of course or else I’d be probably be yelled at. My effort left, and I did notice I was getting worse, so did my mother.in my room after rehab mother said,” Do you think you’ll ever get better if you don’t work hard?”
“I know that! It’s just too hard.” I exclaimed as I tried to dismiss her eyes. She gave me a type of look anyone would understand from their own parents. Then, I knew what to do.
Once I started working, everything felt well and I felt happy now too. Something I learned from Learn Vest was that Stephen King one of the most famous writers in history, and he got rejected from publishers so many times and he never gave up! So I used that information to help me get started. I kept working diligently, even when I stumble on some things I went through it, just like Heather Dorniden, a professional track runner, while in a race fell flat on her face, but she got up, ran her fastest and won the race! I noticed all of the things I could do again with my knee like weight bearing and how far I could bend or straighten my knee. The knee check-ups at the hospital were much more pleasant than before.
"Soon I’ll be able to be a normal kid again.” I thought as I entered the bubbly check-up room in the Children’s Hospital. My doctor, Dr.Schmale checked my range of motion and what I’ve been doing with my knee, he also explained the x-rays from earlier when we first came here with me and my mom. He said,” Your knee is healing just fine but I would like to x-ray the rest of the lower portion on your body, just in case.”
After the x-rays I thought I would be totally fine, but when I went back to the check-up room I was second guessed. Dr.Schmale checked the x-rays and found I had N.O.F (Non-Ossifying Fibroma) on my right tibia, also since the x-ray showed both my legs at full length they saw I also had knock knees.
Soon after I heard all that I wanted to do what’s best for me. I will keep working hard and won’t give up.
Mr. Cameron, my 4th grade teacher at Blakely Elementary, told me that he tore all the ligaments is his knee during high school and healed properly so is now running, exercising, and playing all types of sports, and I’m sure I can be all better soon! I’ll use my teacher’s story as motivation to help me keep persevering in life.
Once I had been found by my brother, Harry, and one of the neighbors, Harry called our mother on his hand-me down phone, she and the neighbor carried me home. After that, mother took me to urgent care at the clinic in Downtown Bainbridge. The doctors found out that I had broken the bottom of my left tibia and needed surgery. Five days later on my birthday, we went to the Children’s Hospital to get the surgery over with. When I woke up, I was in a new brace and this weird numbness in my knee.
When I started rehabilitation it felt near to impossible and was very frustrating. Also at school, I did my absolute best to feel happy and have fun, but I was in vain whenever I saw kids running around and playing or having some inside joke from recess I didn’t know of, instead I was just sitting around reading a book.
It's been a few weeks or so since I had started the rehab for my knee. It was sore and a bit painful, but in the very back of my head I knew it was for the better. Unlike me, I read from Famous Failures on YouTube, Dr. Seuss never gave up he had his first book rejected at least 27 times before actually getting published. This gave me a bit motivation but not enough for the future.
Once I’ve been doing rehab for at least a couple of months and I decided I’d just give up. I didn’t tell anybody of course or else I’d be probably be yelled at. My effort left, and I did notice I was getting worse, so did my mother.in my room after rehab mother said,” Do you think you’ll ever get better if you don’t work hard?”
“I know that! It’s just too hard.” I exclaimed as I tried to dismiss her eyes. She gave me a type of look anyone would understand from their own parents. Then, I knew what to do.
Once I started working, everything felt well and I felt happy now too. Something I learned from Learn Vest was that Stephen King one of the most famous writers in history, and he got rejected from publishers so many times and he never gave up! So I used that information to help me get started. I kept working diligently, even when I stumble on some things I went through it, just like Heather Dorniden, a professional track runner, while in a race fell flat on her face, but she got up, ran her fastest and won the race! I noticed all of the things I could do again with my knee like weight bearing and how far I could bend or straighten my knee. The knee check-ups at the hospital were much more pleasant than before.
"Soon I’ll be able to be a normal kid again.” I thought as I entered the bubbly check-up room in the Children’s Hospital. My doctor, Dr.Schmale checked my range of motion and what I’ve been doing with my knee, he also explained the x-rays from earlier when we first came here with me and my mom. He said,” Your knee is healing just fine but I would like to x-ray the rest of the lower portion on your body, just in case.”
After the x-rays I thought I would be totally fine, but when I went back to the check-up room I was second guessed. Dr.Schmale checked the x-rays and found I had N.O.F (Non-Ossifying Fibroma) on my right tibia, also since the x-ray showed both my legs at full length they saw I also had knock knees.
Soon after I heard all that I wanted to do what’s best for me. I will keep working hard and won’t give up.
Mr. Cameron, my 4th grade teacher at Blakely Elementary, told me that he tore all the ligaments is his knee during high school and healed properly so is now running, exercising, and playing all types of sports, and I’m sure I can be all better soon! I’ll use my teacher’s story as motivation to help me keep persevering in life.
The Importance of Gratitude by Anna
Most people talk about what they’re thankful for on thanksgiving but do they really understand what their saying? Some people need gratitude to be explained to them to understand it, others use examples, and some people even have to ask themselves, how can I show gratitude? That’s why once you understand gratitude you will realize it is a great character trait to know about.
Is gratitude the sort of thing that needs to be explained? Well I know that when I show gratitude I’m happier. Happify daily, a website online said that when someone is constantly showing gratitude that person has a better chance of having a stronger immune system than when they don’t. Gratitude is when someone is thankful of another’s grateful action and appreciate them. That’s what gratitude means.
Some people need examples of gratitude to understand it. The website Daily Mail wrote about a woman named Tracey who when a man forgot his wallet paid the $7 cost of some fruit for him. The man was so grateful he saw the charity logo on her shit and then later on donated $10,000 to her charity. Examples can help a lot of people know about gratitude.
Ask yourself how I can show gratitude. Anyone can show gratitude by just saying thank you if someone does a good thing in a way that will let them know they appreciate what they did. Being thankful can be as easy as returning the favor or helping them out. That’s why you should constantly ask yourself how to show gratitude.
It may seem like it’s hard to show gratitude, but once their old enough to talk they too can show gratitude. Gratitude helps everyone feel better, prouder, and get more respect. Also you can follow the Blakely 3 R’s a lot better when you show gratitude. So remember to always show gratitude because if you do good things might happen. So that’s Gratitude, an awesome character trait to follow.
Is gratitude the sort of thing that needs to be explained? Well I know that when I show gratitude I’m happier. Happify daily, a website online said that when someone is constantly showing gratitude that person has a better chance of having a stronger immune system than when they don’t. Gratitude is when someone is thankful of another’s grateful action and appreciate them. That’s what gratitude means.
Some people need examples of gratitude to understand it. The website Daily Mail wrote about a woman named Tracey who when a man forgot his wallet paid the $7 cost of some fruit for him. The man was so grateful he saw the charity logo on her shit and then later on donated $10,000 to her charity. Examples can help a lot of people know about gratitude.
Ask yourself how I can show gratitude. Anyone can show gratitude by just saying thank you if someone does a good thing in a way that will let them know they appreciate what they did. Being thankful can be as easy as returning the favor or helping them out. That’s why you should constantly ask yourself how to show gratitude.
It may seem like it’s hard to show gratitude, but once their old enough to talk they too can show gratitude. Gratitude helps everyone feel better, prouder, and get more respect. Also you can follow the Blakely 3 R’s a lot better when you show gratitude. So remember to always show gratitude because if you do good things might happen. So that’s Gratitude, an awesome character trait to follow.
Integrity, the Most Important Trait by Owen
In my opinion, I think Integrity is the most important trait. I will tell what integrity means to me. Second, I will tell a good life lesson story about Integrity. And finally, I will tell a story on how I showed Integrity. That is why I think integrity is the most valuable trait.
Integrity means a lot to me. Integrity means to do the right thing even when nobody is watching. Not showing Integrity leads to a bad life. In a story, the emperor’s seed, a boy named ling is given a non-grow able seed and he has to watch and take care of the seed, not knowing the seed is not grow able. The other kids have to do the same thing as ling. After a long time the kids realized their seed wasn’t growing so they switched out their seed with a grow-able seed. Ling did not. A few days later, they showed their seeds to the emperor. Ling won an award for not switching out his seed. The award was being the emperor’s helper. By this, I think ling showed Integrity from not switching out his seed when the emperor was not watching.
Billy Ray Harris was a homeless man with barley any money until one day Billy found a lost engagement ring. On the news that night it said it belonged to a rich woman named Ms. Darling. Billy did not keep the ring for himself. He wanted to give it to Ms. Darling. After days of searching he found Ms. Darling. He gave the ring to her. For a thank you, she raised $180,000 for him. Billy’s life changed because of his Integrity. I think Billy showed Integrity.
Here is a story on how I show Integrity. I was bored one day. I was sitting on a chair in the kitchen. My mom was outside and my brother was in his room. I had an idea! I could sneak the iPad and secretly play on it. My mom does not like me to have too much time on the iPad so my idea was to have EXTRA game time! I started to look for the iPad. I saw it! I was about to grab it until I thought about Integrity. Should I really be doing this, I thought. I sat bock down not grabbing the iPad. I will find something else to do, I thought.
Integrity can be very useful in life. If people show Integrity someday maybe people can have a better life. Just like Billy Ray Harris. It’s the key to life. Integrity is the key to life. That is why Integrity is the most important trait.
Integrity means a lot to me. Integrity means to do the right thing even when nobody is watching. Not showing Integrity leads to a bad life. In a story, the emperor’s seed, a boy named ling is given a non-grow able seed and he has to watch and take care of the seed, not knowing the seed is not grow able. The other kids have to do the same thing as ling. After a long time the kids realized their seed wasn’t growing so they switched out their seed with a grow-able seed. Ling did not. A few days later, they showed their seeds to the emperor. Ling won an award for not switching out his seed. The award was being the emperor’s helper. By this, I think ling showed Integrity from not switching out his seed when the emperor was not watching.
Billy Ray Harris was a homeless man with barley any money until one day Billy found a lost engagement ring. On the news that night it said it belonged to a rich woman named Ms. Darling. Billy did not keep the ring for himself. He wanted to give it to Ms. Darling. After days of searching he found Ms. Darling. He gave the ring to her. For a thank you, she raised $180,000 for him. Billy’s life changed because of his Integrity. I think Billy showed Integrity.
Here is a story on how I show Integrity. I was bored one day. I was sitting on a chair in the kitchen. My mom was outside and my brother was in his room. I had an idea! I could sneak the iPad and secretly play on it. My mom does not like me to have too much time on the iPad so my idea was to have EXTRA game time! I started to look for the iPad. I saw it! I was about to grab it until I thought about Integrity. Should I really be doing this, I thought. I sat bock down not grabbing the iPad. I will find something else to do, I thought.
Integrity can be very useful in life. If people show Integrity someday maybe people can have a better life. Just like Billy Ray Harris. It’s the key to life. Integrity is the key to life. That is why Integrity is the most important trait.