Gracie's Guide: Be Kind by Headline Books / Zoom Into Books

Gracie and her friends learn that words can be harmful when students in the classroom make fun of her friend. The teacher gives them an assignment with a partner to say a kind word about each other and shows them how to help their neighbors and friends. Gracie’s Guides are an award-winning series helping kids understand and learn how to cope with difficult situations. The series has been endorsed by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and is used by Police Departments in their summer programs for kids.

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Be Kind

About the Author Award winning author, Angie Wilson, is a veteran elementary school reading teacher. She is the creator of two children's book series, Her books have received a London Book Festival Award, Readers' Favorite Award, and three Mom's Choice Awards. She visits classrooms throughout the year. For more information visit www.AuthorAngieWilson.com

About the Illustrator Award-winning author and illustrator Ashley Teets is a summa cum laude graduate of Alderson-Broaddus University. Graduate study at WVU, the Simmons College satellite program at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts and is a graduate of the Don Bluth School of Animation. For more information visit www.AshleyTeetsIllustration.com

K O O B Y T ACTIVI Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books 2018 Independent Publisher of the Year

Gracie’s Guide: Be Kind

Angie Wilson

Illustrated by Ashley Teets Headline Kids an imprint of Headline Books, Inc Terra Alta, WV

Gracie’s Guide: Be Kind by Angie Wilson illustrated by Ashley Teets copyright ©2021Angie Wilson All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any other form or for any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage system, without written permission from Headline Books. To order additional copies of this book, for book publishing information, or to contact the author: Headline Books, Inc. P.O. Box 52, Terra Alta, WV 26764 www.HeadlineBooks.com Tel: 304-789-3001 Email: mybook@headlinebooks.com Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books www.AuthorAngieWilson.com ISBN-13: 9781951556334

P R I N T E D I N T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S O F A M E R I C A

This book is dedicated to my son, Michael Whitley, whose kind heart is inspiring to all of those who know him. Thank you to our friends at Volunteer West Virginia who supported the creation of this book and inspired future generations of volunteers, as well as reminded us all to "Be Kind."

The fifth-grade class sat silently around the lunch table. It was so different for them to be quiet, but no one really knew what to say. Only a few moments before, harsh words had been tossed around their classroom like a baseball that hit hard and left a sting. Their teacher, Ms. Thompson, made them stop and tried to get them to settle, but it was too late, the words had already left their mouths. The students bowed their heads. Some of them were sorry for the words; others were glad they finally said them, and some of them wanted to say even more harsh things.

The morning had started out like any other morning, you know, all the usual school stuff like working math problems, reading stories, and writing long lengthy answers. The students were working in small groups to answer a reading question when an all-out argument broke out. Of course, Gracie was the first to express her opinion to the whole class, which caused others to yell out as well. Ms. Thompson informed the class that she’d had enough and stopped the entire thing. As she began to lecture them, they were literally ‘saved by the bell,’ the lunch bell, so they eagerly lined up and made their way to the cafeteria.

Gracie quietly ate her PB & J sandwich and thought about the craziness of the morning. The class had been collecting dog and cat food for the local animal shelter for the past two weeks. There was a ginormous box in their classroom that held the donations. On the very top of the box was a bag of cat food that had a picture on the front of a girl with a cat. Dexter, one of the boys in the group beside her, made the comment that the girl in the picture was as ugly as Wendy, a quiet girl who sat behind Gracie. Some of the other boys began to laugh and make other remarks, naming other girls who they added as being “just as ugly.” In a matter of moments, the group discussions quickly left the subject of reading and joined in the fight. Gracie heard a little sniff coming from Wendy and she turned to see a tear rolling down her cheek. She remembered how it felt when someone called her ugly and it infuriated her.

Gracie felt her heart sink to her toes and she stood up and looked Dexter right in the eyes as she began, “You are one to talk, Dexter, your picture could be under the word ‘ugly’ in the dictionary.”

Another student yelled that Gracie could be in the dictionary under that word as well. Someone else added that Wendy’s entire family could be pictured with that word. And then it happened, student names were tossed around with horrible adjectives that described them as being far from pretty. Ms. Thompson raised her voice louder than anyone had ever heard as she demanded everyone to be quiet. The words that Gracie said to Dexter stuck in her mind like the peanut butter stuck to the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t believe that she’d actually said those words. Those words had caused so much pain for Gracie once when someone had called her ugly, and she had done the same thing to someone else. She felt so ashamed. When lunch was over, Ms. Thompson continued her lecture. “Words spoken can never be retrieved,” Ms. Thompson stated, “so at this point you have a choice to make. You can get bitter by letting the words swirl around your head and cause even more pain, or you can get better. The only way to get better is to forgive and forget.”

The class knew that Ms. Thompson was right. “I think the most shocking part of the morning is the fact that you were so unkind to each other when we have been working on an act of kindness for our town. Just because you’ve gathered donations for the animal shelter doesn’t make you kind. It is deeper than that. It is a lesson that you must learn. I took your picture this morning with the donation box. Everyone smiled and felt like they had done a good deed, but being kind is so much more. It’s how you treat each other every day.” The students listened to each word Ms. Thompson said.

“Being kind should be more than a good deed, it should be who you are.” Her words hit the fifth-grade classroom like a ton of bricks. Ms. Thompson continued, “I have decided to give each of you an opportunity to make up for everything that happened this morning. We are going to work on projects that will not only help someone else but will help us individually as well. I am placing you in groups of two for this project. No one is allowed to change partners. Each pair will work this afternoon on planning acts of kindness that you will do together.” And with that, she began to write the names of the pairs on the board. Gracie cringed when she was placed with Dexter! The pairs were two people who didn’t like each other.

“The first part of this assignment is called “Positive Post-its.” Everyone will receive a post-it note from me and I want you to write one compliment about your partner on it and give it to them,” Ms. Thompson said with a smile.

Gracie’s mind was totally blank. What in the world could she say about Dexter that was nice? She finally wrote, ‘you’re good in math,’ and gave it to him. His note for Gracie said, ‘you ask a lot of questions which makes you good at finding out stuff.’ Gracie actually liked the note because, as a super-spy, you must be a good investigator. She smiled at Dexter for the first time this school year, and after he read his note, he smiled back.

Ms. Thompson had been busy writing ideas for their projects on the board. The list looked like this:

1. Donate food or clothes to a local charity 2. Read a story to the Kindergarten class 3. Bake cookies for the elderly

4. Make ‘blessing bags’ for the nearest homeless shelter 5. Write a nice note for your school principal

6. Leave a bag of cookies in your mailbox with a note of appreciation for your mail carrier 7. Make a card for family or friends 8. Donate books to a family shelter 9. Compliment someone

10. Donate toys to charity

11. Say something nice to someone

12. Make a handmade gift for someone

13. Call your grandparents or an elderly friend to check on them 14. Clean your room without being asked 15. Let someone have a turn before you

16. Volunteer at the local soup kitchen

17. Help an elderly person by doing a chore around their home

The students worked with their partners to decide on their projects. Gracie and Dexter began to make a list of their top three choices. Ms. Thompson stunned the class when she added, “You need to choose ten acts of kindness. You will work with your partner for two weeks and you must do at least one good deed each day. At the end of each day, you

will also need to fill out a positive post-it about your partner.” Everyone gasped when they realized they had to work with their enemy for two weeks! Could this assignment get any worse?

Crossword Puzzle

1 2

5 6

Across 4. Who was Gracie paired with to work on the project? 5. What did the students write on their post-it note? 7. What saved the fifth-grade class the first time Ms. T. started to lecture them? (two words) 8. How many acts of kindness did each group have to do?

Down 1. Gracie thought the words she said to Dexter stuck in her mind like what? (two words) 2. Ms. T. told the class that words spoken can never be what? 3. Ms. T. told the class the only way to get better is to forgive and what? 6. What is the name of the quiet girl who sits behind Gracie that Dexter insulted?

Word Search Y D T K U N F Y GQ Y Q A B Z K K F V K S Y A K I G C H N H S I X M K V J B Q X D U S I MR Q D Z O E G V I Y K T T E Z H J MD N L R NWS E E Y O J J OG P N O I T C E L L O C Z MD L R TW F D O B Y F R I Z N R S A O S D R C Z I D A OG Q T R A Q V O L U N T E E R E MO R O N N J N Z E H PWH A J R F E C Q H E T R J K QO V D UW A I R Y L B C J R D U F D L Z V N V D I H O UW D N S D B U X E F OG D H D H E F P J WO B H U A G I V B K L F L J O T C N C U WW Z C T F L N F S P D Y R S Q T OG S I I I E Q Y GO D A L T V N B V E E H GG T T J E C I N G P RM I H Y L G U K Y L N I R I L Y F S S U Y C A RM J A V L N P O S I T I V E J L X BWY BWY T U J F Q R WG P H N F E I P S Y B D F P B D PWN R G U R WP C U L R C E N S G R E H T A G F M I MU S A N Y V B J I X U O V X MWD L R D G B T J X N P E N GWX E R R T J L Q X S H V S X C Y R S M I Z G C I P N J E J WE H P J WY T I R A H C N C Q U WW O D E T T N U L H U J A W X N S G R G S WZ J Z T S C I T T N E M I L P MO C B T P A A QO R K E H T F I G E T UM T O R E L Q B O E L N Y R X R I N V J B B B MM V K Q V T V G I V T M S P P D P X G V P Y T U K T Z Y A G Y Z Y P G

gather collection

nice

charity

good things

positive

project

community

volunteer

donate

good deed

better

friendship compliment kind

Each day seemed to drag along slowly as the partners worked to do their good deed. Gracie learned to keep her mouth shut as she worked with Dexter. She remembered the old saying, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” and boy did that apply to her. She worked quietly for three days, well as quietly as possible for a talkative person. On day four, as the pair worked at the art center decorating thank-you cards for the school cooks, Dexter said something funny that Gracie actually thought was funny. “How do you make a tissue dance?” he asked. Gracie shrugged her shoulders. “You put a little boogie in it.” Gracie giggled at the silly joke, which prompted him to tell another. Then another. Then another.

“Where did you get all of those?” Gracie asked. “I have a book entitled, “101 Super-Funny Jokes,” and I know all of them.” Dexter proudly exclaimed. Gracie wrote that Dexter likes to make people laugh on the post-it that day. The next week was full of good things. The pairs worked together to make cards for workers at their school as well as people around town. Some of the kids collected food for a food bank and some gathered blankets for the homeless. There were boxes all around the school, so other classrooms could donate items and help. At the end of two weeks, the class had completed over 100 good deeds. It was amazing. What was even more amazing was the positive post-its that covered an entire bulletin board Ms. Thompson had created especially for the compliments.

Gracie found the more she got to know Dexter, the easier it was to write a compliment about him. Although the two didn’t become BFF’s, they did become friends. She realized Dexter had some good points and he realized the same about Gracie. “This project has been the best assignment I’ve given all year,” Ms. Thompson informed the class. “I have watched you develop friendships as you’ve worked with people you weren’t close to at the beginning of last week. It is important that we learn how to be nice to others and appreciate them. It doesn’t mean that you must become best friends with everyone in the class. We all have similarities and differences, but we can learn to be kind and get along even if we don’t agree on everything.”

Word Scramble 1.

EGTRHA _____________________________________________

CEIN ________________________________________________

ATIYRHC ____________________________________________

UNMMCYTIO ________________________________________

HEIDRPIFNS _________________________________________

ILCLECOTNO _________________________________________

OGOD NSGIHT _______________________________________

RELTNOVUE _________________________________________

TOAEND _____________________________________________

10.

CIOMPLMENT ________________________________________

11.

SOVIEPTI ____________________________________________

12.

TJEOPRC _____________________________________________

13.

DOOG DEDE __________________________________________

14.

RETBTE ______________________________________________

15.

NIDK _________________________________________________

gather volunteer

nice

charity

donate

community

compliment

friendship

positive

collection

project

good things

good deed

better

kind

The students decided they didn’t want to stop doing the good deeds. They continued doing acts of kindness and volunteering around their community for the rest of the school year. They learned a valuable lesson about being kind. It wasn’t simply an outward act toward another person, it was so much more than that. It was their words and actions as well as their deeds. They realized before they said something, they needed to ask themselves if it was kind. If it wasn’t, they simply needed to keep the comment to themselves. It’s one thing to perform a random act of kindness, it another thing to be kind. Kindness begins on the inside. It isn’t something you can check off a list as completed when you donate to a charity, it is a way of life.

Kindness is caring. Draw a picture of you being kind to someone.

Use a post-it pad to write compliments for your family and stick them around the house.

Spread kindness to others by doing these random acts of kindness 1. Donate food, toys, or books to a charity. 2. Do a chore at home without being asked to do it. 3. Feed the birds. 4.Write a thank-you note for your local policemen or firefighters. 5. Do a chore for a sibling. 6. Leave a snack for your mail carrier. 7. Hold a door open for someone. 8. Make a handmade gift for someone. 9. Set the table without being asked to do so. 10. Make a “blessing bag” for someone in need.

Help Gracie and Dexter find their notes!

Being kind should be more than a good deed, it should be who you are.

Check Out All the Gracie Guides!

Be Kind

K O O B Y T ACTIVI Headline Kids is an imprint of Headline Books 2018 Independent Publisher of the Year