Choosing Kind

GREENOUGH – This fall, Sunset School students embarked on a journey of learning how to be more kind to others. Using the book "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio as the catalyst, the students first through fifth grade learned about bullying and focused on the theme from the book stated by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind."

"Wonder" is a book about a young boy who was born with a severe facial abnormality, and the challenges he faces when he adjusts from being home-schooled to a private school. The first through third-graders read a picture book version and the fourth and fifth graders read the novel.

While reading the novel, students thought of and wrote three short skits in which they each took a turn playing a target, a bully, and a friend. Supervising Teacher Toni Hatten recorded their skits.

Then the three older students did a short research project on what is bullying, what are the roles of a bullying situation and what to do if they are being bullied or see bullying.  They presented what they learned through a PowerPoint presentation and the videos of their skits to the younger students. 

To wrap up the study, the older students and Hatten went to see the movie "Wonder" in Missoula. They examined how the movie compared to the novel.

First-graders Leilah Butler and Adelaide Cruz agreed that kindness is good because it makes people happy and "makes people feel better for themselves when they help people get up."

Ava Grimm who is in the second grade thinks that without kindness she would not have friends because she wasn't nice. "That would be horrible."

Third-grader Mylee Corcoran said without kindness everyone would be mean. "You need kindness because it makes people smile."

Fourth-grader Jadesa Stevens and fifth-grader Alison Kilpatrick agreed that it is no okay to bully someone because of the way they look, how they do things or something that they were born with.

Stevens said, "Nobody is perfect, and everyone should be treated kindly.

Kilpatrick added, "Everyone should start being kind to others, and if somebody is getting bullied, help them."

Fourth-grader Lucas Nygard learned that being kind at a young age helps someone be kind when they get older. Also being nice to people is important because they may not have a lot of friends.

"It's important to give friendship, and that can really help someone's day, and that's what I'm going to try to do for others," said Nygard.

Hatten said, "It has been a great experience for all of them to learn and reflect on "choosing kind" when problems arise with peers or others."