Perseverance is this month’s superpower!

• Perseverance is the courage it takes to continue trying despite previous failures.
• Perseverance is the strength that gets you through times of trouble.
• Perseverance is knowing that the road to success is paved with difficulty.
• Perseverance is steady persistence in a course of action, especially in spite of discouragement.

We were inspired by William Kamkwamba’s story. When his village was hit by a drought, everyone’s crops began to fail. Without enough money for food and school, William spent his days in the library and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps and became the local hero who harnessed the wind. Listen to the children’s books here – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Here is another video, Moving Windmills.

Interview an adult. Determine a time in his/her life when he/she had to persevere and the result of this hard work. Share this experience with our class blog.

On Friday, please wear blue. As a school community, we are going to show our support for National Autism Awareness Month! National Autism Awareness Month is a time to promote autism awareness, autism acceptance and to draw attention to the tens of thousands facing an autism diagnosis each year. What else can you do? Please visit Mrs. McBride’s website for further details – Blue for Autism.

Tonight is the opening ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. There are so many opportunities to learn about winter sporting events, countries around the world and athletes. Here are a few links:

• Mrs. Ramirez friend, Stacy Spletzer, is working with athletes for WADA. Watch her videos and send her questions here, Greetings from the Winter Olympics.
• Mrs. Wagner’s Winter Olympics Online Scavenger Hunt. You can find fun facts, create Olympic rings and/or learn the science behind sports.
• The official 2018 Winter Olympics website – PyeongChang 2018 will host the XXIII Olympic Winter Games. Find voting results and all the latest news as South Korea prepares for the Games.

Compassion is caring about others more than yourself.

Will you ask someone to join you at lunch? Will you reach out and play with someone at recess? Will you listen more to those around you?

Be a “Soup-er” Hero and bring in a soup can and another item for our local food pantries. SOCES is asking 3rd graders to bring in canned vegetables, 4th graders to bring in peanut butter or jelly, and 5th graders to bring in canned tuna, chicken and other canned meat.

Eve Bunting’s Train to Somewhere is our book of the month. Many orphans were placed with caring families across the United States. Read to find out if Marianne is chosen to be with a compassionate family.

Remember our Compassion Twins message for this month. “Show Love. Be Kind. Keep Compassion on Your Mind.”

“Forgiveness does not change the past,but it does enlarge the future.”
~ Paul Boese

Forgiveness is Cottage Lane’s Superpower of the month. At our assembly, The Forgiver reminded us about the importance of forgiveness and new beginnings. Please visit the Forgiveness Assembly page for additional songs and videos.

Below is our poem for the month, “New Beginnings”. A New Year’s Resolution is a tradition which a person makes a promise to do an act of self-improvement or something slightly nice, beginning on New Year’s Day. One way we can better ourselves is to forgive.

Choose one or more of the questions below and write a comment:

• Are some mistakes easier to forgive than others? Explain.
• Why is it sometimes difficult to forgive others?
• What are some ways you can be more forgiving?

As a school community we will place our thumbprints on a dove. These doves will represent the peace in our hearts that will bring peace to the world!

December’s superpower is acceptance. Acceptance is the willingness to embrace feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own. Acceptance is the ability to experience or survive something unpleasant. Acceptance is the willingness to tolerate a difficult or unpleasant situation. We all have the human need and right to be accepted.

This month’s book of the month is Remember: The Journey to School Integration. It is a collection of photographs from the Civil Right movement and the era of public school integration with a story by Toni Morrison. In this two-minute mini-documentary, Toni Morrison introduces her book and shows young people the relevance of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision.

After reading Toni Morrison’s Remember: The Journey to School Integration, look back at photographs on page 22, 42 and 67. Select one photograph and write a dialogue between the two students. Post the conversation to this blog.

It is time to get those creative juices going again! Mrs. McBride is offering an opportunity to put your skills to work. Find out more details for this month’s challenge here – The Paper Mache Gift Challenge.

This month the Hulk challenges to use our Superpower, Gratitude. Kid President has a few ideas for us too.

Here are three challenges:

1. Call that special person on the green slip and let them know how grateful you are for him/her. Return the slip to school and link it to our gratitude chain.
2. Bring in an item for our Food Drive.
3. Be inspired by The Secret of Saying Thanks and keep a 21-Day Gratitude Journal. Read and listen to our book of the month here – Secret of Saying Thanks. Write down 3 things you’re grateful for. They can be super simple—and nothing is too small. For example: 1. Favorite cereal this AM 2. Warm bed to sleep in 3. Funny chat with my brother. Do this for 21 days, But you can’t list your family members by name over and over. You have to write different things each day—this is how you learn to flex your gratitude muscle.Why 21 days? Scientists believe it takes that long for something to become a habit. Good luck!

Challenge yourself with an activity by clicking on the link below:

3rd Grade