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An extraordinary debut who shows us how powerful an act of kindness, a hint of magic, and a little hope can be.
"A book that reminds us of the kindness we are all capable of." -- Gary D. Schmidt, Newbery Honor winner and author of Okay For Now A well. A wish. And a little drop of hope. Times are tough. Jobs are scarce and miracles are in short supply. But something strange is happening in Cliffs Donnelly, Ohio. An old well has suddenly, impossibly, begun to grant wishes. And three sixth graders are the only ones who know why. Ernest Wilmette believes a good deed makes magic happen. Ryan Hardy thinks they should just mind their own business. Lizzy MacComber believes in facts, not fairy tales. Of course, you don't have to believe in wishes to make one. As more wishes are made, the well's true secret gets harder and harder to keep. Ernest, Ryan, and Lizzy know they can't fix the world. But in their own little corner of it, they can give everyone a little hope... one wish at a time. BL 5.2/9 |
CHANCE:
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
Winston S. Churchill
Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy start listening at the well and decide to help people out by trying to fulfill their wishes. By trying to "Pay it Forward." Here is a list of activities that you can do that would be similar to what Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy did - but in a different way. Chose ONE of these activities and pay it forward to someone you care about - it might make all the difference!! When you do this activity, you can share it with Mrs. Jack in several different ways. You can take a picture, you can write up a short paragraph of what you did, or you can even do both! Make sure you put your name, school, and "A Drop of Hope" on your activity.
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”
Winston S. Churchill
Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy start listening at the well and decide to help people out by trying to fulfill their wishes. By trying to "Pay it Forward." Here is a list of activities that you can do that would be similar to what Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy did - but in a different way. Chose ONE of these activities and pay it forward to someone you care about - it might make all the difference!! When you do this activity, you can share it with Mrs. Jack in several different ways. You can take a picture, you can write up a short paragraph of what you did, or you can even do both! Make sure you put your name, school, and "A Drop of Hope" on your activity.
- Participate in a cleanup day. Cleanup days are a fantastic way to contribute your part in helping to preserve mother nature.
- Donate some of your clothes. Have a look in your closet. If there are many items you haven’t worn for years, consider donating some of them.
- Run for a good cause. Numerous charity runs (or walks and bicycle rides) are held each year. Sign-up for the next one and participate in raising funds for a good cause.
- Ask for donations instead of gifts. Many people wonder how they can do something good without having to spend money. Well, by asking people to donate for a good cause instead of buying you a birthday/Christmas/wedding gift, you can do a good deed without having to spend anything.
- Free up spare change. As the days pass by, you’ll notice that the spare change in your pocket grows bigger and bigger. The next time you come across a payment machine, be sure to throw a couple of quarters in it for the next person. You can do this with basically any payment machine, for example, parking ticket terminals, parking meters but also paying for the next person’s vehicle fee at a toll booth.
- Donate your books. There are two types of books. The first type consists of really good books that you pick up again and again. The second type consists of books that were – more or less – interesting to read but no longer serve a purpose. You could donate all the books you no longer need, for instance to your local library.
- Leave a good book behind. Once you’ve finished reading an excellent book, consider leaving it for someone else to read. No matter if you’re in a cafe, train, bus or airplane, leaving a copy of a book behind is a nice way to lighten someone’s mood.
- Smile at someone. Give someone a smile. You’ll see that many people will quickly loosen up and return the smile.
- Return lost items. If you’ve ever found a purse with hundreds of dollars in it, you know how tempting it is to simply take the money and run. But always try to consider how you would feel if you had lost your wallet shortly before buying something expensive. Plus, you really get to make someone’s day by being honest and returning whatever is lost.
- Become someone’s mentor. You can always mentor someone. It’s free and there will be always people younger and less experienced than you, and they could benefit from your knowledge.
- Offer your services for free. There are many lawyers and psychologists who offer their services entirely for free for those who are in need. You could do the same by sharing your service for free. It certainly won’t hurt your business and if you’re a service provider, it only costs you some of your time.
- Listen to someone’s story. Many people don’t have someone who listens to them, someone who cares about them. You could be that someone. You don’t even have to find a solution to all their problems, sometimes it simply takes someone who is willing to listen.
- Give some words of encouragement. There are many situations in life where we see the most ludicrous things happen to strangers. Don’t be the one who just stops to stare, be the one who helps them to get back up.
- Buy something from a kid’s lemonade stand. Many kids sell lemonade or old toys. Be sure to buy something from them, it will make them incredibly happy and gives them a sense of accomplishment.
- Help someone improve their life. Making beneficial changes in your life is all about knowledge. If you’ve gone through a tough time and if you’ve found crafty hacks that helped you to overcome the difficulties, consider sharing them with other people. Your advice may greatly help them to overcome the difficulties as well.
- Be forgiving. Life will confront you with numerous opportunities to lose your patience. Perhaps someone is “stealing” your parking spot. Or the intern made another terrible mistake. Whatever it is, be willing to forgive others immediately. Be kind about their weaknesses and try to see yourself in them.
- Encourage others with Post-it notes. There are many places where people could greatly use some encouragement. If you have the time, consider posting some motivating or encouraging notes in these places.
- Spend some time with the elderly. There are many people in retirement homes that have no one who comes visiting. You could drop by your local old-age home and ask if there’s someone whose day you could brighten.
- Pray for someone in need. Many people consider praying as something that is incredibly powerful. If there is someone you know who is in need, you cannot lose much by including them in your prayers. Sent them some love and wish them the necessary strength it takes to see things through.
- Share your umbrella. When it’s raining, let someone stand with you under your umbrella.
- Pay someone an honest compliment. If you see someone doing something really great, don’t shy away from giving them a compliment. You can give out compliments for basically everything, you only need to seize the opportunity.
- Leave your change where kids will easily find it. Remember that awesome day when you found some money when you were a little child? Well, now it’s your turn to pay this wonderful feeling forward to another child. Leave some of your change somewhere you know that kids will instantly spot it.
- Mow the lawn for an elderly person. There are many people who can no longer take care of their lawn/gardens themselves. Taking care of their lawn/garden is a fantastic way to pay it forward.
- Be nice to customer service personal. Treat service personal kindly and be sure to tell them how much you appreciate their service. It can greatly brighten their mood, especially when they are confronted with ungrateful, harsh and impolite customers all the time.
- Carry someone’s bags. If you see an old lady struggling with all her bags from the grocery store, offer your help.
- Loan something without expecting it to be returned. There are people who simply won’t accept a gift from you. But if you tell them that you’re just loaning whatever you have to give, they will gladly accept the help. You don’t necessarily have to tell them that you don’t intend on calling it in again.
- Give up your seat. Offer your seat to an elderly person or a woman. They will greatly appreciate your good deed.
- Do pro bono work. You wouldn’t believe how many skills you have that could be greatly used in charitable or non-profit projects. If you have some time to spend, doing pro bono work is a fantastic way of paying it forward.
- Let others in the line go in front of you. If you’re standing in the line at the supermarket and you see that the person behind you is buying only a couple of things, let them go in front of you.
- Help someone pursue their dream. What better way to pay something forward than helping someone accomplish their dream? If you find yourself in a position that allows you to help someone realize one of their dreams, offer your help.
- Pick up garbage. Many people are so careless about nature that they simply throw things away right where they are. By picking up some garbage, you can relieve the burden these ignorant people place on nature.
- Say “yes” when someone asks for help. If someone asks you for help, see if you can help in any way shape or form. You may not always be able to solve the problem, but you can at least help to alleviate its effects.
- Make a food donation to your local food bank. Your local food bank can need all the food they can get.
CHANCE:
Cliffs Donnelly is a unique name for a town. According to Mr. Earle, it was named that because of a bribing prominent family who weren't very punctual. They were starting to acquire a new nickname though, If Only - because there was always another factory closing down, another business moving away, more people out of work, making the town a bit emptier than it was before. How did your town get it's name? Does it have any nicknames that you find interesting? Create either a half page writing piece or a page poster that describes and explains your town's name/nickname and why you think it was a good choice or a bad choice - just like Ryan did.
Cliffs Donnelly is a unique name for a town. According to Mr. Earle, it was named that because of a bribing prominent family who weren't very punctual. They were starting to acquire a new nickname though, If Only - because there was always another factory closing down, another business moving away, more people out of work, making the town a bit emptier than it was before. How did your town get it's name? Does it have any nicknames that you find interesting? Create either a half page writing piece or a page poster that describes and explains your town's name/nickname and why you think it was a good choice or a bad choice - just like Ryan did.
Activity 3:
Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy try to make as many wishes that they hear at the well come true as they can. They even inadvertently make one come true when the young boy wishes for his mom to be able to go to Boston, then there is a bump up to first class, and things just seem to work out the way they are supposed to, with a little help from the Flash Gordon gun! Does that ever happen to you? Do things just turn out perfectly, even though you weren't planning on it? Have you seen that happen in someone else's life? Is life based on chance, faith, or the school of hard knocks? Using Wordle (use the web version), create a word collage that explains/shows how you believe. Type in words that you think make the wonder of life what it is.
Ernest, Ryan and Lizzy try to make as many wishes that they hear at the well come true as they can. They even inadvertently make one come true when the young boy wishes for his mom to be able to go to Boston, then there is a bump up to first class, and things just seem to work out the way they are supposed to, with a little help from the Flash Gordon gun! Does that ever happen to you? Do things just turn out perfectly, even though you weren't planning on it? Have you seen that happen in someone else's life? Is life based on chance, faith, or the school of hard knocks? Using Wordle (use the web version), create a word collage that explains/shows how you believe. Type in words that you think make the wonder of life what it is.