Five Special Words

Illustration of student thinking about Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trust, Family.

Written by Gail Curry Horn, JoAnn Chirichetti, Danielle Savoie, Marcie Quinlan, and Lizette Crowley from the Morey School in Lowell, MA

Illustrated by Amy Ingalls
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We would like to dedicate this story to the Morey School Community of Caring and Danielle for her inspirational song and Edie for her music.

 

 

 

Special thanks to the Massachusetts Department of Education whose funding supported teachers and parents in the development of this story. © CAST, 2006

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Illustration of Alisha finding a bracelet in the playground.
 
Outside at recess Alisha saw something shiny. “What is this? A shiny bracelet! It’s beautiful!”
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Illustration of Alisha showing bracelet to the boys.

“What did you find?” asked the boys. “A shiny bracelet,” said Alisha.

“What are you going to do with it?” asked the boys.
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Illustration of the teacher calling the students in from recess.
 
“You should take that to the office,” said one boy.
 
“Tell the teacher you found it,” said the second boy.
 
“Well, I think you should keep it!” said the third boy.
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Illustration of Mrs. G. paging and Alisha listening to the page.
 
At the end of the day, Alisha heard Mrs. G, the school secretary, on the speaker. She said, “A little girl lost a shiny gold bracelet. If you find it, please bring it to the office. Have a Happy Day!”
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Illustration of Alisha and her mother.
 
When Alisha got home from school, her mother saw a bracelet fall out of her pocket. “Where did you get this?” asked Mom.
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Illustration of Alisha and her mother.

“I found it,” Alisha answered.

It didn’t seem like Mom really believed her.
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Illustration of Alisha listening to her mother.
 
“Gee, I bet someone is very sad that they lost their shiny bracelet,” said Mom. “Let’s sit down; I want to tell you a story.”
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Illustration of Alisha and her mother on the couch.
 
“When you were born, we named you Alisha, which means ‘to be honest’. It is hard to be honest, especially when you find something that you want to keep. I trust you will do the right thing with the bracelet,” said Mom.
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Illustration of Alisha's class.

The next morning at school, Mrs. Bell called the children to the rug for a class meeting.

Mrs. Bell said, “Let’s begin with our song, ‘Five Special Words’.”
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Illustration of Alisha's class listening to the song.
 
As she listened to the song, Alisha thought about the words and she knew what to do.
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Illustration of Alisha and Mrs. G.
 
“Hi, Alisha,” said Mrs. G.
 
“Hi, Mrs. G. I found this shiny bracelet. I bet someone is sad that they lost it,” said Alisha.
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Illustration of Alisha, Mrs. G., and Sovann.
 
Mrs G. called Sovann to the office. Alisha said, “I found your shiny bracelet. Here it is.”
 
Sovann smiled brightly as she said thank you.
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Illustration of Alisha eating lunch.
 
Later at lunch, Alisha thought about responsibility, respect, caring, trust, and family. She knew she did the right thing and that everyone would be proud of her.
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“FIVE SPECIAL WORDS”
(Sung to the tune of ‘Turkey and the Straw’)

When you walk right into the Morey School
You will hear five words that are really cool!
I have learned these special words and I’ll tell you what they are.
If you follow them with me, then you will be a star!

Well, the first special word is responsibility;
And I’ll tell you what this word means to me;
It means you do your job and I’ll work hard on mine;
When we do our jobs together then we really shine!

Well, the second special word is a value we expect
We give it to each other and it’s called respect.
It means we think a lot of our friends and teachers too.
If you want respect then show respect in all you do.

Now, caring, trust and family go together in a bunch.
I think you know their meaning; well it’s just a hunch!
When you trust the folks around you and you care about them too —
Then you soon become a family. This is really true!

C. W. MOREY!! YIPEE!!

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The End!
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