【推荐1】It was Saturday morning and I asked seven-year-old Kelley to let her daddy take her to gym class. But she didn’t agree. I explained that some friends would visit our house that day and I had to clean the house. But the truth was, I had spent 20 years watching Kelley’s five elder brothers and sisters take lessons and I just wanted to get out of it. However, seeing Kelley was going to cry, I decided to do this once more.

Looking through the door, I watched as the teacher led the students to a rope (绳索) hanging in the corner of the gym. One after another, each child in line climbed up the thick rope while the teacher held it at the bottom. Then it was Kelley’s turn — the youngest in the class. With a big smile, she climbed higher and higher. Then it happened. About halfway up, the teacher loudly warned, “Don’t go up any farther than you’re able to come down.”

Kelley halted... Then slowly moved down all the way to the floor. I knew she was heading to the top of that rope and was perfectly capable (能胜任的) of reaching it. Why did she stop? I questioned her on the way home.

“Kelley, could you have climbed all the way to the top?”

“Yes,” she quietly replied.

“Then why didn’t you keep going?”

Silence.

“Was it because of what the teacher said?” I asked.

She nodded.

I knew it was time to teach.

“Kelley, don’t let anybody make you doubt yourself. Don’t ever let anyone keep you from knowing what you can do... Even though they seem bigger, or smarter or older. Will you remember that?” I said.

“Yes!” She answered quickly.

I was glad I chose to take Kelley to the class and got the chance to teach her an important lesson.

【推荐2】A Cheap Sweater

Mr.Ford saw a nice sweater in the shop window．It was very cheap．So he bought one．

When he went back home he put the sweater on．It was all right and he was pleased with it．

In the afternoon he went out to work in his garden．It soon began to rain，and Mr.Ford had to run into his house．He ran quickly，but he still got wet．

Then his sweater started to shrink．It got smaller and smaller．Mr.Ford tried to take it off，but he couldn’t．

In the end，with the help of his wife，he got out of the sweater．Mrs.Ford laughed，“You see，you bought a cheap thing，but…”

【推荐3】Mrs. Weeks was reading a newspaper story to her class. The story said “Were you ever in a hospital when you were small? How did you feel?” The doctors in Children’s Hospital are asking for money for children’s toys. Some children in the hospital must stay in bed for many weeks. Toys are needed to keep these sick children happy and quiet. Money for them can be sent to the hospital.

After Mrs. Weeks read the story, she said，“This story gave me an idea.”

“You want us to bring some money for the toys.” “We could bring some of our own toys for the children in the hospital.” said the boys and girls one after another.   

“Well，your ideas would be nice, ” Mrs. Weeks said, “but mine is different.”

“We could make some toys.” shouted one of them. Mrs. Weeks smiled.

“Do you think you could make toys?” she asked.” Yes, yes.” the whole class answered.

“Great! Let’s begin to make toys tomorrow.” said Mrs. Weeks. On Saturday afternoon Mrs. Weeks took children to the hospital with the toys made by her students. The children in the class felt happy, too. A few days later, Mrs. Weeks read another newspaper story to the class: Some school pupils brought toys to Children’s Hospital last week. The toys were made by the pupils of Grade Three in Green Street School.

The doctor said, “We have never had so many wonderful toys. Our children are very happy with them. They say “THANK YOU, GRADE THREE.”

【推荐2】My good friend

One Friday morning in September, our teacher, Mrs. Ferrara, told us that a new student was joining the class. “Her name is Luz,” said Mrs. Ferrara. “She is from the Lakeland School. She is interested in maths and music.”

Luz walked into our classroom on Monday morning. She was using a folding cane(折叠杖). I think she used it to make sure her feet would not knock into things. Mrs. Ferrara gave her a seat in the front of the room. Her desk was far from the window. Maybe the bright light near the window made trouble for her.

Some of the children wanted to help Luz get in line for lunch. She refused quietly: “Thanks, but I don’t need help.” Jose tried to help her walk downstairs to lunch, but again she answered, “Thank you, I don’t need help.”

I introduced myself at lunch. “Hi, Luz, I am Sasha, and I came from Russia last year.” She replied softly, “Hi, Sasha. I was born in California, but my parents came from Mexico. ”

Luz seemed to keep away from us. I thought she looked a little sad. One day, I dared to ask. “Why are you sad, Luz?”She looked at me and didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she said, “I miss my friends in my old school. They knew me already. They knew what   I could do. They knew when I needed help and when I didn’t.”

In October, things began to get better. It was time for chorus (合唱队) to begin practicing. Luz and I both joined. Luz had a great voice! When clubs were announced, Luz chose Math Club. She was a math whiz! Soon Luz was helping others in the class who had difficulty with math. Luz looked happier now. She talked more.

Luz became very special to me. We talked and shared our secrets during break. We visited after school. Sometimes on weekends, our families went out together. We became good friends. I could tell Luz anything. She could keep secrets. She was a good friend.

【推荐3】New Year is coming. Do you have any plans for yourself? Let’s look at the following kids’ New Year’s plans.