Project Cornerstone is committed to helping all children and teens in Silicon Valley feel valued, respected and known. Our programs and services help individuals and communities build a web of support around young people so that they grow into healthy, caring and responsible adults.
Washington Open & Project Cornerstone
This Month's Book
This month’s Project Cornerstone book Nobody Knew What To Do by Becky Ray McCain tells the story of how one child found the courage to be an UPstander and tell a teacher about a fellow student being bullied by children in school.
Goals of the lesson include:
- Identifying caring adults who provide support and positive communication.
- Teachimg students how to tell and make a report.
- Using positive self-talk to boost personal power in interpersonal relationships.
- Role modeling UPstander responses to support each other.
- Creating a caring, safe school environment for all by teaching adults on school campuses how to respond to student reporting.
- Generating ways to be UPstanders when faced with cyberbullying.
Previous Month's Books
Mr. Peabody's Apples by Madonna
One of the lessons of the book is that rumors and gossip cannot be taken back. One way for kids to stop rumors is to think before they speak. They can also use this handy acronym, "THINK" to decide whether they are spreading a rumor:
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
This book is about expressing daily kindness and appreciation to others. In this month's book lesson, students will learn to use the strong visual imagery of bucket filling as a tool and bucket-filling language to build friendship skills and campus-wide respect.
A video of someone reading the book out loud can be found here.
Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae. In this book, Gerald, a gangly giraffe, wants to join in at the dance; but all the other animals make fun of him. Luckily, Gerald meets a friendly cricket that helps him tap into his inner-self and discover his unique talents.
One of the most important lessons discussed in this book is: There are some things we can control, and some things that we can’t control. In the story, Gerald is teased with name-calling and put-downs. His new friend, the cricket helps him learn that he only has power and control over how he responds to the teases and put-downs. He learns to focus on the fact that you have the power to choose how to react to situations.
Like Gerald, your child is learning about developing positive personal power. One important aspect of personal power is being responsible for your own behavior and feelings. We discussed some specific skills to gain personal power:
• Be an optimist. Look on the bright side, and expect good things to happen.
• Tune in to your inner voice, and use positive self-talk.
• Build a skill. Learn what you need to do to improve, and then practice!
• Be an UPstander. Use your words and actions to make sure that everyone—including yourself, is treated with respect.
• If you need help with any of these skills, find a supportive peer or adult who will offer you the help you need.
We hope you will talk with your child about Giraffes Can’t Dance to reinforce the message at home and help your child to develop these skills:
• Create opportunities to encourage her or him to try new things.
• Offer praise for their willingness to try.
• Whenever possible, give your child control over choices and decisions made at home.
• Whenever they’re in a negative situation, help your child “switch the channel” to reframe their inner dialogue to create an “I can do it!” attitude.
