The kids from 7 Oaks do some detective work to see if the students at Aspen Park really are learning the 7 Habits.

1. The 7 Oaks Detectives A visit to Aspen Park

2. The kids from 7 Oaks were feeling adventurous. They were lucky; their school had let out a week earlier than everyone else. They had heard from Ms. Hoot that Aspen Park School was learning all about the 7 Habits, just like they were, so they decided to visit Aspen Park Elementary School.

3. “I think it’s great that the kids at Aspen Park are learning the same things we are.” said Goob. Ally piped up, “How do you know for sure that the kids are learning what we’ve been learning?”

4. Lily said, “This display of sandcastles has all the habits listed, they must be studying them.” “I won’t believe it until I see it.” said Sammy.

5. “Why don’t we find out for ourselves,” said Sophie, “we could search the school for clues.” “We’d be like detectives then,” said Jumper, “I like being a detective.”

6. Pokey wasn’t really paying attention to the rest of the group. “Detective? Why do I have to be a detective “Oh, okay,” said Pokey. “To find out if the kids at Aspen are really learning about the 7 Habits like we are silly.” said Lily.

7. “Let’s split up,” suggested Sophie. “We can all look for different clues and then meet and compare notes.” “Great idea,” said Sammy. “Let’s meet in the computer lab in an hour, I bet we could find lots of clues on the school website.”

8. So the friends all split up and went in different directions. Sammy decided that he would look for clues outside first, because that’s where most the kids were. It was recess and the first thing Sammy noticed was some children playing soccer and then moved to the back of the school.

9. There he saw some more kids making dams in the streams. He took out his notebook and wrote, “soccer” and “dams.” “Wow,” thought Sammy to himself. “The kids here are really being proactive. They’re making sure they’re not bored at recess, they’re finding their own fun things to do.”

10. Goobgot distracted from the job he was supposed to do because he thought he saw an ant marching into the kindergarten room. When he got there he discovered that there were no ants, but there were frogs instead.

11. He spent some time looking at the froglets and then remembered what he was supposed to be looking for. That’s when he noticed. “The kindergarten students have a list on the board of everything they are going to do during their day. They know how to Begin with the End in Mind. They have a plan.”

12. Pokey remembered how much trouble he had studying for a spelling test and that he kept finding other fun things to do instead, so he thought he would go looking to see if kids at Aspen had the same problem.

13. He walked into Mrs. Currie’s classroom and noticed that all the students had their planners on their desks. He peeked into some of the planners and noticed that the students had all written down their homework so they wouldn’t forget.

14. He went upstairs and noticed some grade sevens. Even though it was recess time, they were busy studying for their Science final exam. “These kids know how to Put First Things First.” thought Pokey.

15. Lily went down the hall to see what the kids were planning for recess. She saw some grade fives standing together in a circle. They seemed to be discussing something, she decided to move in closer so she could overhear. “I don’t want to play soccer today.” said one girl. “Well, I don’t want to sit on the bleachers.” said another. “Oh, oh,” thought Lily, this could turn into an argument.

16. “Why don’t we go sit on the big toy instead.” said a third girl. “Great idea!” said the first girl. “That was a Win-Win” said the second girl. “That’s fantastic,” thought Lily. “The kids here are looking for Win-Win solutions.”

17. The recess bell rang and all the Aspen kids came inside. It was pretty noisy in the hallway, but everyone was headed to class. Jumper and Allie decided to tag along with a grade 2 class to see what they would be doing. Were they ever surprised when they didn’t go to their own classroom, but went to a classroom with much older students.

18. Then they watched all the grade 2s get matched with an older buddy. The children spread out and started to work. It looked like the big buddies were writing down the ideas for the little buddies. Most of the pairs were working well, but one team looked stuck. Jumper and Allie decided to have a closer look.

19. “Could you repeat that?” asked the older buddy gently, “I can’t quite hear you.” The little buddy mumbled something about a cat “Oh, do you mean the cat ate the mouse?” asked the big buddy. The little buddy nodded eagerly. Jumper turned to Allie, “They’re Seeking First to Understand, did you hear that Allie?”

20. “I did hear that!” said Allie, “but look at the time, we need to be in the computer lab in 1 minute.” Jumper and Allie scampered off to the lab. When they got there all the friends were there.

21. “Did anyone find evidence of 7 Habits?” asked Sophie. “I saw kids choosing fun things to play at recess,” said Sammy. “They were being proactive.” “The kindergartens have a plan for every day,” said Goob. “They know how to Begin with the End in Mind.” “I saw kids who put First Things First,” said Pokey. “I heard kids Think Win-Win,” said Lily. “We saw someone Seeking First to Understand,” said Jumper and Allie.

22. The friends all huddled around the computer screen. They saw all the newsletters telling the moms and dads about the 7 Habits work the kids were doing all year. They saw their own stories on the website ready to read. They even saw the Synergy Dance!

23. “That’s amazing,” said Sophie. “We found evidence of 6 Habits. But I didn’t see anything yet about Sharpening the Saw, why don’t we all look for that one and then meet back in the front entrance before we go.”

24. The friends all headed off again to look for evidence of Sharpening the Saw. Jumper and Lily saw people taking care of their bodies by exercising.

25. Pokey and Goob saw lots of people learning new things and taking care of their minds.

26. Sammy saw students taking care of the world through recycling, that’s how they took care of their own hearts.

27. Sophie saw students listening to beautiful music in the music room and taking care of their souls.

28. The friends all met together in the foyer of the school. “Look at all these tickets on the wall.” said Sophie. She read what some of them said. “I think Aspen Park really is learning about the 7 Habits, and these tickets are the final proof.”

29. “I agree.” said Lily. “I think Aspen Park Rocks!” “We do too,” chimed in the others, “Aspen Park Rocks!”

30. The 7 Oaks Detectives Written by Miss Wester Illustrations by Stacy Curtis Power point created by Brett D, Jenna E, Taylor M, Jairynn K, and Mr. Timms