Character Building: Bullying3rd–5th Grade Objectives

• Studentswilllistenandrespondtoliteraturereadaloudbytheteacher.

• Studentswillshareinterpretationsoflessonsinastoryandlearntoapplytheselessonstotheirownlives.

Materials Needed• A Bad Case of StripesbyDavidShannon• Chalkboard,sentencestripsorinteractivewhiteboard• Notebookpaper

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Introduction

Askstudentsiftheyhaveafavoritefoodthatmightsurpriseothers,likebroccoli,spinachorbeets!Invitevolunteerstotelltheclasswhatthissurprisingfoodis.Tellstudentsthatyouaregoingtoreadastoryinwhichthemaincharacterhasanoddchoiceforafavoritefood.Askstudentstopayspecialattentiontowhathappenstothischaracter,howherclassmatesreacttoher,andwhatshedoestosolveherproblem.ReadaloudA Bad Case of StripesbyDavidShannon.

Procedure

1. Afterreadingthestory,leadstudentsinabriefdiscussionaboutwhathappened.

2.Chartthefollowingquestionsonsentencestripsoronaclassroomchalkboardorwhiteboard,invitingstudentstoconsiderresponses.

•WhatwasCamilla’sfavoritefood?WhydoyouthinkCamillawasafraidofpeoplefindingoutthatshelikedit?

•WhatcouldCamillahavedonedifferentlytodealwiththestudentswhoweremakingfunofher?

•WhatdoyouthinkCamilla’sprincipalcouldhavedonetohelptheotherstudentsacceptCamilla?

•HowcouldtheotherstudentshavereactedtohelpCamillafeellessembarrassed?

•Doyouthinktheotherstudentsinthestorywereengaginginbullyingbehavior?Whyorwhynot?

3.Invitestudentstochoosetwoorthreeofthediscussionquestionsandwriteresponsesonnotebookpaper

4.Challengestudentstoelaborateontheirresponsesbygivingexamplesofsomethingsimilarthatthey’veseenorexperiencedintheirownlives.Encouragestudentstowriteabouthowthisexperiencemadethemfeel.

Guided Practice

1. Dividetheclassintosmalldiscussiongroupsofthreetofourstudents.

2.Invitestudentstosharetheirresponseswithoneanother,takingtimetolistenandrelatetoeachother’sexperiences.

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3.Poseafewquestionsforthegroupstoconsideranddiscussinresponsetothestory.Forexample,ask,“Whatmessageistheauthortryingconveytothereader?”or“Whatdoyouthinkthelessonofthisstoryis,andhowdoesitapplytoourclass?”

4.Encourageeachgrouptosharetheirconclusions,workingtoreinforcetheideathatbullyingshouldnotbetoleratedoracceptedinyourclassroom.

5.Invitestudentstothinkofwaystostopclassroombullying.Usestudents’ideastocreateabullying-freezoneposterforclassroomdisplay.