The Bully's Perspective
Grade Level: 2/3
Subject Area: Social Studies & Literacy
Essential Questions of the Unit:
1. How does bullying affect people?
2. How can we make everyone feel safe and cared for?
Guiding Questions:
1. Why do people bully other people?
2. How does the bully feel?
3. Why do we need to help the bully too?
Lesson Context:
· This lesson is the fourth lesson in this unit where students learn about why bullies bully. They will learn about why it is important to help the bully.
Lesson Goals:
1. The students will consider different reasons for why bullies bully other people.
2. Students will learn what a monologue is.
3. The students will write a monologue of a bully, explaining why they resorted to bullying someone else.
4. Students will perform their monologues in small groups.
5. The students will identify ways bullies can resolve their conflicts in more appropriate ways.
MMSD Standards:
· Social Studies:
o Identify and evaluate ways conflicts can be resolved.
o Demonstrate respect and responsibility for self, others, and property.
· Literacy:
o With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
o With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
o With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills).
NCSS Standards:
· Individual Development & Identity.
· Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
Materials:
· Butcher-block paper (2 sheets).
· Marker.
· Multiple copies of the four sections from the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too.
o http://technorati.com/lifestyle/family/article/dont-forget-bullies-are-victims-too/.
Activities/Assignments/Procedure:
· Before beginning the lesson, take the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too and split it into four sections.
· Say to the students, “So far we have been talking a lot about how the person being bullied feels. Who have we not mentioned in our discussions so far?” The students should eventually say that they have not talked about the bully.
· Tell the class that today, we will be talking about what makes someone bully another person.
· Split the class into four groups. For group one, give each student in that group a copy of the first section of the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too. Group two gets the second part. Group three gets the third part. Group four gets the fourth part. Have the groups read their section and write down a sentence or two on their copy of the article describing their section’s main idea. Have each student in each of the groups assign themselves a letter (A, B, C, D). Have all of the As in the class get together, the Bs get together, the Cs get together, and the Ds get together. The students will explain their section to the new members of their group.
· Bring the whole class back together. Have students share reasons that they learned from the article and from their peers for why bullies bully other people. Write this list on a piece of butcher-block paper.
o Responses:
§ The bully is being abused emotionally or physically at home.
§ The bully is having trouble learning in school.
§ The bully has no positive role model in his or her life.
§ They are using bad behaviors to act out and get attention.
§ It is a way to cope with something that is happening in their lives.
· Ask the students if they know what a monologue is. Explain to them that a monologue is a speech that lets the audience know the speaker’s inner thoughts. Tell the students that they are going to imagine that they are a bully. Tell them that they are going to think of an instance where their pretend bully self bullied someone else. Tell them they are going to write a monologue where they describe what they were thinking when they decided to bully someone. They will describe how the bully was feeling at the time and why they bullied someone. Tell the students this will be an individual project and that their monologue should be at least one side of a page of loose-leaf paper in length, without skipping any lines.
· Hand out the grading rubric for the monologue so the students know what they need to do to achieve the grade they want.
· Give the students ample time to write their monologues.
· Have the students do a peer revision of their monologues with the focus being on word choice. The students have previously been learning about word choice and on choosing strong words/phrases that concisely get their point across.
· Have the students type up a final draft of their monologue in the computer room.
· Have the students practice reading their monologues to a partner.
· Each pair will get together with another pair. The four students will perform their monologues to each other.
· Remind the students that everyone is different and that not everyone becomes a bully for the same reason, but that the reasons they have discussed today helps them understand some of the reasons why people become bullies.
· Ask the students if they think it is important that society helps bullies and gives them the support that they need so that they do not bully other people as a way to cope with their problems. Have the students who think it is important to help the bully put their hands on their head. Have those who do not think it is important to help the bully put their hands on their desk. Have the students share their reasons for their decision.
o Tell the class that it is important to help the bully because they too are victims of something in their lives that is making them lash out at others as a way to cope. Tell them that if people do not reach out to the bully, bullying will never stop.
o As a class, brainstorm people that bullies can turn to when they need help. Create a class Helping Hand for a bully on a piece of butcher-block paper.
§ Remind the students of the reasons they learned from the article about why bullies bully and that many of them do not have a support system at home. Have them keep that in mind when creating the helping hand.
§ Helping Hand people: Teacher, neighbor, principal, relative, another student.
§ Ask the class how they think a bully would feel about asking another student for help, since other students are usually the ones bullies pick on. The class might respond by saying that another student might not be the most likely option for a bully who wants help. Ask the class how they can make it a more likely option. Possible responses might focus on trying to include as many people as possible during free choice activities and out at recess, asking the people who are usually excluded how their day has been, getting to know everyone in the classroom, etc.
§ Tell the students that it is very important to try to be friendly with each of their classmates because they never know if one of them is struggling to make it through the day.
Assessment:
Informal: I will observe the students during the jigsaw style share out of the article to make sure everyone is participating. Observations of the students during class discussions will occur to make sure they understand the importance of supporting the bully.
Formal: The student’s rough draft edited by their peer and their final draft of their monologues will be collected. The grading rubric below will be used to grade the monologue.
Subject Area: Social Studies & Literacy
Essential Questions of the Unit:
1. How does bullying affect people?
2. How can we make everyone feel safe and cared for?
Guiding Questions:
1. Why do people bully other people?
2. How does the bully feel?
3. Why do we need to help the bully too?
Lesson Context:
· This lesson is the fourth lesson in this unit where students learn about why bullies bully. They will learn about why it is important to help the bully.
Lesson Goals:
1. The students will consider different reasons for why bullies bully other people.
2. Students will learn what a monologue is.
3. The students will write a monologue of a bully, explaining why they resorted to bullying someone else.
4. Students will perform their monologues in small groups.
5. The students will identify ways bullies can resolve their conflicts in more appropriate ways.
MMSD Standards:
· Social Studies:
o Identify and evaluate ways conflicts can be resolved.
o Demonstrate respect and responsibility for self, others, and property.
· Literacy:
o With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.
o With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.
o With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing (using keyboarding skills).
NCSS Standards:
· Individual Development & Identity.
· Individuals, Groups, and Institutions.
Materials:
· Butcher-block paper (2 sheets).
· Marker.
· Multiple copies of the four sections from the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too.
o http://technorati.com/lifestyle/family/article/dont-forget-bullies-are-victims-too/.
Activities/Assignments/Procedure:
· Before beginning the lesson, take the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too and split it into four sections.
· Say to the students, “So far we have been talking a lot about how the person being bullied feels. Who have we not mentioned in our discussions so far?” The students should eventually say that they have not talked about the bully.
· Tell the class that today, we will be talking about what makes someone bully another person.
· Split the class into four groups. For group one, give each student in that group a copy of the first section of the article Don’t Forget: Bullies are Victims Too. Group two gets the second part. Group three gets the third part. Group four gets the fourth part. Have the groups read their section and write down a sentence or two on their copy of the article describing their section’s main idea. Have each student in each of the groups assign themselves a letter (A, B, C, D). Have all of the As in the class get together, the Bs get together, the Cs get together, and the Ds get together. The students will explain their section to the new members of their group.
· Bring the whole class back together. Have students share reasons that they learned from the article and from their peers for why bullies bully other people. Write this list on a piece of butcher-block paper.
o Responses:
§ The bully is being abused emotionally or physically at home.
§ The bully is having trouble learning in school.
§ The bully has no positive role model in his or her life.
§ They are using bad behaviors to act out and get attention.
§ It is a way to cope with something that is happening in their lives.
· Ask the students if they know what a monologue is. Explain to them that a monologue is a speech that lets the audience know the speaker’s inner thoughts. Tell the students that they are going to imagine that they are a bully. Tell them that they are going to think of an instance where their pretend bully self bullied someone else. Tell them they are going to write a monologue where they describe what they were thinking when they decided to bully someone. They will describe how the bully was feeling at the time and why they bullied someone. Tell the students this will be an individual project and that their monologue should be at least one side of a page of loose-leaf paper in length, without skipping any lines.
· Hand out the grading rubric for the monologue so the students know what they need to do to achieve the grade they want.
· Give the students ample time to write their monologues.
· Have the students do a peer revision of their monologues with the focus being on word choice. The students have previously been learning about word choice and on choosing strong words/phrases that concisely get their point across.
· Have the students type up a final draft of their monologue in the computer room.
· Have the students practice reading their monologues to a partner.
· Each pair will get together with another pair. The four students will perform their monologues to each other.
· Remind the students that everyone is different and that not everyone becomes a bully for the same reason, but that the reasons they have discussed today helps them understand some of the reasons why people become bullies.
· Ask the students if they think it is important that society helps bullies and gives them the support that they need so that they do not bully other people as a way to cope with their problems. Have the students who think it is important to help the bully put their hands on their head. Have those who do not think it is important to help the bully put their hands on their desk. Have the students share their reasons for their decision.
o Tell the class that it is important to help the bully because they too are victims of something in their lives that is making them lash out at others as a way to cope. Tell them that if people do not reach out to the bully, bullying will never stop.
o As a class, brainstorm people that bullies can turn to when they need help. Create a class Helping Hand for a bully on a piece of butcher-block paper.
§ Remind the students of the reasons they learned from the article about why bullies bully and that many of them do not have a support system at home. Have them keep that in mind when creating the helping hand.
§ Helping Hand people: Teacher, neighbor, principal, relative, another student.
§ Ask the class how they think a bully would feel about asking another student for help, since other students are usually the ones bullies pick on. The class might respond by saying that another student might not be the most likely option for a bully who wants help. Ask the class how they can make it a more likely option. Possible responses might focus on trying to include as many people as possible during free choice activities and out at recess, asking the people who are usually excluded how their day has been, getting to know everyone in the classroom, etc.
§ Tell the students that it is very important to try to be friendly with each of their classmates because they never know if one of them is struggling to make it through the day.
Assessment:
Informal: I will observe the students during the jigsaw style share out of the article to make sure everyone is participating. Observations of the students during class discussions will occur to make sure they understand the importance of supporting the bully.
Formal: The student’s rough draft edited by their peer and their final draft of their monologues will be collected. The grading rubric below will be used to grade the monologue.