Resha and Su

Creating a Caring Classroom Community

Lets Combat Bullying!
Lesson Plan 1: What is Bullying?

Grade Levels: 3rd Grade (ICT class)

Context
Over the past few weeks there have been numerous instances of students name calling, getting into
altercations, and lack of empathy in our classrooms. We designed this three day lesson plan to help students
understand and analyze what the words: bullying, excluding, community, and citizen mean in hopes of creating
a more inclusive classroom community.
Objective:
Students will understand the terms: bullying, excluding, community, and citizen
Hook:
Pose engaging questions to discover background knowledge. Provide opportunities for applications of
recent skills and demonstration of recent knowledge. What prior knowledge are you counting on? Will
this be a problem for any of your students and if so, what will you do?
We have a question for everyone today and it is a very important question. What is bullying? We want
everyone to close their eyes and just think about it for a second. (Wait a few second for students to think).
Now, we want everyone to open their eyes and when youre ready, turn a talk to a partner about what you think
bullying is. (Students will turn and talk and teachers will walk around the classroom to listen to student
responses. After a few minutes, the students will share out their thoughts. Students might say: when someone
is mean to another person, not letting a friend play with you, etc.). Now, we want to ask, what is a community?
Turn and talk to you partners. (The teachers will once again circulate the room to listen in on conversations according to the NYS scope and sequence for social studies, the students learn about communities in
Kindergarten, first, and second grade). Now, lets come back and share some ideas that we might have about
the community! Now, if we are not familiar with both words, it is absolutely fine because we will be looking at
what those words mean to us for the next three days. (The prior knowledge we are counting on here is the
knowledge of community that they may have built in school for the past 3 years. Now, we see that this may be
highly problematic if there is a student in the class from a different state and has not lived in New York in
Kindergarten, first, or second grade. For those students, we will state at the end of the hook to not worry
because for the next three days, those who are not familiar with those terms will hopefully become familiar with
them).
Introduction:
What is expected from students? Students learn why todays instruction is important to them as a
member in the class/ community and how the lesson relates to their prior work. The teaching point is
stated.
For the next three days, we will be tackling and investigating the meaning behind these two words and many
more. We (the two teachers) will not be telling you the definitions of any of these words. We (as a class) will
investigate these words together and talk about what each person believes the words bullying, excluding,
community, and citizen mean (these words will be written on chart paper). That means that we have to be
respectful of what others have to share and we need to be listening to our friends when they are talking. If this
makes sense to you, put your hand on your head (wait for students to do so and if it isnt clear, allow students
to ask questions). Great! Now, with all of that information in our minds, we want to get started! Team, we want
to tell you that today, we will work together (and individually) to investigate (the word investigate will

be introduced prior to this lesson) and think about what the words bullying, excluding, community,
and citizen mean! But, we want to say a secret: we wont be looking up any of these words in the dictionary!
Teach:
Students will have opportunities to engage in content material and demonstrate their knowledge.
Has anyone ever seen or read this book? (hold up the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes). Great! it
seems that some of us has seen it and if you have never seen it, that is fine because we will be reading this
together today. Now, lets try to really listen to this read aloud with all of the words on the chart in our minds
because later, we will share what we noticed. (Read the book aloud to the students, stopping in the middle a
few times to ask the students to turn and talk to their partners about how they think the characters feel and
what they think about the characters in general). Investigators, we want you to think inside your head for a
moment about the entire story we just read.a lot has happened. what do you think the words up here in
the chart mean based on the story? Who do you think was the person who was bullying, who do you think was
being bullied? (these questions will be listed on a separate chart paper) Turn and talk to you partners.
(circulate the room and listen in on students conversations and have students share what they have shared
and heard). (Possible student responses: Chrysanthemum was being bullied; Victoria was the person who was
bullying; Victoria was mean for saying that Chrysanthemum should change her name, etc.). Great, weve
noticed that many of us noticed similar things and some of us noticed some different things. Lets write it all
down here (there will be one chart paper for each word hanging in front of the class and we will call all of the
students to come up to add a definition to a word/ words of their choice. After a few minutes of writing, we will
ask students to do a mini gallery walk and see what everyone wrote on the chart papers). Okay friends, lets all
find our seats. we see that a lot of us added many ideas for the words. Write all of these down in your reading
notebooks and also think about some more ideas that we might have about these four words. (I will take out
my reading notebook and model for students). So, we might add for the word citizen: someone who is part of a
community. We might also add the word: helpful to describe a citizen. We want us to write whatever comes to
mind about these words and to also keep in mind that we can also draw pictures of what this can look like!
Your thoughts dont always have to be words. So, we are looking for investigators who are ready to get their
reading notebooks and ready to go (send students off to work independently).
Mid - Workshop Interruption: Wow, we are noticing that many of us are writing down many different ideas in
our notebooks and also noticing some pictures. We want to let our investigators know that there is no right or
wrong answer here. We want us to keep thinking about more things that come to mind when we think about
these words, not just based on the book we just read, but also based on any experiences you had or another
person had. The sky's the limit!
Closing Circle:
How will you bring students to closure with this learning experience and connect it to future learning?
(student connection)
What have we learned?
Team, lets all come together (hopefully on the floor) in a circle with your reading notebooks. Weve noticed
that all of us wrote and drew many things about these four words. Why dont we share what we have written
and drawn. (Students will volunteer and share. We will be looking to see if many students wrote that the bully
is bad/ mean or if the citizen is good/ nice.). Wow, weve noticed that all of us had a lot of ideas to share.
Lets really keep all of these thoughts in our minds as we continue to work with this tomorrow.

Lesson Plan 2: Breaking Stereotypes

Objective:
What do you want students to know, understand, or be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Students will be able to explore different stereotypes that often lead to bullying. Students will understand that
everyone is different and that we should not generalize based on gender, race, culture, family background, etc.
Hook:
So yesterday we talked about bullying, and we see that many of you wrote how bullying is not good and
mean. But are people who bully really bad? (Have a class discussion with teacher facilitation.) Why might
people think of someone who bullies as bad? Do you think people who bully can also be bullied? What if it
continues like a never-ending circle!
Explain to students that the person is not bad, it is the action and behavior of people who bully that makes us
feel bad. In order to prevent these behaviors, we need to try and understand the person first.
One way to understand people better is to get rid of your stereotypes. What do you think stereotypes are?
Add your own definition to your reading notebooks
Today we will be breaking our own stereotypes!
Introduction:
Pre-lesson task. We talked about bullying yesterday, what are some reasons you think people may bully?
Students are instructed to write or draw in their notebooks and then share with each other, and the class.
Teach:
So when I was in second grade, I got glasses. Immediately people began calling me a nerd and making fun of
me and my glasses. I hated it! I dont think all people who wear glasses are nerds, and I found it unfair for
people to call me that! Has anyone made fun of you for the way you look, act, speak,? Why dont you share
that in your reading notebook or with a friend next to you. Students can share via drawing, writing, or verbally.
A two column-chart paper is posted on the wall. Teachers will do the first demonstration: they can write man
and woman side-by-side on a two-column chart. They ask students for qualities/characteristics of man and
woman and write those phrases down under their corresponding word. Students can take turns and volunteer
to come up and add to the chart. Example of possible result:
Man -- strong, sports-lover, wear pants, short hair, hard working, truck driver, makes the money,
Woman -- loving, nurse, shop, likes flowers, cries easily, long hair, likes to cook
Are we happy with the lists you have created? Do you see any changes you would like to make to them?
Are there any words that do not belong under the heading they're under? Are there any words that might fit
under both headings?
Is it fair to say that all men _________ or that all women ________?

Share a few more phrases with students and have them breakdown the stereotypes.
All old people are forgetful.
Girls are not as athletic as boys.
Men are better at math than women are.
African-American men are the best basketball players.
Let students know that they can show their work in any way they chose. They can come up to the wall charts
that are placed in the classroom, use their own T-charts in their reading notebooks, or they can draw or write in
their reading notebooks how they plan to break the stereotypes.
Give students a few moments to consider those phrases.

Mid - Workshop Interruption: We are noticing that a lot of you are breaking the stereotypes in very different
and unique ways. You can work with your neighbors and share ideas if you would like. Remember that there is
no right or wrong way to show how you are breaking these stereotypes. It is important for us to see that you
understand how these stereotypes are not true.
Students will begin to realize the process of labeling and will begin to break down stereotypes and remove
unfairly label individuals or groups. Ask them to share their reactions. Lead students to the conclusion that the
statements are too general and encourage them to recognize that it is unfair to make such statements. Help
students make the connection between the phrases and the term stereotype. Encourage students to think of
other stereotypes they might want to share, and bust them together as a class.
Closing Circle:
Bring students together into a community circle. Ask them to share how they felt about the lesson. What did
they learn? Give them five minutes to quickly jot down their thoughts and drawings in their reading notebook.
Ask them to share if and why their definition may have changed and how has this changed their thoughts
moving forward.

Lesson Plan 3: What is Bullying now?

Objective:
Students will understand that the stereotypes linked with bullying are not necessarily true and that we must ask
questions to understand what is lying beneath all of the judgments.
Hook:
Pose engaging questions to discover background knowledge. Provide opportunities for applications of
recent skills and demonstration of recent knowledge. What prior knowledge are you counting on? Will
this be a problem for any of your students and if so, what will you do?
Investigators! Yesterday, we talked a lot about breaking stereotypes. If you remember this, nod your head
(wait for students to respond). What were some of the stereotypes that we talked about? (have students raise
their hands to share what they remember).Today, we are going to look more closely at these stereotypes and
why it is important for us to continue to break these stereotypes. (Some students may have been absent the
day before and may not know what we are talking about here. If this is the case, we will add in a pretty lengthy
turn and talk to allot ample amount of time for those students who were not present the day before to talk to
peers and get an idea of what we did the day before).
Introduction:
What is expected from students? Students learn why todays instruction is important to them as a
member in the class/ community and how the lesson relates to their prior work. The teaching point is
stated.
Team, today we will need to be listeners in order to investigate what we will be talking about today. Today, we
will work together to revisit stereotypes and ask questions to understand what is lying underneath
stereotypes and judgments.
Teach:
Students will have opportunities to engage in content material and demonstrate their knowledge.
Investigators, today you will see a little play! We (the teachers) will put on a play for you all and your job will
be to watch and listen to what we are doing and saying. BUT, before we begin, we want to show you this chart
(there will be a T - chart hanging in the front of the class and with the two categories The Person Who Bullies
and The Person Being Bullied.). You will all see two different short plays. After the first one, everyone will get
a yellow post - it and after the second one, everyone will get a pink post - it. On the post - its, we will draw or
write what we felt and what we thought. (We will have guiding questions ready for the students to answer after
each play. The questions will be shown/ read to all of the students. *posted after each script below*). There will
be questions that will help you to think about what to draw or write. You can put your post - its on either side of
the T - chart or you can even put one on each side (The Person Who Bullies vs. The Person Being Bullied).
Okay, before we begin, lets make sure that we remain silent during the plays so that everyone can hear us.
Script 1: Recess

Script 2: Recess

A: Hey B, can I play basketball with you?

A: Hey B, can I play basketball with you?

B: No! This is all mine. You cant touch

these basketballs.

B: No! This is all mine. You cant touch these basketballs.

A: But, there are two of them. I was

wondering if you wanted to play with me.

A: Okay, is there a reason why you dont want to share the

basketballs?

B: (frowning) Because, I dont play with losers!

B: Go away, I dont want you to play with my
basketballs or me!
A: Please? I just want to shoot some hoops!
Why cant we just share?
B: (frowning) Because I dont want to share
with you. Why dont you just go play
something else?
A: But, I really want to play basketball, B.
B: (frowning) No, I said just go play
something else. Besides, I dont play with
losers.
A: Im telling on you! (proceeds to tell the
teacher).

A: Hey, I feel hurt when you use those words and I noticed
that you look upset. Did I do something wrong? Is everything
okay?
B: (sighs) Everything's not okay. Every time I try to play
basketball at home, my older brother doesnt let me play
because he said that Im not good enough and when he says
that, I get upset. So, when Im here, all I want to do is play
basketball. Im sorry, I didnt mean to call you names. Its just I
was so mad at my brother that I couldnt help just being so
angry.
A: I understand, B. Thank you for telling me that. I did not
know.
B: Well, would you like to play?
A: Sure.

Questions:
What did you notice about the person who
bullies and the person being bullied?
What type of stereotypes would these
people have?

Questions:
After finding out about why the person who bullies was
bullying A, what do you think now? How has your judgments
changed?

Wow, we see many different ideas that all of us posted and we can really see that we were all thinking a lot!
What different things did we notice about the two plays? Turn and talk to a partner. (Have students turn and
talk for a few minutes and circulate the room to listen. Ask students to share out). Thank you for all of your
ideas! We want to also point out something! Notice how in the second play, A asked questions instead of
trying to get B to share the ball. Sometimes, when we ask questions, we can find out a lot about why the
person is acting a certain way (we will share this if no one brings this up during the discussions). However, we
do want to keep in mind that sometimes if you ask a question, that person may not answer you. BUT we
wanted to show you that sometimes asking questions can be helpful.
Now that weve broken some stereotypes, were going to go back to our reading notebooks (we will take out
the reading notebook we wrote in as the model from lesson 1). Lets take a look at the definitions that we wrote
two days ago. We noticed that there are some stereotypes in our drawings and writings! So, what we are going
to do is go back to our drawings and writings and color/ lightly shade all of the things we think are stereotypes
yellow (we will model this for the students). Now, we want all of our investigators to get their reading notebooks
and do the same (send students off to work independently).
Mid - Workshop Interruption: So, we are noticing that many of us are finding things to color! Lets keep in mind
that we are only coloring what we see as the stereotypes.
Closing Circle:

How will you bring students to closure with this learning experience and connect it to future learning?
(student connection)
What have we learned?
Investigators, lets all gather in our circle and share what we have colored in our reading notebooks. When we
share, lets also make sure that we share why we colored what we colored in our notebooks! (Students will
share out what they have colored and we will also ask other students what they have noticed about what their
peers have colored). Team, weve done so much investigating and thinking for the past couple of days, but we
want all of you to remember that this doesnt end here. We want to take this everywhere we go and continue to
think about what we have discovered together when we are in and out of schools.