Bullying is something that goes on far too often in our schools today. It's a topic that I feel needs to be addressed and taught every year no matter what the age group.
Each year I have always shown my students a great video about bullying on United Streaming, and they seem to really enjoy it. After the video's over, we talk about our feelings, and we make connections by relating it to our own lives and what we've seen on television.
As I became more familiar with Depth and Complexity, I decided to create a frame on bullying. When I revisited my old Depth and Complexity frame, I realized it could use some updates, and before I knew it, I had created a whole bundle of frames, games, and activities all about bullying.
Apply the Prompts of Depth and Complexity
In the bundle, you will find three different Depth and Complexity frames with 12 different prompts all about bullying! These frames are included with and without embedded cooperative learning structures. More information on how to use these cooperative learning structures is included in my "Depth and Complexity in Math" blog post and in my "Back to School Freebie" post. Along with the frames, task cards which mimic the prompts, can also be found. These can be used instead of the frames, or as a way for students to work collaboratively beforehand in order to discuss each prompt. Furthermore, task cards can be used in cooperative learning structures such as Quiz-Quiz-Trade, which is enjoyable for the students because they get to move about the classroom and talk to each other.Be Creative
Many different activities regarding bullying are also part of this bundle. Students will draw and write about how to make their school bully free and how one person can change another person's life. Kids can walk around the room during a Mix-Pair-Share, stopping to talk to their peers about things like: cyber-bullying, making personal connections to bullying, proving to others how destructive bullying can be, and more. They'll design their own t-shirt and/or pennant using the Depth and Complexity icons and Content Imperatives (a chart is included which explains the meanings or helpful verbs associated with each icon). Why not give small groups a particular bullying behavior and have kids create some kind of presentation about the behavior? Bullying behaviors and a presentation page for students to fill out are included. Students can produce a public service announcement, a short skit, or even something on the computer or iPad (if they have one). They can design posters, or even write some type of song! Allow your students to explore their creativity!Hold Students Accountable
I think sometimes our children don't know they're being mean and lots of times haven't had anyone teach them what's appropriate and what's not. Hold a discussion with your kiddos about what it means to be different. When you're different, does that mean you're weird? Talk about being unique using the "Differing Depths" page. There's even an activity called "Is it Bullying?" in which students must circle a thumbs up or thumbs down picture and explain why each scenario is or isn't considered bullying. Students will also role play "What would you do" type scenarios to prepare themselves should those situations ever arise. Teach students the impact bullying can have on its victims as they look for details, patterns, and changes over time after reading two short student descriptions.
Build Up Self-Esteem
Three activities are included to aide in class building and self-esteem. One allows students to choose three students to receive a special award who have shown special qualities or characteristics or for doing something positive. They then get to read what they wrote to each of the three students and even give the student the award if time permits. The second activity is a way for your class to write kind things to as many different students in the class as possible for as long as you'd like! Each student will leave school with a paper full of warm fuzzies. Your students will even banish negative self-talk in order to build a positive growth mindset using the "Banish Bullying...Yourself" page. You can find this bundle by clicking the link below. It is also offered without the Depth and Complexity frames, task cards, and games which you can find below too, or there's a set with only the frames and task cards which you can find in my store.
FREEBIE
Along with the bundle, I also created a freebie which includes the "What Do You Do" cards with real life situations in which kids must explain what they would do if they were in that situation/scenario (as mentioned above). For example, "While walking home with a friend, you witness a physical fight. Your friend tells you to record it with your cell phone. What do you do?" This allows kids to role play tough situations where they have to make decisions about bullying and/or peer pressure. Additionally, the freebie also includes a ribbon for the kids to decorate in honor of standing up to bullying. I've included two different sets of directions for this activity. One set asks students to use one or more Depth and Complexity icons or Content Imperatives to make a creative statement or slogan. The other set of directions doesn't mention using the icons (in case students aren't familiar with Depth and Complexity yet). You can find this freebie below. I hope you enjoy it!
What do you like to do to teach students about bullying?
