Bullying and Your Self-Image

Name: Rebecca Sanders
Date: 4-16-13
Lesson Name: Bullying and Your Self-Image


Materials used:

-Computer paper, one sheet for every student

-Bigger drawing paper; preferably like 11 by 14 size. Enough for each student to have about two sheets, maybe more in case they mess up. (I just cut up butcher paper)

-Markers, crayons, colored pencils or any other coloring materials

Any resources that helped inspire this project:

Here is a video that a six-grade class did to present bullying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg8wxcepAxM

And this is a Dove commercial that inspired the lesson in the first place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE&feature=share

This is a great video on what to do if you are being bullied. May be good to show students at the end of the lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=ynTuA_tlZDE&NR=1

List the subjects that your lesson ties in with: language arts, self-appreciation, bullying, portrait making

Step-by-step with text and photos:

1.)  Talk about bullying as a class. What makes a bully? Why do people bully?

    2.)  Give everyone a sheet of paper and have them write out all the mean things that anybody has ever said/done to them in an act of bullying, belittling, or violence. If they have ever done any of these to other people, have them write those on the paper too.

 

3.)     Have everyone crumple up the paper a bunch of times. Put the paper wads on the ground, have them jump on them a bunch of times. Now tell them to pick the paper up and unfold it. See all the wrinkles and smudges? Try and get it to look exactly like it did before. You cannot. Explain to the students that this is what mean words and bullying does. It creates smudges and wrinkles in people. Things that can never be erased. Words that can never be erased no matter how hard you try.

 

4.) Have them get into partners with someone they do not know well. Assign partners if need be for cliquey classes. Allow ten minutes or so to talk with their partners about their experiences with bullying/violence.

  5.) Give every person in the class a big sheet of drawing paper, or just whatever paper you have on hand. The bigger the better. Show the class how to make portraits of people. Talk about symmetry and proportions.

     Then have them draw each other, as careful and nice as they can.

 

 6.)   When you have given them sufficient time, talk about what you can do to not be a bully. What are some words you can use for people to encourage them and make them feel good about themselves?

   7.)   Have everyone hang up their picture in the room. Then everyone should walk around, and on each picture, they have to write something nice about that person around their portrait. These can be hung up around the classroom all day if you wish.

 

  8.) Talk about how we have to build each other up with kind, helping words. We cannot keep bullying each other, whether it be with fists or words. Both have a big negative impact.

1 9.)  Tell the students to pick one word that describes themselves best. Put up a graffiti alphabet and teach them how to do different letters with cool fonts like that. Talk about that to spread a positive message to other people, you need to get positive words out there. Have them draw their positive, describing word with the graffiti and decorate it.

 

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 10.) Ask to hang these out in the hallways of your school!

Extra tips for problem-solving:
-If you have an ELL student in the classroom and they don’t understand English well, then pull some great, positive adjectives from their language to present to the class when doing the positive words thing and the graffiti thing

-If you have a student who cannot communicate effectively, pair them up with yourself. Maybe do an example with them for the class; draw the student and start writing really nice things about them. When you are working with them one on one, maybe take a positive word to describe them, and a more negative word, and say both the words and what they mean. Say the words again and ask which one they think describes them (obviously the positive one).

Art Vocabulary:

-line-during the graffiti portion of this lesson, line will be a big thing in developing style in the lettering

-size-proportions and relations will be a big deal when creating the portrait of their partner.

-balance-when creating the portraits, balance will be a big thing in creating a proportionate and symmetrical face and/or body