No Bullying Allowed Here!

This month is anti-bullying month. I needed to teach some art lessons on this, so I read "The Skin I'm In" to the 4th and 5th graders. We discussed what the poem meant, and what all stems from bullying. It is a tough world these kids are living in, and the school I teach in has a lot of kids who have a really hard time. This is the poster they made in one of the classes. The hearts are supposed to contain helpful words for their friends. In the younger grades, I read Chrysanthemum. We discussed how hurtful kids can be to each other. They then did an exercise where they wrote all the mean and hurtful things they have said or have had said to them on a paper with an outline of a person. Then I had them wrinkle it up as tightly as possible. When I told them to unfold it and smooth it out like new, they were freaked out. "There's no way, Mrs. Jackson! It's ruined!" Point made. I then told them that is what happens when they hurt people. You can try to fix it, but the damage is always there. On the back, they wrote ideas of things they can say to build others up. I think the lessons were pretty effective, actually. Maybe it will last a while...