Overview of the Module
This module has various videos and activities to push students to think critically about how to speak up in the face of injustice. Students will begin by reflecting on their personal experiences with bullying and contemplate how those encounters have lasting effects. Students will also be given scenarios to role-play, in small groups, to have students begin to visualize ways to be an upstander. Lastly, this module contains emotional videos that will aid in students having thoughtful conversations about the interplay of the roles of the bully, the victim, and the bystander. This module is so important because it encourages students to develop skills to stand up to bullying.
To drive this point home, the Project Hope team produced the above video, featuring Dr. Paulette Dilworth, a foot soldier of the Civil Rights Movement and Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in conversation with Olivier, a 5th grade student at the Altamont School.
What exactly will teachers find in this module?
Teachers will find resources that are conducive to helping to push students to think critically about their role when faced with injustice. Lessons include art integration, small group discussion, a “bully walk”, along with role playing scenarios to help students empathize with victims and see themselves as change agents.
Why is this module important?
This module is important because research has shown the importance of empathy and its role in bullying prevention. Classroom community is key. Each child should feel like a valued member. In order for students to develop a sense of empathy, they must be challenged with thinking of situations from the point of view of another. They must analyze situations that involve injustice and be equipped to go against the grain even when it is hard. By choosing someone who stood up in the face of injustice to research, and creating a piece of art to represent the situation, students will be actively stepping into the shoes of another person. At the same time, they will be learning about how and why the person went about sparking change.
How does this module connect to bullying?
This module is focused on cultivating a sense of empathy and agency among students. When students learn more about the struggles of those that came before us, they are better able to understand the struggles that some are going through now. When they are exposed to literature that details the thoughts of someone who is different than themselves, they are forced to reevaluate their preconceived notions about others. When teachers and students share an experience reading the same piece of literature, classroom community is strengthened. When there is a deep sense of community among students, instances of bullying are decreased. When students are taught to see others as humans, they are more likely to think before they act. As educators, it is our duty to teach students to become empathetic members of society. This module also focuses on skills that encourage bystanders to become upstanders when witnessing bullying.
Content
Additional Resources for Teachers
The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids
http://www.readbrightly.com/importance-of-reading-aloud-to-big-kids/
This blog discusses the importance of reading aloud! Read aloud is an invaluable strategy for all teachers. Reading aloud allows for the teacher and students to have a shared experience with literature. Reading aloud also allows students the opportunity to experience things that they may never encounter, thus cultivating a sense of empathy. Additional benefits to reading aloud are modeling fluent reading, oral language development, and comprehension strategies.
Children’s Literature
The following list represents books that could be used to spark a discussion about empathy or standing up in the face of injustice. These books are perfect for reading aloud or for independent reading.
- Topic: Empathy
- Fox, M., & Staub, L. (1997). Whoever you are.
- DiCamillo, Kate. (2003). The Tale of Despereaux. Turtleback Books.
- DiCamillo, K. (2016). Raymie nightingale.
- Stamper, J. B. (2003). The hundred dresses by Eleanor Estes. New York, NY: Scholastic Teaching Resources.
- Woodson, J. (2014). Brown girl dreaming.
- Shetterly, M. L., & OverDrive, Inc. (2016). Hidden Figures Young Readers’ Edition. S.I.: HarperCollins.
- Topic: People Who Stood Up in the Face of Injustice
- King, M. L., & Nelson, K. (2012). I have a dream: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. New York: Schwartz & Wade Books.
- Levy, D. (2016). I Dissent! Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
- Tonatiuh, D. (2014). Separate is never equal: Sylvia Mendez & her family’s fight for desegregation. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
- Yousafzai, M., & Kerascoët, . (2017). Malala’s magic pencil. London: Little, Brown and Company.
- Markel, M., & Sweet, M. (2013). Brave girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. New York: Balzer + Bray.
Websites
Upstander chart:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/181129216236563713/
Civil Rights in Birmingham:
Birmingham Church Bombing:
I AM A MAN March:
https://www.history.com/news/sanitation-workers-strike-memphis
Children’s March:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-children-of-birmingham-changed-the-civil-rights-movement
Keaton Jones video:
Bullying video:
Bystander Anchor Chart:
http://mssepp.blogspot.com/2015/01/dare-bystander-vs-upstander.html?m=1
Lesson Topics
Bully Walk
Lesson goals: This lesson will help students to see the parts they played in bullying scenarios whether intentional or not.
How does this lesson connect to bullying? The lesson connects to bullying because it facilitates a reflective component for students to ponder their involvement in previous bullying scenarios.
Materials/Resources for Lesson:
- Bully walk statements
- Chart paper (4-5)
- Markers
- Notebook paper
- Pencils
Lesson Structure:
- Open
- The students will begin by instructing students to form a straight line across the room about an arm’s length apart. The teacher will explain that they are going to participate in a “bully walk.” The teacher will instruct students to listen to the following statements, and follow subsequent instructions. For example, “if you are a girl, take one step forward,” only girls will move and everyone else will stand still. The teacher will instruct students that each step should only be an average length step.
- Bully Walk Statements:
- If you have ever made fun of someone take one step forward.
- If you have ever been made fun of step backward.
- If you have visible or invisible disabilities that cause
people to make fun of you take one step backward. - If you attend school with people you felt were like yourself
take one step forward. - If you have been the victim of physical violence based on
your gender, ethnicity, or age take one step backward. - If you have ever witnessed a friend being verbally or
physically assaulted take one step backward - If you missed an opportunity to intervene when a friend or
peer was being picked on step forward - If you have ever been scared to stick up for someone step
forward - If you have ever been pressured to pick on someone step forward
- When all the statements have been read, process the activity using the following questions:
- What is your “gut reaction” to where you find yourself at the end of this list of
scenarios? - Are you surprised at where you are? How does it feel to be in front? In the middle?
In back? - Did you come to any new realizations? If so, which one had the most impact?
- What is your “gut reaction” to where you find yourself at the end of this list of
- Body
- After debriefing the bully walk, the teacher will break students into 4-5 groups. Each group will compare and contrast what it means to be both a bystander and upstander. On the front and back of a sheet of chart paper, the students will use a concept map to describe and give examples of both terms.
- Close
- At the end of the lesson students will create short PSAs about the importance of being an upstander. The students will use flipgrid to create and post their videos.
Flipgrid: https://info.flipgrid.com/
I Dissent
Lesson Goals:
- For students to identify situations in which someone stood up in the face of injustice.
- For students to represent visually what they have researched about a person who stood up in the face of injustice.
- For students to understand what it means to be an agent of change and develop a sense of agency.
Materials/Resources for Lesson:
- Levy, D. (2016). I Dissent! Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
- Visual Art Supplies
- Oil pastels
- Acrylic paints
- Watercolors
- Markers
- Colored Pencils
- Chalk
Lesson structure:
- Open
- Start the lesson with a read aloud to get students thinking about the intended discussion.
- When reading I Dissent! Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark ask open-ended questions to push on student thinking.
- What does it mean to dissent something?
- What did Ruth dissent? Was she right to object to the things that she did not agree with?
- What were the results of her objections?
- Use student answers to start a classroom discussion about the history of people who stood up in the face of injustice. Ask students to consider how people might feel when they stand up in the face of injustice.
- Body
- What can we learn from Ruth Bader GInsburg? How does this connect to bullying and its prevention? Reflect on the following questions:
- What does her story mean for you as a student?
- What types of injustices have you seen in your life? Have you seen injustices at school?
- What does it mean to stand up in the face of injustice?
- How does standing up in the face of injustice make a difference for those around us?
- What can we learn from Ruth Bader GInsburg? How does this connect to bullying and its prevention? Reflect on the following questions:
- Close
- Students will be challenged with creating a piece of visual art related to standing up for injustice.
Stirring Up Justice
Lesson goals: This lesson will link the events of the civil rights era to their current learning of being a bystander.
How does this lesson connect to bullying? The entire civil rights era minorities being bullied because their oppressors believed they were superior. This lesson will help to bridge the gap between the past and present by connection the events of the civil rights movement shape society today.
Materials/Resources for Lesson:
- Pictures from civil rights movement (pictures can be found at above websites)
- Civil rights news articles
- Copy paper
- Markers
- Pencils
- Sharpies
- Photo Analysis Worksheet: https://www.archives.gov/files/education/lessons/worksheets/photo_analysis_worksheet_former.pdf
Readings for the Teacher: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may09/vol66/num08/Stirring-Up-Justice.aspx
This article from Educational Leadership discusses the importance of teaching social justice issues within the classroom. Learning about social justice is crucial for students to develop a sense of agency and understand what it means to be an activist and upstander for injustice.
Lesson structure:
- Open
- Ask students to brainstorm what they know about the Civil Rights Movement. Record ideas on chart paper. Assign small groups to a photo from the Civil Rights Movement. Provide each group with a photo analysis handout. After each group completes the photo analysis worksheet, the teacher will provide students with captions and/or news articles about the image.
- Body
- After each group has analyzed their assigned photo the teacher will facilitate a gallery walk so students can view all of the photos. Students will write what they think is happening in each photo on Post-It notes. After the gallery walk, a representative from the original group will read the photo caption to the whole class, while another group member holds up the photo. After each photo caption is shared, students will break into groups and identify the running themes in the pictures. They will identify similarities between the Civil Rights Movement and social justice issues in our society today.
- Close
- Close the lesson by reading “The Story of Ruby Bridges”.
- Was Ruby an upstander? Why or why not?
- How do you think it felt to be Ruby during that time?
- Close the lesson by reading “The Story of Ruby Bridges”.
What Would You Do?
Lesson goals: This lesson will help students empathize with the victims in bullying scenarios. Students will craft ideas for how to intervene in situations in a safe and effective way.
How does this lesson connect to bullying? By engaging in role play with bullying scenarios students will connect the abstract and stereotypical ideas related to bullying to real-life situations.
Materials/Resources for Lesson:
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GmS9dLcLvE
- Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWqDtz1LlR0
Lesson Structure:
- Open
- Show the video of Keaton Jones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GmS9dLcLvE
- Discuss the effects of bullying on real people. Ask students to think of a time when they may have felt like Keaton or made someone else feel that way. Ask students to think about how they could have handled the situation in a different way.
- Body
- Explain to students that they will be participating in role play scenarios that involve various bullying situations. Students will be split into groups of 4 or 5 and given scenarios to act out and/or discuss in their group. After each group discusses possible outcomes for their scenario they will debrief whether their solution is realistic and/or relevant. After 10-15 minutes, students will reconvene as a whole class and share their scenarios, as well as possible outcomes for bystander intervention.
- Close
- To close, students will reflect and write a sentence about the importance of moving from a bystander to an upstander in certain situations.
Mini-Lesson: Art as Social Commentary
Discuss piece “Better Out Than In” by artist: Banksy.
Who is Banksy?
- Anonymous Graffiti Artist
- Street Art in Public Spaces
- Spray Paint
- Stencils
- Social Commentary
- Satire
Why Art?
- Art can serve as a springboard for confronting issues that society has faced in the past or issues that society is currently facing.
- Art can promote dialogue and encourage students to explore complex issues.
- You can use art to help students understand multiple perspectives from history, gender issues in math and science, and social justice issues.
Lesson Structure:
- Open
- Have students use the REED-LO strategy to interpret Banksy’s work of art (Created by B. Scott Crawford, Taubman Museum of Art, 2007)
- React – What is the emotional tone of the work? What is your gut reaction? How does the work of art make you feel?
- Embrace – How would you describe the composition? What is the first thing your eyes are drawn to? How does the artist use lines, shape, shading, and color in the work of art?
- Explore – What objects and items do you see? What is the medium, or what materials did the artist use to create this work of art?
- Decipher – What objects and compositional elements might serve as symbols? What might be their meanings? How would you describe the action taking place in the work?
- Locate – What is the historical context?
- Opinion – Interpret the work. What does it mean?
- Have students use the REED-LO strategy to interpret Banksy’s work of art (Created by B. Scott Crawford, Taubman Museum of Art, 2007)
- Body
- Have students write down one sentence that describes what they think this piece of art means. Use the High Five! Give One, Get One strategy to share interpretations. Read more about this strategy here: https://teamingrocks.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/high-five-give-one-get-one-a-high-energy-multi-use-strategy/
- Next, ask students to create a visual piece of art that provides social commentary on bullying. Encourage students to consider the following before they create their work of art:
- What emotional reaction do you want the viewer to have when viewing your piece of art?
- How will you use lines, shading, and color in the work of art?
- What objects and items will you use?
- What medium/materials will you use to create this work of art?
- What objects and compositional elements might serve as symbols?
- Close
- For the Teacher: Become familiar with Six Word Memoirs: https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/community/six-in-schools/
- Students will create a “Say It In 6” caption for their piece of art.
- Pass around index cards to each student.
- Students will write a six word caption that describes their art (with a focus on injustice, empathy, and being an upstander). Example: “Dissenting: Standing Up for the Voiceless”
- Attach the caption to the work of art.
- Have students engage in a gallery walk to view each other’s artwork
- Option 1: Students could all walk around at the same time to view the art.
- Option 2: Divide the class in half. One half will walk around and view the art. The other half will stand by their art to answer any questions. The groups will switch after all art has been viewed.
Extension: Display art around the school. Students may want to create a mural that displays all of their art, with a call to action in the middle. The middle of the display could have a student made definition of what it means to stand up in the face of injustice.
