Tackling BULLIES in School! A Teaching Resource and a FREEBIE!

Your school year has begun, and you have a new crew of students that you are working to learn more about every day!  You have created a seating chart, learned student names, taught those first lessons, and things seem off to a successful start.  Then out of no where, you get wind that things aren't as copacetic as you thought, your students are having issues and bullying behavior is under way.  What do you do?

I have found the first days of school to be magical, but quickly learn that negative peer interactions and strained friendships can derail a school day for my students before they have even gotten started in the classroom.  So I have armed myself with a few tools that I can utilize on the fly.

I have found that many of the novels I LOVE to share with my students incorporate bullying, which inspired this teaching resource. I want my students to 1) recognize bullying behavior, and 2) have tools to respond. These CHIT CHAT cards will encourage both of those goals.

While you don't have to read these novels, I have found various scenarios of bullying from popular novels and shared these scenes in order to generate discussion with my students through these CHIT CHAT CARDS. I want them to be able to identify bullying behavior and determine how they would respond if they were a witness or observer. Students will simply: read the scene shared on the card, discuss the scenario, and respond based on the focus questions on the chit chat cards.  You can utilize these with partners, small groups, or for whole class discussion.  You will have nothing to grade, but everything to gain in the positive peer relations you will help develop in your classroom environment.

 As a language arts teacher, bullying is a topic that also inspires strong feelings in writing.  Capitalize on that with these FREEBIE journal prompts.  

If you are looking for novels that incorporate bullying into the plot, check these out...

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis

Crash by Jerry Spinelli 

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman

Wringer by Jerry Spinelli

We can't change that bullying exists, but we can do everything in our power to help our students see the impact and work to change a bullying culture in a positive way.

Best of luck this school year!

Back to School Book Favorites: The Recess Queen and a Chit Chat Card FREEBIE

What back to school books do you love to share with students on those first days of school?  I have a bunch that I have adored reading aloud to my my own children and my enthusiastic 6th graders over the years, but the picture book The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill has quickly become one of my newest favorites and one I can't wait to share with my 6th graders.

The Recess Queen is a fun, rhyming story with perfect illustrations that truly showcase the impacts of bullying and how bullies truly have the ability to negatively impact those around them.  Quick summary-"Mean Jean" wants to be included in recess activities, but has no idea how to go about playing thoughtfully with her peers, and she bullies them.  So a new girl, Katie Sue, arrives at school, not knowing Jean's reputation, and asks Jean to jump rope.  Jean's bullying ways change immediately, and she realizes how nice it is to have someone to play with at recess.  It is a light-hearted look at a serious topic that is overwhelming students in our schools today.  I promise, even 6th graders will love it! 

This book opens up the opportunity to discuss with our students, "How can we be less like a Mean Jean and more like a Katie Sue?"  To encourage even more discussion with this text I have created these FREEBIE chit chat cards to get students thinking, reflecting, and chatting.

Simply...
•Print and laminate Chit Chat Cards. You will need a few sets for student work/chit chat.
•Read the picture book The Recess Queen.
•Pass out the Chit Chat Cards.
•Partner students and allow them time to read through and discuss the Chit Chat cards.
•Have them discuss as few or as many as time allows.
•Bring group back together for a whole class discussion

Your students will love this book and the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas about this thoughtful book.

Best of luck combating bullying in your classroom and school setting!  I hope this resource gets your students talking, thinking, and reflecting on ways to make bullying a thing of the past.

Check out these other great Back to School favorite reads...

An InLinkz Link-up

Daily 5: Tried and True Resources for Grades 4-6

Have you read this book?  

I can promise that it will transform the way you teach in your ELA classroom. The premise of this must-read resource is "students select from five authentic reading and writing choices, working independently toward personalized goals, while the teacher meets individual needs through whole-group and small-group instruction, as well as one-on-one conferring."
The Daily 5 choices include:

Read to Self is a time where my students focus on their own independent reading of a text and incorporates novel units, close reading passages and poetry.  While we utilize novel units, close reads, and poetry for whole group instruction as well, students need to be able to read independently and engage with text that is at their reading level for age-appropriate periods of time. I have created as many novel units as I can create in order to engage my students in their Read to Self time.

Read to Someone is a favorite time of my students because they have the chance to interact with a text and a peer.  They can share ideas, insights, and discuss the text they are working to navigate through.  I LOVE walking around the classroom during Read to Someone and listening to the thoughtful commentary taking place between my kiddos.  I will have students partner read novels and other close reads. 

Listen to Reading is essential for my 6th graders.  I utilize reader's theater scripts, picture books that I share, and novel read alouds for Listen to Reading.  While many of my students are on-grade level readers, hearing fluent reading and listening to text being read aloud enhances their listening comprehension and imagery skills.  I LOVE when we are getting ready to switch classes and my students are bummed and wanting me to "just read one more page!"

Word Work incorporates both spelling and vocabulary in my classroom setting.  Word Work begins our class with morning or bell ringer work and is a focus in various texts we read.  Students need continued work with vocabulary-using context clues, identifying synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and roots  in order to tackle more difficult texts and comprehend what they are reading.  For Word Work I target instruction with Word of the Day, Context Clue Task Cards, and BOGGLE.

Writing is always taking place within my 6th grade classroom.  There is always a piece in progress, a response getting evidence gathered, or a prompt being considered.  It is necessary for students to be able to respond to text, respond to prompts, and share their ideas and insights on paper.  I utilize end of book projects, writing units, and journaling in order to cover all of the elements of writing my students must grasp before moving on to the next grade. 

I am certain that you are incorporating each of these components into your daily ELA work with students...the tricky aspect is allowing students to have the opportunity to choose what they want to work on during a given amount of time, which is a Daily 5 concept to promote independence and choices. This aspect continues to be a work in progress for me, as well.  That is my work for this summer-strategizing the best way to help my students work to become more independent with their Daily 5 choices where I feel as though they are working and not wasting the time that is given...I, like my students, am a work in progress...

 

While I am still working to implement all of the components using the choice method with my students, what I have nailed down and want to share are the resources I have created to coincide with my work with the Daily 5 in my classroom.  I want to make sure students are getting all 5-components and are finding success through their growth as readers, writers, and listeners.  You can click on the cover image and grab the preview...

Within this 20-resource bundle, I have included each of the tools and how I utilize them with my 6th grade students to enhance their work with the Daily 5.  Take a peek at how I have organized this Daily 5 Bundle of Resources for Grades 4-6...

  

  

I would love to hear how you help your students make the best choices while working to instill choice and independence through your classroom Daily 5...Keep me posted and share any insights you have below!  I am all ears!