Bully+Awareness


 * The grade level of your students, and their social and economic situation.**
 * The student population in my classroom is 8th graders who come from a lower socioeconomic status (SES). About 80 percent of the student population qualifies for a free/reduced lunch. A majority of the students are African American and the rest are White, Asian American, and Native American. One major issue I’ve noticed among my students is the issue of bullying that goes on in the hallways during transition and even in the classroom.


 * The "event" itself and why it will matter to your students.**
 * Bullying has become a major issue in our school. The main event will be a school board meeting to develop a plan on how to prevent and stop bullying.
 * I think it’s appropriate for my students to learn of the effect bullying can have on the students who are being bullied and why it should be prevented.This literacy practice will help them to understand the effect that bullying can have on the victims and families.


 * What "identities" will your students need to assume/take on to participate in this event?**
 * The people that will be in attendance at the meeting are teachers, administration personnel, students, parents, and other school staff. Students will engage in a role-play activity for the main event, where students will have the role of the different identities of teachers, principals, school superintendent, students, and parents of the students.

**Given these identities, how will your students "frame" or understand the activity.**
 * To give the students a deeper understanding of how serious bullying can be, we will read __Please Stop Laughing at Me__ by Jodee Blanco. Jodee is a well-known author and advocate for the victims of bullying. She was a victim of bullying which began when she was in elementary school up until her senior year of high school. Her novel is a personal narrative in which she discusses her experiences as a victim of bullying and how she responded to it. The students will get the point of view from the victim’s perspective, which will help them understand how hurtful and serious this issue is.
 * To help the students synthesize and connect the text, we will watch the documentary “// Bully” // directed by Lee Hirsch. We will connect the novel with the documentary and we will also relate these situations to their own personal experiences in our school. Jodee provides an in-school anti-bullying program where she comes to the school and speaks to the students and school staff. Once we have finished reading the book, the students will write a letter to Jodee inviting her to come and speak at our school.
 * Next, the students will be assigned the roles of teachers, the principal, superintendent, students, and parents of the students. Students will be required to give an interview with the identity that they are given. For example, if one student is assigned the role of the principal, they will interview the principal with their stance on bullying in schools and his/her opinion on ways of preventing it. They will also research on the topic of bullying in schools to help them write their stance on how the bullying can be prevented in our school.
 * After the students feel comfortable with the information and research they have conducted on bullying, we will have our school board meeting. The students will engage in this role-play activity by sitting in a circle and discussing their opinions, which they have formed over the past few months from reading the book, watching the documentary, giving interviews, and conducting research. They will work together to create a plan on how to prevent bullying in our school. The main purpose of this event is for the students to collaborate and work together to achieve the goal of creating a plan that will prevent bullying. Once they have agreed on a plan, they will write out their plan and give it to the principal.
 * [|Jodee Blanco speaking at a school]
 * [|"Bully" Trailer]


 * How will they relate to and collaborate with others?**
 * Students will relate to and collaborate with others by interviewing a person that is similar to the identity they have been assigned. Students will also collaborate and work together to create a plan to prevent bullying in the school. They will engage in discussions and will listen to each others opinions. The students will also create a classroom online blog where they will discuss what they are finding in their research and how their interviews went.


 * What reading will be involved and how will the event involve synthesizing and connecting texts?**
 * Students will read the book __Please Stop Laughing at Me__ by Jodee Blanco.
 * After reading in class, students will get literacy groups of 3-4 students and discuss the events that took place in that reading. Students will also fill out reading logs on each chapter in which they will summarize the key points of the chapter. This will help them in being able to discuss the reading with their peers.
 * Students will also get the opportunity to watch the documentary "//Bully"// directed by Lee Hirsch.
 * After viewing the documentary, the students will compare and contrast the documentary with the book.

**What kinds of writing will students engage in? How might some of that writing be multimodal?**
 * Students will write a letter to Jodee Blanco inviting her to come and speak at our school.
 * Students will write in their journals on their personal experiences with bullying.
 * Students will write out their prevention plans based off of the research they have found and the interviews they conducted.
 * The students will engage in multimodal writing by creating an online blog with their classmates. The students may also choose to voice record and/or video their interviews to share with the class.
 * Students will create a poster board for their presentation of their research on bullying. The poster should include: a description of the different types of bullying, a detailed plan to prevent bullying in schools, a list of resources for teachers, students, parents, and members of the community.

**How will the event involve critical thinking and social change? (might include addressing historical, institutional, cultural, psychological, economic perspectives).**
 * The event will involve critical thinking and social change by having the students developing a plan that will prevent bullying in the school. The event will address the institutional/civic perspective and the psychological perspective. The institutional perspective is addressed because they will be working together to create a plan that will prevent bullying and create social change in the school system.


 * How will the students engage in "metacognition"?**
 * Students will engage in meta cognition by writing in their journals and reflecting on their personal experiences. They will also be reflecting on their experience and research when they engage in the online discussion on the classroom blog.

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2] Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
 * What Common Core Standards will be addressed?**
 * **Reading Literature- Grade 8:**

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3] Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.


 * **Writing- Grade 8****:**
 * -** [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.4] Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.6] Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.8] Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1] Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
 * **Speaking & Listening- Grade 8:**

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.1a] Come to discussions prepared, having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.

- [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.5] Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.


 * Created by:** [|Jordan Stoyek]