Bullying: Grades 2 - 3

Objective

• To recognize different types of bullying
• To practice communication and social skills
  

Activity

• Cut out each paragraph of the story "David's Day" and give them to different students. On the board, draw a "Happiness Scale." Designate one end of the scale as "very happy" by drawing a big smiley face. The other end is "very sad" with a big frown face. Begin by drawing a face with a straight mouth in the middle of the scale to show how David feels at the very biginning of the story.

• Have students read David's story, paragraph by paragraph, in order. At the end of each paragraph, have students identify the bullying behavior. Ask the reader to draw where David is on the scale so students can see David getting more unhappy with each incident.

• Ask the students how kind words and actions could make David feel better. Read through the story again and have the class come up with ways they could help David deal with the bullies. Move David up the scale as they offer help.
  
  

David's Story

• David woke up and frowned. He didn't want to go to school today. He knew that today would be a bad day, just like every other day. David came down the steps for breakfast and sat down at the table. "Hey," his older brother growled, "that's where I'm sitting!" and he pushed David out of the chair. "You better learn to stay off my chair."

• David walked to the bus stop. All of the students in the neighborhood waited together, including some big fifth-graders who always picked on him. "Hey, you," called one of them. "Where did you get that stupid hat?" He grabbed the hat off David's head. "Look at this piece of trash," he called to his friends, and he threw David's hat into the trash can.

• David finally made it to class. As he sat down at his desk, he saw one of the girls in his class point at him and whisper something to her friend. Her friend laughed and told the girl next to her. She laughed too and ran to tell another girl. David felt his face getting red as he sat down and stared at his desk.

• For lunch, David usually ate with his friend, Tran, but today Tran was absent. David walked over to a table with an empty chair and started to sit down. "You can't sit here," a boy at the table said. "This seat is saved." David walked to another table but the boys there said, "We don't want you here. Go away." David ended up eating by himself.

• At recess that afternoon nobody asked David to play, so David stood watching the others. Suddenly, one girl ran up and called David a name. Other boys and girls nearby started teasing David too. David was so upset that he just wanted to disappear.