Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story about Bullying

Written by: Becky Ray McCain

Illustrated by: Todd Leonardo

Age Level: 7-9
Grade Level: 2-4

Theme: Trust an adult, Help friends

Summary:
When Ray gets bullied in school, a classmate watches but doesn't know how to stop it. Ray didn't show up to school and the bullies were proud of themselves. The classmate decides to tell the teacher about Ray getting bullied. The teacher took action and the bullies were sent to the principal and Ray was protected from the bullies. 

Pre-Reading Activity:
Write down a time when you have seen someone being bullied. What did you do? What could you have done?

Post Reading Activity:
Act out the scene of telling a bully to stop. Practice telling a teacher someone is being bullied. Write down in your journal 4 things you can do when you see someone being bullied.

Reflection:
I think this is a wonderful book to use during a lesson on bullying. Sometimes kids don't know they can stand up for themselves and friends. This gives students the information that they can go to an adult and this will help. I will use this in my classroom.

Dare

Written by: Erin Frankel

Illustrated by: Paula Heaphy

Reading Level: Grades 2-3

Interest level: Ages 5-9

Theme: Standing up for one self and others. 

Summary:

Jayla feels threatened by her classmate Sam, who has bullied her in the past.  Sam is now bullying Jayla’s friend Luisa, and she enlists Jayla to participate. Jalya reluctantly joins in but soon realizes it is wrong. With the help of caring adults and friends, Jayla comes to sympathize with Luisa and finds the courage to dare to stand up to Sam and put an end to the bullying.

Pre-Reading Activity:

Ask students to think of a time when they saw someone being bullied. What did you do? What could you have done differently if you didn't help? Have them draw a picture of helping a friend being bullied.

Post-Reading Activity:

Complete a graphic organizer listing all the ways to help a person being bullied. Some ideas are: tell an adult, stand up with them, get other friends to help, tell them to stand up for themselves. Use the graphic organizer to write an essay of how to stand up to a bully. 

About the author:

Erin Frankel has an M.A. in English education and is passionate about teaching and writing. She taught ESL in Alabama before her recent move to Madrid, Spain, with her husband and three daughters. Erin knows firsthand what it feels like to be bullied, and she hopes her stories will help bring smiles back to children who have been involved in bullying. In her free time, Erin loves hiking in the Spanish mountains and kayaking in her hometown of Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Reflection:

I strongly feel this book, along with the other 2 in this series would benefit every classroom. It does a great job of bringing out the issues and reasons for bullying. It explores these characters and the feelings in depth. Also, it tells the way in which to deal with the problem, giving students the skills to end bullying. 

Weird

Writen by Erin Frankel

Illustrated by Paula Heaphy

Reading Level: Grades 2-3

Interest Level: Ages 5-9

Themes: Kindness, tolerance, liking oneself

Summary:

Luisa is repeatedly teased and called "weird" by her classmate Sam, even though she is simply being herself—laughing with her friends, answering questions in class, greeting her father in Spanish, and wearing her favorite polka-dot boots. Luisa initially reacts to the bullying by withdrawing and hiding her colorful nature. But with the support of her teachers, parents, classmates, and one special friend named Jayla, she is able to reclaim her color and resist Sam’s put-downs.

Pre-Reading Activity:

Ask: Why is the story in black and white except for the main characters. Why do you think the main characters are in color? Why do you think Luisa's colors fade as the bullying continues? Why do you think Luisa's polka dots float away?  Have you ever been bullied? How did you feel?

Post-Reading Activity: 

Have students write and illustrate their own story about bullying from their point of view. Were they the victim, bystander, or maybe even the bully? Encourage students to use color in a similar fashion as it was in the Weird! series to represent their power and how they overcame their problem. Allow students to share their stories with the classroom community. For younger students, allow them to do a drawing using colors that make them feel courageous, confident, and kind. 

About the author:

Erin Frankel has an M.A. in English education and is passionate about teaching and writing. She taught ESL in Alabama before her recent move to Madrid, Spain, with her husband and three daughters. Erin knows firsthand what it feels like to be bullied, and she hopes her stories will help bring smiles back to children who have been involved in bullying. In her free time, Erin loves hiking in the Spanish mountains and kayaking in her hometown of Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Reflection: 

I strongly feel this book and the other two accompanying books, Tough! and Dare! are important books to have and use in the classroom. I like that these books explore the issue of bullying from the 3 different vantage points. This allows the students to further understand the issues and empathize with each of the characters. It would be nice to see this series done again with male characters, as well. I feel this would help our male students. 

One

Written and illustrated by Kathryn Otoshi

Age level: 4 & up

Grade level: Preschool and up

Theme: Acceptance, Kindness, Stand up for oneself

Summary:

Blue is a quiet color. Red’s a hothead who likes to pick on Blue. Yellow, Orange, Green, and Purple don’t like what they see, but don't know what to do.  When no one speaks up, things escalate — until One comes along and shows all the colors how to stand up, stand together, and count. As the readers learn about numbers, counting, and primary and secondary colors, they also learn about accepting each other's differences and how it sometimes just takes one voice to make a difference.

Pre-reading Activity: 

Start a discussion about bullying. Have you ever had someone say mean things to you? How did you feel? Have you ever told someone to stop being mean to you or to a friend? Did it work? Did they stop? Could you tell a teacher or another adult?

Post-Reading Activity: 

The book One by Kathryn Otoshi delivers a great message to kids about standing up for yourself.  It is an easy book to read aloud to your class but holds deep meaning and serves as a kickoff for meaningful discussions.  There is also a YouTube video that has students acting out the story while Kathryn Otoshi reads the book.  After students have read the story, they will work in pairs to capture what each color might be thinking, feeling or saying.

They will do this by typing in speech bubbles surrounding the dots of color as illustrated in the image.  You can see the website that students have access to here:https://sites.google.com/a/ncps-k12.org/south-school-diversity/

Print these files or use them within Comic Life(on the subpage) to have students work with partners to create thoughts or words in the bubbles that the colors might be thinking or would say.

Activities

• YELLOW.pdf   63k - May 26, 2011 11:03 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 
• RED.pdf   62k - May 26, 2011 11:03 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 
• PURPLE.pdf   67k - May 26, 2011 11:03 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 
• ORANGE.pdf   63k - May 26, 2011 11:03 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 
• GREEN.pdf   66k - May 26, 2011 11:03 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 
• BLUE.pdf   63k - May 26, 2011 10:58 AM by Ronna VanVeghel (v2) 

Showing 6 files from page Activity Files.

Reflection:

I absolutely love this book! One does a beautiful job of illustrating the many colors of bullying. Blue is a quiet, passive, calm color who gets bullied by hot headed Red. The other colors are bystanders who do not agree with Red’s behavior, but don’t dare say anything. Every time Red says something mean and no one speaks up, he grows larger and more intimidating. Luckily, the number One shows the colors how to stand up to Red. All of the colors, including Red, learn that everyone counts.

To watch the author read the book and have the book acted out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TGaDSMAS1E

Tough!

   
 Written by: Erin Frankel

Illustrated by: Paula Heaphy

Reading Levels: Grades 2-3

Interest Levels: Ages 5-9

Themes: Friendship, Kindness

Summary:

Sam is concerned about keeping things under control at school. She thinks people need to have a tough skin in order to fit in and get along with others. Sam teases her classmate Luisa and enlists a friend, Jayla, to help. But when Sam is confronted by a concerned teacher about her bullying, and Jayla turns on Sam and befriends Luisa, Sam begins to show some heart and rethink her treatment of others. 

PreReading Activity:

Look at the cover, ask the students to talk about the expressions on the characters faces. Does Sam, the one in the hood look nice or mean? What about the kids jump roping? The seem to be having fun. How about the one holding the rope? What could her expression mean? What do you think this book will be about?

PostReading Activity:

How did Sam change from the beginning of the book to the end? Why was she being mean in the beginning? Write some ideas about how you can be nicer to your classmates. Make a list of ways to be kind to others in your community.

About the Author:

Erin Frankel has an M.A. in English education and is passionate about teaching and writing. She taught ESL in Alabama before her recent move to Madrid, Spain, with her husband and three daughters. Erin knows firsthand what it feels like to be bullied, and she hopes her stories will help bring smiles back to children who have been involved in bullying. In her free time, Erin loves hiking in the Spanish mountains and kayaking in her hometown of Mays Landing, New Jersey.

Reflection:

This book, along with Weird! and Brave!, is a wonderful book that will be an asset to any classroom. This series discusses the issue of bullying in a clear and thoughtful way any child could relate to.