Journalism Lesson Plan

Overview: Schools and parents have long worried about how to deal with bullies that torment students and make their lives in the classroom miserable. Problems going to and from school, cafeteria harassment, teasing in the halls and washrooms – those are all common. What is happening at your school? What is being done to prevent problems?

Suggested time allotment: 2 –3 days for research online and in periodicals for background, brainstorming in a “maestro group” about the various stories, statistics and information a package about bullying in your school could contain, then an additional one – two weeks to research, survey and write the articles, develop the infographics and other visuals.

Objectives

Students will:

1. Research bullying in general and in the classroom and on buses.
2. Form a maestro team of reporters, photographers, graphics artists and page designers to put together all the information in a way that tells a compelling story to the readers.
3. Survey students in your school about the bullying situation. Be sure to choose questions that are not “leading.” In other words, be sure those who write the questions don’t appear to ASSUME there is a bullying problem in the school. (See links below for guidelines for creating surveys.)
4. Continue to work as a team to put together the package.

Standards: National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association Standards for English Language Arts:

4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written and visual language (e.g.,conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
12. Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion and the exchange of information).

Resources and materials:
Web sites with information:
• PSI's Prevention & Intervention Initiatives are implemented in over 200 schools yearly, touching the lives of more than 75,000 students since 1991.
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• With links to more than 10 exceptional sites about bullying, the National Youth Violence Prevention resource center is a good starting place for facts about bullying.
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• Bullying Facts and Statistics are available at another part of that site:
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• Learn how to work as a team to put together several stories, sidebars and visuals.“Perfect Harmony,” a description of Buck Ryan’s Maestro Concept, is part of the American Copy Editors Society 2002 conference coverage, by Kim Eggerton, copy editor at The Columbus Dispatch.
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• Not everyone thinks study results tell the story. A guest commentary by Peter Berger on the Web site “The Irascible Professor: Irreverent Commentary on the State of Education in America Today,” indicates relying on student perceptions of what is “mean” or “yelling” may be anything but accurate.
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• Stop Bullying Now is aimed at younger students with games to play and Webisodes that help explain the problems for both victims and the bullies themselves.
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• To get help for writing a survey, the Web site for the Encyclopedia of Educational Technology, includes “Types of Survey Questions”
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• To figure out what the numbers mean, “former geek” and now researcher Robert Giles explains in simple terms:
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