Soical Studies 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. Then brainstorm as a class or a smaller team about ways to help younger students in your district or town cope with bullying and attempt to eliminate it.

Objectives

Students will:

1. Research bullying in general and in the classroom and on buses.
2. Formulate a plan to explain bullying and help younger students combat it.
3. Approach teachers in the lower grades to see if they can present their program/handouts/etc. to various classes.
4. Follow through with a presentation and handouts.

Curriculum Standards from the National Council for the Social Studies: Thematic Strands, from “Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies.”
• VI — Power, authority and governance. Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance…. High school students develop their abilities in the use of abstract principles. They study the various systems that have been developed over the centuries to allocate and employ power and authority in the governing process. At every level, learners should have opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills to and participate in the workings of the various levels of power, authority, and governance.

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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• 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.
| view website |

• 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.
| view website |