Lesson Plan 3

Title: Bullying: A Social Injustice of the Past and Present But What About the Future?

Grade: 4

Time Requirement: 160 minutes

Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Identify the historical events surrounding desegregation: The Little Rock Nine and Ruby Bridges as examples of social injustice – bullying in the past.
• Demonstrate an understanding of bullying as a social injustice in their lives today by independently filling out the graphic organizer: What it is; What it isn't; Why? And why not?
• Connect the character traits of leadership with the character traits needed to overcome bullying.
• Understand the connection between Robert F. Kennedy's belief that individuals can and should improve the lives of others and their own ability and responsibility to stand up against bullying.

New York State Learning Standards

• Social Studies Standard 1: History of the United States and New York State KI 1, PI 2, KI 2, PI 2, KI 3, PI 2; KI 4, PI 2
• Social Studies Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship and Government KI 1, PI 1; KI 2, PI 2; KI 3, PI 2-3, KI 4, PI 1-2, 6
• English Language Arts Standard 1 Grade 4 - information and understanding: Reading Writing Listening Speaking
• English Language Arts Standard 2 Grade 4 - literary expression: Reading PI 2-3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 17; Writing PI 2- 3 9, 11; Listening PI 2- 3; Speaking PI 3
• English Language Arts Standard 3 Grade 4 - Critical analysis and evaluation: Reading PI 3-4; Writing PI 4-5, 7,9; Listening PI 1-3; Speaking PI 2-4
• English Language Arts Standard 4 Grade 4 - Social Interaction: Reading PI 3; Writing PI 2; Listening PI 3; Speaking PI 3, 6

SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

• Grade 4: Local History and Local Government
• Local and State governments - Citizenship and the roles and responsibilities of citizenship in the classroom, school, home and local community

SKILLS

• Thinking Skills - Handling diversity of interpretations
• Research and Writing Skills - Getting information, looking for patterns, analyzing information, synthesizing information
• Interpersonal and Group Relations Skills - Recognizing that others may have a different point of view, participating in group planning and discussion, assuming responsibility for carrying out tasks
• Image Analysis - Decoding images, interpreting images, drawing conclusions

CONCEPTS

• Change
• Choice
• Civic values
• Citizenship
• Conflict
• Human rights
• Justice
• Power

Student Activities

Anticipatory Set:

• Ripple Demonstration - Set up a whole class demonstration of the dropping of a marble into a bucket of water. (A clear container could be placed on top of an overhead.) Have students observe what they see. Repeat to observe the ripple of water that moves outward. Discuss how ripples move on and on.
• Have the following Robert F. Kennedy quote visible in the classroom: "Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot (life) of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." Robert F. Kennedy
• Read the quote.
• Have students independently: stop & jot, journal, turn & talk or think-pair-share about this quote. Guiding questions: What is the meaning of this quote? What does it mean to "stand up for an idea," "strike out against injustice"? What is a "ripple of hope"? Share ideas as whole class, possibly on a chart, overhead or Smart Board for all to see the connection of ideas.

Optional: Create visualizations that illustrate this quote.

Activity 1

• Share definition of social justice developed in Lesson 1: "Social justice is a condition where people in a society are being treated fairly, having a feeling of equality."
• Discuss with the whole class: Do we experience social justice in our lives? When? Where? In school, how are we treated fairly (class rules, homework, consequences, free time, recess, lunch, etc.)?
• Share references of just vs. unjust/fair vs. unfair from Lesson 1 and present definition of social injustice: "Social injustice is the opposite of social justice. Social injustice is a condition of not being treated fairly, having a feeling of inequality."
• Discuss whole class: Do we experience social injustice in our lives? When? Where? In school, are there situations of social injustice? Elicit ideas and guide discussion to the idea of bullying.

This lesson provides an opportunity for students to identify bullying as a social injustice of the past and of today.

Activity 2

Discover, through powerful photographs (primary documents), the social issues they believe to be happening, the emotions contained in the photographs, the feelings of the people and the characters, etc. In teams of three, give each team all three photographs. Ask students to complete the following sentence starters: We see… This makes us think… This makes us feel…so…

• DOWNLOAD: Worksheet 3d: Primary Document Analysis Slip (PDF)

Ask students to look at these images and read the information provided in the following documents:

• Image 3a: School Dilemma (loc.gov)
• Image 3b: One of the "Little Rock Nine"
• Image 3c: The Problem We All Live With

After completing the sentence starters, ask students to share collective ideas from the "We see, we think, we feel, so…" slips. Each team presents to whole class. Students should be able to draw from the leadership traits of Lesson 2 (perseverance, hope, courage, compassion, patience, bravery, respect, citizenship and responsibility).

• DOWNLOAD: Worksheet 3d: Primary Document Analysis Slip (PDF)

Activity 3

Robert F. Kennedy called upon citizens to create a ripple of hope about social injustice of the 1960s. Today we can see his message apply to bullying in schools.

Ask students to form into new teams (the teacher may choose to place students into groups of mixed popularity, ability, etc.) to create a large mind/concept map that includes words, pictures/visualizations that will brainstorm/discuss/answer the following questions:

• What is bullying?
• How are people bullied? What are the different forms of bullying? (teasing, hitting, rumors, cyber, name calling, ignoring/excluding, etc.)
• What does bullying sound like? What words are used to describe a bully?
• What does a bully look like? Who is a bully? Could it be anyone?
• Why do people bully?
• How does it feel to be bullied? How does it feel to witness bullying?
• What could we do to stop bullying? What choices do you have? What actions could you take?

Share and discuss similarities, themes, etc. within and across team posters

Independently: Students fill out the graphic organizer on the social issue of bullying: What it is/What it isn't; And Why/Why not?

• DOWNLOAD: Worksheet 3e: What is / What isn't (PDF)

Culminating Activity

Journal: Provide students with primary document summaries provided

What qualities of leadership, evidenced through Ruby Bridges and in situations such as the desegregation of schools in Little Rock, Ark., are needed today to fight against bullying in schools? Refer to character traits discussed in Lesson 2. What would Robert F. Kennedy say to us in school about our responsibility to create a ripple of hope?

Extension

1. Read aloud one or more of the following children's literature choices or any piece of literature that directly addresses bullying in the development of character and plot.

(See illustration below and download Worksheet 3f: Bullying in Literature.)

• Teammates by Peter Golenbock and Paul Bacon
• Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
• Mr. Lincoln's Way by Patricia Polacco
• Enemy Pie by Ed Koch
• Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaolo
• Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig
• My Secret Bully by Trudy Ludwig
• The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill
• Say Something by Peggy Moss
• Weekend with Wendell by Kevin Henkes
• Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes
• The New Dog by Barbara Shook Hazen

Each of these books examines the bully and the victim, the causes/reasons behind the bullying, character development/change, different ways to react to bullying, conflict resolution and outcomes. What personality traits and actions did the characters have in common that triumphed over the bullying? What message did they give to the bully? How were the bullies changed in these stories? Have students write responses in the appropriate boxes.

Graphic Organizer

• DOWNLOAD: Worksheet 3f: Bullying in Literature (PDF)

2. Elicit discussion about the bullying that occurred in the past, including the bullying and social injustice endured by 15-year-old Dorothy Geraldine Counts (Charlotte, N.C.), Elizabeth Eckford as she walked into high school in 1957 (Little Rock, Ark.) and Ruby Bridges (New Orleans. La.) in 1960. To support the building of background knowledge about desegregation and the civil rights movement, book suggestions for read aloud opportunities include, Remember by Toni Morrison and The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. For historical background, utilize reference summaries provided.

Primary Document Summaries

(Source: Library of Congress)

Photo 1: School Dilemma
In 1957, 15-year-old Dorothy Geraldine Counts and three other students became the first African-American students to attend the previously all-white Harding High School in Charlotte, N.C. They were greeted by angry white mobs who screamed obscenities and racial slurs at the African-American students. Counts' picture appeared in many newspapers as did others of black students attempting to attend white schools for the first time. Counts' family feared for her safety and withdrew her from Harding and sent her out of state to complete high school. www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/images/br0125bs.jpg (Image 3a School Dilemma)

Photo 2: One of the "Little Rock Nine"
On Sept. 4, 1957, an angry crowd greeted the African-American students in Arkansas as they attempted to attend Central High School for the first time. Elizabeth Eckford, who had not received a message to meet the other students, tried to enter the school by herself. Alone in a large crowd of hostile, jeering people, she was blocked in her attempts to enter the school by the Arkansas National Guard. She finally gave up and sat down at a bus stop, enduring harassment from the mob until a white man and woman got her onto a bus and out of the area. www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/crandall/CRvisual5.htm (Image 3b One of the "Little Rock Nine")

Painting 3: "Problem We All Live With" by Norman Rockwell
Ruby Bridges played an important part in the Civil Rights Movement. Ruby was born Sept. 8, 1954, in Tylertown, Miss. A year later, her family moved to New Orleans, La. At that time, people wanted to keep blacks and whites separate because whites didn't think that blacks were as good as them. For example, blacks and whites had separate drinking fountains, blacks had to sit in the back of buses, and blacks and whites each had their own separate schools. Ruby was a little girl who was one of the first blacks to go to an all-white school. Her dad didn't want her to go to the all-white William Frantz School. He feared that angry people who wanted to keep blacks and whites separate would hurt his family if Ruby went to the all-white school. Some white people threatened to poison Ruby and hurt her if she went to their school. Her dad even lost his job because his boss didn't think that someone should be working for him if his black child was going to an all-white school. When Ruby started first grade, U.S. marshals took her to and from school and protected her from the angry white people. On the first day of school in 1960, Ruby saw some people dragging their white kids out of the classrooms because they didn't want their kids going to the same school as a black kid. Many of the white parents and their kids were outside the school protesting.They were yelling and holding signs. The teachers still tried to teach the few students at school that day. No white parents would allow their children to be in the same classroom with Ruby. Her teacher, Mrs. Henry, started to teach and was very loving toward Ruby. She supported and helped Ruby through the difficult time. For the rest of the year, she was the only one in her class and she was taught on a whole different floor from all the other kids. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112391/ruby_bridges.htm (3c Problem We All Live With)

Presidential contender Bobby Kennedy stops during campaigning to shake hands with delighted young African-American child. Photo by Bill Eppridge//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.