Bullying Behaviors

We have moved into the learning phase of our project. To provide a basis, we define what bullying is: Bullying is actions that can hurt someone physically and emotionally and wrote down two thoughts about bullying and one question. This allowed me to assess my students prior knowledge on the topic in order to determine the areas for research. I compiled the students answers into an anchor chart. 

Two Thoughts and a Question

From this evaluation, I learned the students know the actions bullies perform, but the underlying reasons for bullying are not identified (i.e. the individual had a bad day, there is not enough crayons or playground equipment to share, etc). I decided to use literature and invited our guidance counselor, Ms. DG, to provide more information. 


I read the students The Juice Box Bully by: Bob Sornson, Maria Dismondy and Kim Shaw. Throughout the read aloud, we tried to confirm our thoughts and answer the questions on the anchor chart. From the story, the students learned that Pete, the main character, became a bully because he used to be bullied at his old school. Therefore, he used bullying as a way to protect himself; by bullying others, no one could hurt him. Even though this was one answer to why people bully, the students' understanding was still framed on the individual. I hoped Ms. DG would help reframe this topic to investigate the systematic factors that cause bullying.