ELM 330 PP Presentation

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ELM 330 Passion Project Presentation

By: Emily Barrett

Bullying- Why is this an Important Topic?

The topic of bullying has been around for many years. It strikes up memories in our own school days that are not fun to think about. When a kid bullies another kid through verbal or physical harm, it can lead to detrimental effects for the rest of their lives. Teaching kids to be kind to one another is a great start to creating a better, kinder future. 

Crow Boy Overview 

How it Connects to my Theme: This book connects to my theme of bullying because Chibi received negative treatment at school. He spent all of his free time alone and people called him a "forlorn little tag-along." He felt alone and bullied in his school. It was not until his teacher made him feel wanted and special that he began to like school.

How I would Introduce the Book: I would introduce this book like this: "This book is about a shy boy who overcomes the feeling of being alone and left out by the help of his teacher. If you ever feel lonely in this class, or feel like you do not belong here, this story will show you that I think you are special, and there is always a place in this class for you and in my heart!"

Activity I would do in my Future Classroom: At the end of the book I would ask some questions to the students about how his teacher made him feel special and why the kids were calling him names. As a class I am going to make a poster and have the kids give me characteristics of what makes a good friend and how to make people feel special and later hang it up on the wall in my classroom so my students can always look and see the characteristics of a good friend.

Owen Overview 

How it Connects to my Theme: This book relates to my theme about anti-bullying because there is an antagonist in the book who seems to give her negative opinion towards Owen and his Fuzzy blanket. She seems to almost bully and convince Owen's parents into making him give up the blanket with comments and ideas. Owen stood up for what he believed in no matter what anyone said, and in the end he got to keep his blanket and his parents found a way to fix the situation without being bullied into hurting their son's feelings.

How I would Intorduce the Story: This book is about a mouse named Owen who loves his blanket VERY much. He named it Fuzzy and takes his blanket with him everywhere he goes. Fuzzy is very important to Owen, and Fuzzy is Owen's best friend. Owen's parents began to get worried when Mrs. Tweezers made not so nice comments about Owen and his blanket, so Owen's parents tried to force Owen to get rid of it. We will see what happens in the story!

Activity I would do in Classroom: Some questions I would ask the students that relate to the theme of my project are: "Why did Mrs. Tweezers want Owen to get rid of the blanket?" "What are some ways Owen's parents tried to make him get rid of Fuzzy?" "Why was Fuzzy so important to Owen?" "How did Mrs. Tweezers react at the end of the story?" My students could then on a piece of a paper and write about how Mrs. Tweezer made Owen and his parents feel and how Owen overcame the negative comments and stood up for himself.

Lord Computesalot, Ruler of Aurora Bullyalis, and His Secret Quest to End Bullying Overview

How it Connects to my Theme: This book connects to my theme of bullying because the two principals, Foxanna and Wolverina, use mean tactics to bully each other. They use verbal harassment, and physical attacks to hurt each other. This book shows the importance of not bullying and being kind to one another.

How I would Introduce the Text: My text introduction for this book will go something like this: "In this book we will see how two girls who are supposed to be best friends treat each other poorly. We will see how things like talking mean and hurting each other is hurtful. This story is going to show us how being kind to one another is very important!"

Activity I would do in Classroom: With connection to the passion project, I would want to do an activity where they draw a picture of them doing something kind for a friend and they can each present it in the class and we talk about how being kind makes people feel good.

Nerdy Birdy Overview

How it Connects to my Theme: This books connects to my theme of anti-bullying because Nerdy Birdy struggles to hang with the "cool" birds because they criticize him and do not want to be around him. He tries to find his friends and find people who like the things that he likes. When Nerdy Birdy finally finds friends that are like him, he gets upset when they do not accept the Vulture when she comes into town. Overall, this story is about inclusion and how even though everyone is different, they still belong in the classroom and in our world.

How I would Intorduce the Book: I would introduce this book to my students like this- "This book is about a bird who struggles to fit in with the cool kids, and with the nerdy kids. When he sees that some birds are not kind to other birds because of what they look like or what they do in their free time, he wants to change that! He realizes that different birds can like different things and still be friends."

Activity: A group activity I would do with this book in my future classroom would be a community building exercise I actually found from Dr. Koch's class. I would cut out puzzle pieces in paper and have each student write their name and two things they love. It could be their family, something they like to eat, play with, or do in their spare time. Then we would put all of the puzzle pieces together and see how each piece fits in perfectly. I would show that even though we all like different things and have different interests, we fit together in our class and with one piece missing the puzzle is not complete.

Be Kind Overview 

How it Connects to my Theme: This book connects to my theme about anti-bullying because the new girl in the book gets bullied by other students in her class. Another girl in her class works hard to figure out how to be nice to her instead of being mean. This book is about showing kindness to everyone no matter what.

How I would Introduce the Book: I would introduce this book in this way- "This book is about a girl who receives harsh treatment when she comes to a new school. She gets laughed at and does not make friends right away, until another girl comes along and learns how to be nice to her rather than be mean."

Activity I would do in Classroom: Some discussion questions I would ask for this book would be the following: "Why do we think it is important to show kindness to people? If we see someone getting laughed at, should we join in or help them? When is it allowed to laugh at people when something bad happens to them? What are some ways we can show kindness to one another? How can we avoid bullying in our school?"

Stick and Stone Overview 

How it Connects to my Theme: This connects to my theme of anti-bullying because two characters in the story are very lonely until the two come together to stand up against a bully in the book. This book shows the importance of friendship and how it can be stronger than bullying.

How I would Introduce the Book: I would introduce the book to my students like this- "This book is about two characters who are very lonely until they meet each other and help overcome a very mean bully. When a storm separates them, the characters work hard to find their way back to each other so that they can become friends. No matter what life brings them they always remained strong friends."

Activity I would do in Classroom: An activity I would do with this book would be a writing activity to write their own story of how they were separated from their friend and how it made them feel and how they worked hard to get their friend back.

How Will I Implement These Books in my Future Classroom? 

In my future classroom, I am very passionate about having morning meetings in my class every day to get the students started on the right foot. I believe that reading these books and implementing it throughout the day will boost morale and motivate my future students to think about how to be kind rather than be a bully. At the end of the school day before dismissal, we will come back together as a class and talk about some things we noticed throughout the day of how people were kind to one another, so we not only begin the day on a good note, but we end the day thinking positive as well!