3- Rumors. We reviewed bullying prevention then started to talk about ways to be respectful to others. I THOUGHT I had brought my respect paste with me and we spread it all out before we realized it was RUMOR paste! We talked about what a rumor is (a story that spreads around and isn't ours to tell. Might start out as true, but often changes as it gets passed around), why rumors can hurt people, and what to do if we hear a rumor--check out my Rumor Rules below! We tried to put it all back in the tube and discovered that it isn't possible :(
4- Cooperation. We reviewed bullying prevention then we did a little activity in which the goal was to earn as many stickers as possible. My participants thought it was a competition and worked against each other. We talked about how when we work together, everyone can be more successful!! We brainstormed times we might need to work together in 4th grade and talked about strategies for making compromises and cooperating.
5- Peer pressure. In our special Character Connection writing classes, we have been centering our work around character--who we really are when no one is looking. We are working toward talking about reputation--how people see us and how we want to be known. In this lesson we brainstormed things (negative and positive) that people in our general age group might encourage us to do. We talked about thinking ahead about what we want to say "no" to and how we can do that. We reviewed I-statements and STAR problem solving to be used with less intense situation, but I encouraged all of them to go home and talk to their trusted adults about real situations they might face and how to solve them.