Bullies!

The 4th graders at one of my schools are falling apart! They are being so cruel to each other and the bullying word is being thrown around a lot. I had not planned on doing my bullying lesson until the spring, but because of all the chaos, 4th grade will get the lessons starting next week.
Bullying is a big deal, and in Georgja, the police may become involved. Bullying is also an overused term. Sometimes, kids are just mean, and sometimes they are really just being mean when others think they are being bullied. The main purpose of this lesson is to teach students what bullying really is and what to do about it.  We do an activity where they talk about scenarios and what they could do about those situations.
The Powerpoint is in my TPT store. I begin with the crumpled paper activity where the kids crumbled, crush, step on, whatever they want to it. Their only instruction is to NOT rip it. Once they are good and crumpled, they smooth it out as best they can. Then I make them apologize to the paper. After that, we talk about how this is what happens when someone is bullied. The scars from being bullied don't go away with a simple, "I'm sorry." I define bullying and explain the difference between bullying and conflict. Sometimes kids are just plain mean, and I tell them such. Bullying and being mean are not always one in the same. I give examples of the four kinds of bullying: physical, verbal, cyber, and relational bullying. We then talk about what to do if they or someone else is being bullied.
We then do an activity where the students are divided into groups of 4-5. They talk about scenarios they are given and what they could do about that. Then we discuss as a class.
I save about five minutes at the end of my lesson for a wonderful lip dub video done by a high school. The whole school is involved, and I think it's good for my older elementary school kids to see high school aged students saying no to bullying. I make sure to highlight that the ENTIRE school is involved in standing up and saying no to bullying. Cool kids, unpopular kids, nerdy kids, jocks, ALL of them.

Check it out:

The instructions for the activity, the definition of bullying, conflict vs. bullying, the types of bullying, and what students can do if they are being bullied or if they see bullying, and a link to the Cypress Ranch lip dub video is included in the Powerpoint. The lesson plan can be found here . Both the lesson plan and the scenario cards are free in my TPT store.

Here is the actual link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENBJnX6cEKE&index=1&list=LLs5AC47l5x2vxs_WMAb-Gtg