Bully, Bullied, Bystander - "I Am" Poem

I have been waiting for everyone to hand in their poems and t-shirt designs before posting this activity, but I can wait no longer.  If your child's work is not included, as them about it.  

We have really been focusing on inclusiveness, spreading good karma and good energy, and respecting our fellow classmates.  One of the activities we participated in was a role playing activity to help us gain insight and empathy from the perspective of the bully, the bullied and the bystander. The idea for this activity came from Runde's Room.  

Students began by brainstorming what are bully, a bullied, and a bystander. Then they selected a slip of paper in my "Name Jar".  The jar contains slips of paper   with the words the BULLY, the BULLIED, or the BYSTANDER.  Each student haD to choose a slip of paper to examine the issue of bullying from one of those three points of view.   The students then got into three role groups to "talk it out".  They discussed what their feelings would be, reasons for their behaviour, actions, etc.  By taking the "role" of either the bully, the bullied, or the bystander, students felt more free to discuss their feelings.

Next, students wrote a poem from their chosen perspective, using a simple "I Am" template for the poem.

Finally, they designed t-shirts that included a logo, catch phrase, images and words to transmit an anti- bullying message.  Students have previous experience from designing anti-bullying buttons, early in February.