Brief Description

Students will describe and identify the concept of bullying.   They will then apply it to the British and American colonists during the Revolutionary War through an essay, an illustration and an oral presentation.  This lesson plan, in part, has been designed for improving writing skills on a SMART Board, but could easily be adapted to a chalkboard.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 2T-E1 Discuss basic issues related to responsible use of technology and information and describe personal consequences of inappropriate use
• 2T-E3 Demonstrate knowledge of current changes in technologies and the effect those changes have on the workplace and society.
• 4T-E1  Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication,
• and communicate with others in support of facilitated and independent learning
• 5T-E2   Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources

Academic Standards

• 1SS-E6 Describe the political, religious, and economic aspects of North American colonization, with emphasis on:
• PO1  The reasons for colonization, including religious freedom, desire for land, economic opportunity and a new life
• 1SS-E7  Describe the causes, key individuals, and consequences of the American Revolution, with emphasis on:
• PO1   the causes, including the Tea Act, the Stamp Act, and the formation of the Sons of Liberty
• PO2   major turning points in the Revolutionary War and importance of aid from France
• PO3   the influence of key personalities, including King George III, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine

Academic and Technologcial
Academic

• Each student will write an essay formulating his/her own hypothesis on how the British treatment of American colonists can be labeled as bullying.  Students may refer to discussion and brainstorming notes while writing three paragraphs plus a conclusion.
• Drawing an illustration and using their textbook or Webquest notes as a resource, students will show at least two acts of bullying and two reactions.  Illustrating in a cartoon or picture format students will draw how the colonists were bullied by the British meeting all seven of the criteria discussed in class.
• Each student will give an oral presentation of his/her illustration while defending his interpretation of bullying by the British and reactions of the colonists while meeting all of the criteria for oral presentations as practiced throughout the school year.

• After brainstorming with the class each student will write his/her definition of bullying on the SMART Board.  Each student will meet all three classroom expectations for SMART Board usage while practicing their writing skills.

• A basic knowledge of writing on a SMART Board.
• An ability to understand established classroom rules for Smart Board use.

• SMART Board  (Interactive White Board)
• Writing Paper and Pencil for Brainstorming and the Essay
• Sheets of Tag Board for Final Illustration  (8x10)
• Colored Pencils, Rulers, Markers  (Various Colors)
• Assessment Rubrics

Special education students will be provided with a Revolutionary War Essay Sheet.  This sheet will include a sentence that they must include in one paragraph about the British bullying American colonists prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.  A word bank is also provided. Additionally, they will be asked to draw a picture that shows a British soldier bullying a colonist.  The criteria will also be listed on the Revolutionary War Essay Sheet.

SEI students will be provided with a Revolutionary War Essay Sheet for SEI Students.
This sheet will include a word bank with 10 words that must be included in a paragraph about the American colonists being bullied by the British during the Revolutionary War era.  Students will also be asked to draw a picture that reflects an act of bullying by the British.  The criteria will be listed on the same page as the paragraph requirements.

Gifted students will be required to further explore the concept of bullying by powerful, contemporary nations.  They will illustrate their idea by comparing the British during the Revolutionary War era to the current actions of the United States in Iraq.  This will require some independent research and will be illustrated in a political cartoon, which includes text.

1. Generate a class discussion by asking students to define bullying.  Students will write their ideas on the SMART Board using Smart Ideas software.  One student may write at a time.

2. Ask students if their explanation of bullying can be extended towards anything other than an individual.

3. Open Notebook on the SMART Board and make five columns.  Label the following headings: individual, groups, and governments.  Ask students to label the last two columns.

4. Have students list examples of bullying under each heading.

5. Instruct students to work with a partner and brainstorm for other perceptions of bullying.  Allow 10 minutes.  Students should record their ideas.

6. Announce allowed time in two-minute increments.

7. Call time and then discuss brainstorming ideas as a class.

8. Using the SMART Board display (or read to class) a quote on bullying by Eleanor Roosevelt. “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home;   - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college she attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works.  Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."
Eleanor Roosevelt      Ask students to summarize what Mrs. Roosevelt was stating.

9. Students will develop their own hypothesis linking bullying to the behavior of the English government prior to the Revolutionary War.  Students will write a four- paragraph essay.  The first paragraph will address bullying.  The second paragraph will compare the acts of the British to the actions of a bully.  The third paragraph will explain how the colonists (the ones being bullied) reacted.  The fourth paragraph will be a conclusion.

10. As the final assignment for this lesson, students will create an illustration that depicts the colonists being bullied by the British.  The illustration may be in a cartoon or picture format.

11. Students are responsible for presenting and defending their finished product to the class

• Student essays will be assessed using the British vs. American Colonists Essay Rubric.
• Students writing one or two paragraphs about bullying while using a word bank and structured sentence will self-assess with a Paragraph Self Assessment Sheet.
• An Illustration or Cartoon: Bullying by the British Rubric with three distinct categories to assess illustrations will be used for each student’s depiction of bullying.
• An Oral Presentation Rubric: The Bullying of American Colonists will be utilized to assess oral presentations.

Teacher Name: Marion Ritzel
Email:  mritzel@amphi.com
Grade Level:  7
Time Required:  5 - 6 hours
Site:  Coronado K-8
Date Submitted:  March 29, 2005