Cyberbullying: Grades 4-5

The Power of Words

Download Student Activity Sheet(s) for printout.

Read a Letter to Educators about cyberbullying from CyberSmart!

Overview

Students consider that while they are enjoying their favorite children's Web sites, they may encounter messages from other children that can make them feel angry, hurt, sad, or fearful. They explore ways to handle a particular cyberbullying situation, learn some basic prevention rules, and propose actions to take to calm down when online language makes them angry.

Objectives

  • Analyze behaviors that could be considered cyberbullying.
  • Generate solutions for dealing with a cyberbullying situation on a children's game Web site.
  • Use creative thinking to suggest ways for students to handle feelings of anger.

National Educational Technology Standards for Students © 2007

Source: International Society for Technology in Education
  1. Communication and Collaboration
    1. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
  2. Digital Citizenship
    1. advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
    2. exhibit leadership for digital citizenship.

Home Connection

Download the Grades 4-5 Home Connection page related to this lesson.

Site Preview

Web 2.0 Tools

An optional strategy for using Web 2.0 tools with your students is recommended under Teach 4.


Materials

  • Activity Sheets (2)
  • Colored pencils

Introduce

Have students share all the ways they enjoy going online and using communications technologies such as cell phones. Discuss positive feelings they enjoy when they use children's Web sites associated with their favorite movies, TV shows, sports, and games.

Discuss all the enjoyable and productive ways they use cell phones and the Internet to stay in touch with friends, family, and their school.

Teach 1: What's the Problem?

  • Distribute the activity sheets. Have students read the scenario about Rani and Aruna receiving mean messages via a children's game Web site.
  • Have students write their answers to the two questions under What's the Problem? Look for responses that show empathy for Rani and Aruna and acknowledgement that the messages are unfair to the girls and should be stopped.

Teach 2: Think About It

  • Have students read the Think About It section on their activity sheets. Point out that text-based messages can be more confusing or even scarier than face-to-face messages because face-to-face cues are absent.
  • Invite students to share their own stories. Ask: Have you seen mean messages sent to you or others online? Tell about it, but do not use real names.

Teach 3: Find Solutions

  • Lead a brainstorming session by listing all students' ideas on the board or chart paper. Remind students that they are not to pass judgment on other students' ideas at this point.
  • Have students discuss the entire list and decide which solutions are fair to all concerned and respectful of the rights of others.
  • Assign each of the best solutions to a small group of students and allow them time to plan a role play and then present it to the rest of the class.
  • Ask: Imagine that the person who sent the bad messages is a classmate at school. What should this person say to Rani and Aruna? What can this person do to show that he or she wants to make up for the harm they caused? (Amends can be made by offering to do something helpful to Rani and Aruna.)

Teach 4: Take Action

  • Have students follow the directions on their activity sheets. Ask: What works for you when you need to calm down right away? Allow students to practice some of these techniques at transition times during the school day (for example, when students come back from lunch).
Web 2.0 Tools

Use desktop publishing applications to convert students' cartoons into comic books and distribute in print or by e-mail. Or use Web 2.0 tools to share the cartoons on a school Web page, a blog, or a wiki.


Assess

The following items assess student mastery of the lesson objectives.

  • Ask: What makes mean or scary messages a problem online? (because they can make the person who gets them upset or angry or scared)
  • Ask: What can kids do when they get such cyberbullying messages? (They can use their technique for calming down and then they can ask an adult for help.)

Extend

  • Students will benefit by revisiting this lesson each year.
  • For students who completed this lesson in a previous grade, explain that the mean things people say can be directed at one or two people, as in this lesson, or they can be directed at an entire group of people—for example, all women or all people of a certain race or religion. These words, often in the form of name-calling, are very powerful and can be very hateful and hurtful.

Cyberbullying Prevention Activities for Your School, Families, and Community

Extend this classroom lesson with activities that will support a cyberbullying prevention campaign for your school, families, and community.

Web 2.0 Tools

includes strategies for using interactive online Web 2.0 tools.


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