We receive this special type of funding called e-rate funding, and attached to that funding is the expectation that you cover specific lessons on digital citizenship with each class. I like the way the lessons build upon each other from one year to the next. For example, eventually in the upper elementary school grades when students are using email and blogging, there is a specific lesson on cyber-bullying, but what it translate into at the kindergarten and first grade level are simple lessons about strategies to use if you are being bullied. Enter one of my favorite books, The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill. Mean Jean is the playground bully ("she's pushed kids and smooshed kids, / hammered 'em, slammered 'em, / kitz and kajammer 'em"). No one has ever stood up to Mean Jean before until a new kid, Katie Sue, arrives at school. What I like about this book is that addresses many of the strategies kids need to use when dealing with a bully. Katie Sue uses her strong voice, she walks away, and then finally she invites Mean Jean to play with her, and that is what does the trick. Presto change-o a new friendship is born. Yeah, I know, it wasn't that easy for me either when I had to share a bus seat with a bully on 20 mile bus ride every day from my elementary school to my house, but this book is still a great teaching tool. At the end we always have a conversation that while Katie Sue and Jean solve this problem without adult intervention, it is never a good idea to keep bullying a secret, and that you should always tell an adult. Here's one of my favorite samples of student work from the week. "I use my strong voice."
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