Bullying Prevention Lesson Plan: Strengthen Yourself From the Inside Out

This lesson helps kids build internal strength and courage in the face of bullying and supports healthy self-esteem for all students.

Students will

• create lists of their own talents and competencies
• write notes of affirmation to classmates
• reflect on other ways they can strengthen themselves from the inside out for the purpose of bully-proofing

Activity

Have students pair up. Pass out paper and have them write the following heading: “Talents I Have and Things I’m Good At.”

In pairs, have students discuss and list everything each of them is good at, including things such as help- ing, caring, being a true friend, being funny, and being kind. Encourage them to list at least ten things. Model ways kids can encourage each other to come up with more ideas. For example, a partner can ask, “What else are you good at?” or say, “I’ve noticed that you’re good at ________.” Allow five minutes or less for this activ- ity; circulate and give coaching as needed.

When the lists are complete, have students exchange papers with their partners. On the back of their partner’s sheet, have them each write a para- graph of affirmation about the partner, elaborating on all positive qualities they have noticed or discussed. You can model this ahead of time or read aloud the following example:

Dear Alex,

I think you’re a really cool person. You’re funny and nice. I would have been scared moving here and being the new kid in the class, but you handled it really well. I know you’re good at math, building things, and run- ning. It’s cool the way you can explain a math problem to people when they don't get it. It's been really nice to get to know you.

Mark

After students are done writing, have them exchange papers again, read the note from their partner, and then put their paper with the note into their journals. Then have them turn to a clean page and write the following heading: “I Did It.” Tell them to take a minute or two to write at least three things they accomplished today. An accomplishment can be as simple as “I handed in my homework on time.”