Anticipatory Set

• Have students share their personal observations and feelings about bullying behavior. Use some of the following questions to guide the discussion. "Why do bullies pick on a certain person repeatedly?" "How does the victim act?" "How do people who observe bullying react?" Ask, "Does bullying behavior ever happen in front of teachers/adults?" "Does bullying behavior ever happen when no one is watching?" 
• Show this image of the roles surrounding the bully to help students identify what role/s they have found themselves in. 
• Use the "think, pair, share" model to discuss the roles students have taken or observed.
• Tell the students that bullying behavior is a problem for all of us, not just the individual. When we all see the importance of respect for others, the community will not tolerate the injustice.
• Introduce the term social capital. Tell students that when community members make a personal investment in positive social interactions (similar to investing money to build up a bank account), they build trust and a commitment to the well-being of the community. This built-up social capital helps us work together more effectively to pursue shared objectives or to counteract a negative experience, such as bullying.
• Ask the student to describe the characteristics of someone who helps others. Talk about what motivates someone to take action to stop bullies. Ask the students what a circle of support would look like and create a visual to illustrate it. 
• List some things the bystanders can do to help stop the cycle of bullying. 
          1.     Do nothing (don't encourage the bully)

• Ask the students to discuss the pros and cons of each step and examples of actions they can take. 
• Remind the students that they used their time and talents to benefit the community when they conducted a survey to identify the issue of bullying in their school community. When they act to bring about positive change, students are called philanthropists. A philanthropist gives time, talent, or treasure (money or other valued goods) or takes action for the common good.
• Tell the students that taking action is risky. Give examples of individuals who took action in history at personal risk: Pocahontas had to take a stand with her father and people to save Captain John Smith and the Jamestown settlement. In American history, Abigail Adams spoke out for women’s rights at the time of the American Revolution. Harriet Tubman led slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Each of these women took risks to benefit others because they felt a responsibility to the common good. Explain that these are acts of philanthropy.  
• Ask whether the benefits are worth the risks. What if we didn't take action? Discuss why we all have a responsibility to act philanthropically to promote a civil society. Lead the students to recognize why it is good for all (the whole school community) for students to take action to address bullying behavior at school.
• In the third lesson, students make a plan to take action against bullying at school or in the community, based on where the surveys showed there was a need and the discussions above.

Language Arts: Write a story or poem about how it might feel to be bullied and/or how it might feel to be a bully.

Social Studies: Read about the different ways for a victim to respond in a bullying situation that will discourage the bully: http://www.micheleborba.com/Pages/ArtBMI03.htm 

Social Studies: Ask the students to research others (from the political, sports or entertainment fileds) who have or are taking action for the common good (philanthropy). Students might cite such people as: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Newman, Anglina Jolie and Brad Pitt. See the Learning to Give Briefing Papers at http://www.learningtogive.org/papers/by_category.asp?cat=People as a student resource.