Weird
Illustrator: Paula Heaphy
Themes: Bullying
Genre: Bullying, Perspective
Grades: K and up
Synopsis: Luisa is constantly being teased and called "weird" by her classmate Sam, when all Luisa is doing is being herself. She laughs with friends, answers questions in class, greets her father in Spanish and wears her polka dot boots. Luisa at first reacts by withdrawing herself, but with the help of her parents, teachers, classmates and good friend Jayla, she is able to over come this bully and able to reclaim her colorful self.
Activity: Have students look at the cover of the book and talk about how they think that this girl on the front cover is feeling. After reading the book, have students write in the journals about what they would have done if they were in Luisa's situation.
Frankel, E. (2012). Weird. Minneapolis:Free Spirit Publishing. Grades K+
Dare!
Synopsis: Jayla is Luisa's friend who has been bullied by Sam in the past for her "nerdy" love of astronomy and stars. She is enlisted by Sam to participate in her bullying of Luisa and reluctantly joins. She learns that what she is doing is wrong and with the help of her teachers and friends, she is able to stand up Sam. 
Activity: Again have the students look at the cover and talk about what is going on on the cover, and how the person on the cover is feeling. Have the students write in the journals about what they would do if they were in Jayla's situation.
Frankel, E. (2012). Dare. Minneapolis:Free Spirit Publishing. Grades K+
Tough
Synopsis: Sam believes that things need to be kept orderly and "cool" at school. She believes that in order for this to happen people need to have tough skins in order to fit in. She starts teasing her classmate Luisa and enlists the help of her friend Jayla. But when a concern teacher confronts her about her bullying and Jayla leaves her to befriend Luisa, Sam starts to question her bullying and starts to show a little heart. 
Activity: Have students talk about what makes a bully and discuss this. Also discuss why some people might bully others, and why they might feel the need to bully them.
Frankel, E. (2012). Tough. Minneapolis:Free Spirit Publishing. Grades K+
Post Reading Activity 1: These books would be great during an anti-bullying lesson, whether in
the classroom or in the school. After reading all three of these books,
you could have students make up anti-bullying posters to be put either
around their classroom or around the school, to help educate others
about bullying. These posters could list different ways which the bully,
bystander, and victim could each handle a bullying situation and who
they could go to talk to.
Post Reading Activity 2: A good culminating activity for the three books would be to have students think back to a time when they were in a similar situation such as Sam, Luisa, or Jayla, and write independently a paragraph why they acted that way explaining their reasoning. The students would then write a follow up paragraph explaining the others perspective in the situation.
I liked the idea of this series in that it provides different perspectives on the same issue, so students are able to see things in different ways. Bullying is a major issue in our schools today, and while there are great programs which schools have adopted to help and prevent this issue from occurring, I believe that whatever we can do to help and prevent this problem in our schools will ultimately help us to alleviate this problem.
About the Author:Erin Frankel wrote this book because as a child, parent and teacher she seen bullying first hand. Erin was really hurt how kids who are bullied often give up on things that make them special in the hopes that they will no longer be bullied. The reason she decided to write three books was so that children would be able to explore all three perspectives and to understand each other's struggles and realize that in the end no one wins when it comes to bullying. She taught ESL in Alabama before she recently moved to Madrid, Spain. Erin is married with three daughters. In her free time, Erin loves hiking in the Spanish mountains and kayaking.
I liked the idea of this series in that it provides different perspectives on the same issue, so students are able to see things in different ways. Bullying is a major issue in our schools today, and while there are great programs which schools have adopted to help and prevent this issue from occurring, I believe that whatever we can do to help and prevent this problem in our schools will ultimately help us to alleviate this problem.
About the Author:Erin Frankel wrote this book because as a child, parent and teacher she seen bullying first hand. Erin was really hurt how kids who are bullied often give up on things that make them special in the hopes that they will no longer be bullied. The reason she decided to write three books was so that children would be able to explore all three perspectives and to understand each other's struggles and realize that in the end no one wins when it comes to bullying. She taught ESL in Alabama before she recently moved to Madrid, Spain. Erin is married with three daughters. In her free time, Erin loves hiking in the Spanish mountains and kayaking.
About the Illustrator: Paula Heaphy is a print and pattern designer in the fashion industry, currently the Senior Print and Pattern Designer at Gap Inc. She was bullied as a child so she jumped at the chance to illustrate her friend Erin's story.
No comments:
Post a Comment