Don’t Laugh at Me

Tim Anderson                                                   Bruce Rohne

Professional School Counselor                          MSUM Intern 2000-2001

Maple River Elementary School                        Maple River Elementary School

Mapleton, MN                                                 Mapleton, MN

Description of the lesson

Don’t laugh at me is a series of classroom guidance lessons. It was developed by Don’t laugh at Me to discourage teasing in the schools. The series is designed for grades 2-5.

A typical lesson follows.

Opening

Begin by putting the following number ranges on the board; -5 to –2, -1 to1, and 2-5. Explain to the class that the numbers represent how they are feeling today. –5 is the worst day you could imagine, and 5 indicates the best day ever. Have the children put their heads down and ask for a show of hands on what category they would fit into today. Have the students raise their heads and talk about feelings and elicit words from the students that might fit into the categories. Explain that today the activity will be about put downs, and how they can make somebody feel like those words described in the –5 to-2 category.

Activity

Have the students get out something to draw and color with. Pass out a sheet of white paper to each student, and have him or her draw a large heart on the paper. Tell them to decorate the heart. Give them 5- 10 minutes to do this. When the time is up have them put their art supplies away, and tell the students you are going to read a short story to them. Tell them the story is about a boy named Pedro, and what happened to him one day. Explain to the students that each time Pedro gets put down they should tear their heart. Read the story The Torn Heart to the students. You may want to pause after each put down so the children have time to tear their hearts.

When the story is done process the activity with the students. The following is a list of questions to start a discussion about put-downs.

1.      How did you feel when you had to tear your heart? (can put these feeling words on the board)

2.      How do you think Pedro felt at the end of the day? (can use the number ranges again)

3.      What might be the effect on Pedro being treated this way day after day?

4.      What are some things you could say to make Pedro feel better?

5.      How do you think Pedro is feeling after all the nice things that were said to him?

6.      Have people in this class been put down? When? Where?

7.      Have any of you ever been put down?

8.      How could you help to make sure your classmates don’t feel like Pedro did in the story?

Connections to Related Domains

Don’t laugh at me is directly connected to the personal/social domain of the Minnesota School Counselors’ Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling. The torn heart activity teaches students to have respect for one another. . 

It may also be linked to preparatory content standard seven, people and cultures. Specifically in the geography and citizenship sub area. Part of the geography and citizenship area deals with the interaction of people. The counselor could collaborate with the teacher to make this guidance lesson a small part of this Minnesota standard.

References

Don’t Laugh at Me

2 Penn Plaza

23rd Floor

New York, NY 10121

Phone: 212-904-3618

Fax: 212-904-3618

www.dontlaugh.org

For Further Information

Tim Anderson

Professional School Counselor

Maple River Elementary School

Mapleton, Minnesota

Phone: 507-524-3917

Fax: 507-462-3219

E-mail: Tanderson@isd2135.mn.k12us.com