Campaign to Promote Kindness (anti-bullying) Teacher Guide

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1 Campaign to Promote Kindness (anti-bullying) Teacher Guide Dear Teachers, Thank you for your interest in this campaign. You are able to help youth positively affect social norms within the classroom, which is the focus of this year s anti-bullying campaign. Each classroom that completes one of two (included) activities can enter for the chance to win Macklemore bobbleheads for their entire class. ( entries to ChangeTheGame@Mariners.com by June 2, 2014) We know that kindness has a three-degree ripple effect (Christakis, Three Degrees of Influence) and these two activities were created to amplify acts of kindness by taking time to notice and promote kind acts, we can help move the classroom s social norms to value kindness over bullying. Inside this guide, you will find instructions for two activities: the Be Great to Each Other Wall, and the Kindness Wins Scoreboard, as well as contest entry instructions. Thank you

2 Campaign Details OUR MAIN MESSAGES: Everyone deserves to feel safe at school Be great to each other Kindness wins WHY IS THIS THE FOCUS? Kindness has a three-degree ripple effect (Christakis, Three Degrees of Influence) Bullying prevention requires changing the whole community The largest group of players in any school community are the bystanders When the bystanders are acting pro-socially, that makes the school environment one that doesn t support bullying It replaces the norm of bullying is cool with kindness is cool Bystanders have the power you are either part of the problem or part of the solution It could start with something as simple as being kind and noticing the kindness of others Kindness wins: it is not mushy and weak it s strong and tough. We need to endow kindness with the same toughness and respect that is usually garnered by bullying. 1. BE GREAT TO EACH OTHER WALL Prepare: Make photocopies of the attached Be Great to Each Other handout, and cut along the dotted lines into quarter-page sheets. Colored paper can help make a splash. Make space on one classroom wall (the door, cabinet doors, etc.) where pages can be hung up. Create a location for quarter-page sheet pages, markers, and tape that will be easy for students to access. INTRODUCE THE ACTIVITY: We have talked about bullying before, and I know you hear a lot of antibullying messages. I think all of us agree that bullying is not okay. One of the best things we can do to stop bullying is to build a culture of kindness. The Mariners are holding a contest to reward kindness, and we can enter that contest by completing this activity. One of the main messages of the contest is Be great to each other. Can anyone say more about what this means? What are some ways people in this class are great to each other? (Write responses on the board, adding other acts of kindness you see from students). A researcher named Nicholas Christakis found that each act of kindness we do has a three-degree ripple effect. This means that when one person does something nice for someone else, that nice thing reaches more than just those two people, it spreads out like ripples in a pond to reach many people. So what we are going to do this month is keep track of all the great things people in this class do for each other. We will create a Be Great to Each Other Wall. Each day, we will have the opportunity to write down something great that we did for someone else, or write down something great that someone did for us, on these little sheets of paper. We will put the papers up on the wall, and by the end of the month, we will have a whole wall of greatness. This wall of greatness will allow us to enter the Mariners contest where we could win Macklemore bobbleheads. THE ACTIVITY: During the length of the campaign, have students write down positive actions (their own or their peer s) on Be Great to Each Other papers and hang them on the wall. Each sheet should document one way that the student is being great to others or noticing kind behaviors of other students. The goal of the activity is to fill the wall with positive actions that help promote kindness as a norm. TIPS FOR THE ACTIVITY: Pick one time each day when students can write entries for the Be Great to Each Other Wall, in order to create routine. Keep a list of positive acts on the board, and regularly review them with students. Notice when students hang sheets on the wall and thank them for helping build a culture of kindness Have a weekly discussion with students about what impact the activity is having on their classroom. Take a photo of the wall as it grows to send to ChangeTheGame@ Mariners.com by June 2, 2014.

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4 Campaign Details 2. KINDNESS WINS SCOREBOARD Prepare: Hang up the attached Kindness Wins baseball scoreboard in in a visible place in the classroom. INTRODUCE THE ACTIVITY: We have talked about bullying before, and I know you hear a lot of antibullying messages. I think all of us agree that bullying is not okay. One of the best things we can do to stop bullying is to build a culture of kindness. The Mariners are holding a contest to reward kindness, and we can enter that contest by completing this activity. One of the main messages of the contest is kindness wins. Can anyone say more about what this means? What are some ways people in this class are kind to each other? (Write responses on the chart paper, adding other acts of kindness you see from students. Save this list to refer to throughout the month). A researcher named Nicholas Christakis found that each act of kindness we do has a three-degree ripple effect. This means that when one person does something nice for someone else, that nice thing reaches more than just those two people, it spreads out like ripples in a pond to reach many people. So what we are going to do this play a game called Kindness Wins. We are going to keep track of all of the kind things we hear people say and see people do in this class. THE ACTIVITY: Hang up the Kindness Wins baseball scoreboard with Kind Words as one team and Kind Actions as the other Both teams start with zero runs. Set aside a few minutes every day to allow students to share kind things they have done or kinds things they have noticed others doing each scores one run for the appropriate Kindness team. TIPS FOR THE ACTIVITY: Pick one time each day when students share what they ve witnessed, in order to create routine. List of ways to be kind posted in the room, and regularly review it with students. Create a box where students can write down the acts of kindness they notice and submit them anonymously. Read these and add their runs to the scoreboard each day. Have students write down descriptions of acts of kindness they notice and submit these descriptions with a photo of your scoreboard to send in with your entry form. ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS: Conduct one or both of these activities within your classroom. photos of your completed activities to ChangeTheGame@Mariners.com by June 2, 2014 to enter your classroom to win Macklemore bobbleheads for your whole class. Photos submitted may be shared on MarinersVision at Safeco Field on Macklemore Bobblehead Night on June 12. Every day, we will share the kind words we hear and kind acts we see in this class, and keep track of them on this scoreboard. At the end of the month, we ll count up the score for Kind Words and the score for Kind Actions and see which type of kindness wins the game! Filling up this Kindness Wins scoreboard will allow us to enter the Mariners contest where we could win Macklemore bobbleheads.

5 Change the Game Scoreboard a copy of your completed scorecard to ChangeTheGame@Mariners.com by June 2, Four lucky classes will win Macklemore bobbleheads for everyone in the class. Open to all washington state middle and junior high school classes.