Paul Langan's novel The Bully is the core text in a six-session unit plan that engages high schoolers in an in-depth examination of bullying and its effects on bullies, victims, and bystanders. The richly textured and carefully scaffolded multisession plan encourages young people to consider what they can do to prevent bullying.

Concepts

bullying, reading comprehension, character analysis

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Have copies of Gary Paulsen's novel Hatchet available for those who want to read the story referenced in the resource
• Coordinate with Language Arts teachers and schedule this unit for all freshman English classes during anti-bullying month

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a class set of The Bully
• Assumes that a protocol has been established for a safe, respectful discussion of sensitive issues
• Requires considerable prep time 

Pros

• Activities ask readers to put themselves in the characters' place and reflect on how they would deal with similar situations
• The Readers Theatre activity gives class members an opportunity to add a depth of emotion to the story
• A link is provided to an interactive site where they can complete the graphic organizers
• Links are also provided to related websites
• Includes background materials for teachers and parents

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.9-10.1 RL.9-10.2 RL.9-10.3 RL.11-12.2 RL.11-12.3 L.11-12.1.a