Bullying Hurts: Teaching Kindness Through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations

"We believe focused read aloud experiences with carefully selected children's literature followed by guided conversations is one way you can create a climate in your classroom, school, or district where bullying is not an accepted or rewarded behavior. A climate where an individual's humanity and human dignity trump any difference(s) and kindness is the order of the day."
-Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth

Bullying Hurts is not your same-old anti-bullying guide. Lester Laminack and Reba Wadsworth show how the read aloud, a familiar and proven instructional technique, can be used as a powerful way to neutralize bullying behaviors, create community in the classroom, and help you meet the Common Core State Standards at the same time.

Recent research shows that punishing students who bully is not enough, that we must begin every child's education by establishing relationship skills and building empathy among students. Lester and Reba recommend a series of read aloud books that focus on our shared humanity and can be used on day one of Kindergarten and throughout the elementary years. They help you support the development of children's insight and compassion. Bullying Hurts guides students toward increased understandings about bullying behavior with a framework of five recommended read-alouds and accompanying lessons that help you:

define and discuss the important lessons about bullying embedded in each book
develop literacy skills and strategies, conversation, critical thinking, character analysis, and reflection
connect read aloud experiences to the anchor standards for reading in the Common Core.

Bullying Hurts does more than help children gain the insights and language needed to confront and neutralize the behaviors of bullies. It convinces us that by working together, we really can prevent bullying.