Cartoons For Teaching Introduction Elementary Students .

Cartoons for TeachingElementary Students about BullyingAudrey C. Rule1, Stephanie R. Logan1, andFrank W. Kohler21Department of Curriculum and Instruction2Department of Special EducationUniversity of Northern IowaCedar Falls, Iowa, USAJune 18, 2012Graduate Student Contributing Authors: Bobbi JoBoggs, Jenny Burmeister, Pam Carolus, RobGingery, Mindy Gordon, Julie Klein, Apra Loomis,Laura Meyer, Kerrie Michael, Christina Rose,Sharon Samec, Michaela Seeman, ElizabethSheridan, Kathleen Sweet, Matt Tracy, MichelleUnwin, Linda Walther, Zeina Yousof, and KseniaZhbanova.AbstractBullying is a pressing concern in schools asmany teachers are not being sufficiently preparedwith curriculum and instructional strategies toprevent, mitigate, or halt it. This documentpresents classroom-tested cartoons created bygraduate students that address the causes,effects, and ways of preventing or stoppingbullying in an interesting and often humorouscartoon format. The cartoons are arranged intothree sets for the following elementary graderanges: grades kindergarten through secondgrade; grades three and four; and grades fiveand six. Instructions and materials for guidingstudents’ practice of the bullying conceptsthrough completing partly-finished cartoons andoriginal cartoons are provided.Thirty-sixcomplete color cartoons and nine exercises withpartly-completed cartoons are included. [14references; 63 figures]IntroductionBullying involves repeated acts ofaggression, intimidation, or coercion against a victimwho is weaker physically, socially, or in some otherway (Carney & Merrell, 2001; Olweus, 1999; Smith &Ananiadou, 2003). Bullying may involve physical actssuch as hitting, kicking, or pushing, verbal abusethrough threats or name-calling, or social exclusionthrough spreading rumors, among other devices(Fekkes, Pijpers, & Verloove-Vanhorick, 2005;Merrell, Gueldner, Ross, & Isava, 2008). Bullying canalso occur through online communication channels, amore recent phenomena called cyber bullying.Unfortunately, teachers have historically notbeen very successful in stopping bullying that hasbeen reported to them. One study found that only28% teachers were effective in halting bullying casesof which they were made aware (Fekkes, Pijpers, andVerloove-Vanhorick, 2005). Teachers need moreprofessional preparation in addressing bullying,especially at the preservice level (Bauman, Rigby, &Hoppa, 2008). They also need more readily availablecurricula that is engaging for students. The cartooncurriculum presented here has been successfullyclassroom tested and found to be motivating toelementary students with positive classroom climateeffects. This curriculum is interactive, allowingelementary students to share their experiences andproblem-solve together.Development of the Cartoons and ActivitiesGraduate students in an introductory courseon gifted education developed the cartoons as a wayof combining creativity, an important skill area ofgifted students, with pressing social-emotionalconcerns of bullying. Gifted students are oftensingled out and picked on for their differences frommore typical students. The cartoons presented hereare suitable for general elementary students.The cartoons were created in the followingmanner. The course instructor (first author of thisdocument) made cartoon backgrounds withcharacters using clip art and drawing functions inMicrosoft PowerPoint software.The graduate

students researched information about bullying andmade a list of 20 facts about it. Then they chosecartoons that appealed to them and added talkingbubbles and details to transform them into cartoonsthat expressed the facts they had compiled. Thesecartoons were reviewed by classmates who rankedthem and provided suggestions for their improvement.The course instructor then collaborated withanother faculty member (the second author of thisdocument), who has experience as a schoolcounselor, to choose those suitable for theelementary students. With discussion from the thirdauthor who then had his special education preserviceteachers classroom-test them with elementarystudents, she designed three lessons at each gradelevel range. The positive results of that study arereported in Rule, Logan & Kohler (in review).Efficacy of Teaching with CartoonsPolitical cartoons have been used for quite along time for teaching political and historical socialstudies concepts (Dougherty, 2002; Risinger &Heitzmann, 2008). Cartoons have been successfullyused to teach science concepts to elementarystudents with a large effect size when compared tomore traditional means (Rule & Auge, 2005) and tomiddle school students (Sallis, Rule, & Jennings,2009). Students were motivated by the humor andopportunity to create their own cartoons. Preserviceteachers have successfully created cartoons to teachearth science concepts (Rule, Sallis, & Donaldson,2008).More affective concepts have also beentaught through cartoons with positive results such asideas associated with perfectionism (Zousel, Rule, &Logan, in review) and principles of programming forgifted education (Rule & Schneider, 2009).Therefore, it seemed appropriate that cartoons beused as a medium for conveying concepts elated tobullying to elementary students.The successfully-classroom-tested cartoonsare provided here so that teachers may use these intheir classrooms to teach about bullying.ReferencesBauman, S., Rigby, K., & Hoppa, K. (2008). US teachers’and school counselors’ strategies for handling schoolbullying incidents. Educational Psychology, 28(7), 837856.Carney, A., & Merrell, K. (2001). Bullying in schools:Perspectives on understanding and preventing onal, 22, 364-382.Dougherty, B. (2002). Comic relief: Using political cartoonsin the classroom. International Studies Perspectives, 3,258-270.Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. (2005).Bulling: Who does what, when and where? Involvementof children, teachers and parents in bullying behavior.Health Education Research, 20, 81-91.Merrell, K., Gueldner, B., Ross, S., & Isava, D. (2008). Howeffective are school bullying intervention programs? Ameta-analysis of intervention research. SchoolPsychology Quarterly, 23(1), 26-42.Olweus, D. (1999). Sweden. In P. Smith, Y. Morita, J.Junger-Tas, D. Olweus, R. Catalano, & P. Slee (Eds.),The nature of school bullying: A cross-nationalperspective (pp. 7-27). New York: Routledge.Risinger, C. & Heitzmann, R. (2008). Using the Internet toteach about political cartoons and their influence onU.S. elections. Social Education, 72(6), 288-290.Rule, A. C., & Auge, J. (2005). Using humorous cartoons toteach mineral and rock concepts in sixth grade scienceclass. Journal of Geoscience Education, 53(5), 575585.Rule, A. C., Logan, S. R., & Kohler, F. W. (in review).Preparing Preservice Teachers to Address Bullyingthrough Cartoon Lessons.Rule, A. C., Sallis, D. A., Donaldson, J. A. (2008).Humorous cartoons made by preservice teachers forteaching science concepts to elementary students:Process and product. ERIC Document ReproductionService No. ED50244.Rule, A. C., & Schneider, J. S. (2009). Creating, evaluating,and improving humorous cartoons related to designprinciples for gifted education programs. ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED504253.Sallis, D. A., Rule, A. C., & Jennings, E. (2009). CartooningYour Way to Student Motivation. Science Scope, 32(9), 22-27.Smith, P., & Ananiadou, K. (2003). The nature of schoolbullying and the effectiveness of school-basedinterventions. Journal of Applied PsychoanalyticStudies, 5, 189-209.Zousel, M. L., Rule, A. C., & Logan, S. R. (in review).Teaching primary grade students perfectionism throughcartoons compared to bibliotherapy.

Cartoons for Teaching about BullyingThis appendix contains sets of cartoons and cartoon-makingmaterials for three grade level sets: K-1-2, 3-4, and 5-6. Cartoon Lesson PlansMaterials: Complete set of cartoons, sets of “blank” cartoons for each student, pencils, crayons orcolored pencilsLesson One:Greet the students, welcoming them to the group session.Inform the students that they will participate in a small group discussion on bullying, where they willread or have read to them some material on bullying, and be given the opportunity to create someliterature informing others about bullying.Question the students about bullying. For example: What is a bully? How do individuals bullyothers? How are bullying behaviors different from friendly behaviors?Present the first set of cartoons to the students. Give the students a moment to look them over.Depending on the grade level and reading fluency level allow the students to voluntarily read thecartoons aloud. Once the reading has concluded ask the students what new information aboutbullying they have learned.Inform the students that they will now have the opportunity to change and create cartoonscommunicating facts about bullying. The teacher will work with the students to “redo” one of theprovided cartoons. The teacher will then instruct the students to revise one of the providedcartoons independently. Finally the students will create an original cartoon that defines bullying,describes the means by which individuals bully, or compares/contrasts bullying and friendshipbehaviors.Allow students to share their creations before dismissing the group.Lesson Two:Greet the students, welcoming them to the group session.Review information presented during the previous session (What is bullying? How do individualsbully others? How are bullying behaviors different from friendly behaviors?). Inform the studentsthat today they will focus on understanding bullying behavior.Question the students about understanding bullying. For example: Why do others bully? What arethe consequences for bullying others? What is the impact of bullying on those who are bullied? Arethere certain places where bullying takes place or are there people who are likely to be bullied?Why does bullying continue?Present the second set of cartoons to the students. Give the students a moment to look them over.Depending on the grade level and reading fluency level allow the students to voluntarily read thecartoons aloud. Once the reading has concluded ask the students what new information aboutbullying they have learned.Inform the students that they will now have the opportunity to change and create cartoonscommunicating facts about bullying. The teacher will work with the students to “redo” one of theprovided cartoons. The teacher will then instruct the students to revise one of the providedcartoons independently. Finally the students will create an original cartoon that outlines why others