Being Kind and Respectful to Help Stop Bullying | By: Committee for Children Grades 4-5 Ready to involve all your students in creating a positive classroom climate? Want to get them thinking about how they can help stop bullying? This classroom activity, adapted from the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit for Grades 4–5, is a great place to start. Research has shown that one of the most effective ways to reduce or stop bullying among students is to change the way that bystanders—students who see or know about bullying happening to others—react when they witness bullying. Actively involving students in creating a positive classroom climate, where all students can feel safe and respected, is a great way to get students thinking about how each of them can help stop bullying every day. In this activity, students will create posters showing ways they can be kind and respectful to each other every day and help stop bullying before it starts. Download and Print Materials One standard-sized sheet of paper per group of students Colored pencils, pens, or crayons Instructions Say to students: Bullying is everyone’s problem. It’s all of our responsibility not to let bullying happen and to try to stop it when it does. Today we’re going to create posters to help remind us to treat each other with kindness and respect and help stop bullying. Have each group of students brainstorm a list of kind and respectful things they can do for other people every day to help prevent bullying from happening. Have each group take out a piece of standard-sized paper. Say to students: Now with your group, you’ll make a small “Be Kind and Respectful” poster. Include at least three ways you can do something kind and respectful. Have students decorate their small posters with colored pencils, pens, crayons, or any other materials available. Display posters where all students can easily view them. Allow time for students to view each other’s posters. As an alternative, have students create electronic posters using word processing, graphics, or simple design software. For example, on Glogster.com your students can create interactive multimedia posters and share them online. Project the electronic posters for the class. Like this activity? We’re adding more EL-8 classroom activities to our Free Activities page all the time. They’re easy to find, grade-specific classroom activities that align with our Second Step Suite. Learn more about social-emotional learning, research on the topic, and how it benefits students in the classroom, at home, and in their lives.