Stand Up for Peace
Strength Through Peace
Teacher Lesson Guide
(swipe to advance)
Objectives
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Peace Building
Lesson Design
45-60 Minutes
5 Min: Review Learning Objectives
20 Min: Literary Discussion: Coyote Returns Water from the Frog People
5 Min: Peer Bingo: Community Building Activity
10 Min: Helping Hands: Reinforcing Activity
3 Min: Closing Activity
Objectives
Explore the causes and effects of peer cruelty and hurtful behavior
Reflect on strategies for mitigating, redirecting, and eliminating hurtful actions
Celebrate actions of peacebuilding and good will
Lingo List
Language of Compromise
concession
accommodation
trade off
win-win situation
happy medium
amend
mitigate
resolve
settle
restore
Language of Advocacy
aid
assist
defend
guard
care
stand up
stick together
back up
partner
befriend
Problem Solving Words
deliberate
think
consider
devise
cooperate
help
contribute
participate
listen
unite
work out
talk
lend a hand
take part
Though childhood is a time of great joy, creativity and play for most children, it can also be a time when they learn the cruelty that is possible in another human being.
Classrooms with clear language and expectations regarding behaviors of harassment and ill treatment of others will promote a safe environment for trust and the establishment of authentic relationships. Additionally, learning environments that are free of hurtful permissiveness contribute to greater academic success.
Guiding Question for Class:
Where do your expectations for how you should treat others come from? How do we get people to follow expectations/rules? What is good will? What does it mean to be hostile towards someone? How does someone feel when we treat them unfairly? What helps us build positive relationships with other people?
Reading:
Coyote Returns Water from the From People
Coyote is walking on the beach contemplating a curious thing: the mighty Chinook River has run dry, its big delta now a stinky mudflat. Coyote sits down on a driftwood log, scratches his ear.
After a while, Coyote is startled from his reverie by a sharp whistle from the ocean. It’s Old Man Salmon, poking up from the surf. His face is flaking off.
“Hey, Coyote, come here.”
Coyote is wary. He’s never seen Old Man Salmon looking quite this bad. You can see his bones. He skulks closer to the fish, but keeps a safe distance.
“What’s the matter with your face, Salmon?”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about, Coyote. You need to help us. The Frog People have built a dam across the river. No water flows. It is past time for us to spawn. That is why my skin is falling off. If we don’t get up the river soon, the Salmon People will die without children.”
Coyote ponders the situation. Typically, his mind is muddled. So he does what Coyote always does when he is confused. He follows his tail.
“Hey, Coyote, what’s the problem?” His tail feels Coyote has a heavy weight about him.
“The Frog People have done a bad thing, Coyote Tail. They have built a dam across the river. They are hoarding all the water and keeping the Salmon People out.”
The Tail commands Coyote to get close. Coyote bends his furry ear next to the Tail.
“So, here’s what you do, Coyote … ”
Coyote digs in the sand and uncovers some old bones of a sea lion. He takes one of the rib bones, chews it awhile and spit polishes it so that the shard resembles a dentalia shell, highly prized by the Frog People.
Coyote takes the bone and runs, his tail flat out, across the Coast Range, through the mossy rainforest, to a large dam made of earth and downed trees. Through the fog, Coyote sees a green lake behind it.
Coyote is panting when he meets the Frog People. He holds out his home-made gift.
“Hello, I’m very thirsty. I’ll give you this shiny shell, if you let me drink.
Old Man Frog takes the object from Coyote and holds it before his face like a mirror. Coyote doesn’t wait for an answer. He dives into the lake and begins lapping up the water in giant gulps.
“Don’t worry about me, this might take a while. I’m parched.”
Coyote drinks and drinks and drinks and the lake begins to lower. Soon he has consumed half the water.
“Hey Coyote,” yells Old Man Frog. “If you keep drinking like that, you’ll owe us another shell!”
Then Coyote submerges beneath the water. Coyote is down there for a long time, digging furiously at the base of the dam until finally it breaches and the water cascades down the canyon.
“The river is for all the people, Old Man Frog. It needs to run free.”
Coyote is so full of water he looks like an engorged tick. He races to a hole in the ground near the top of a mountain, opens his mouth and purges a great stream of water that soon fills the hole.
“Frog People, this is your pond. It is not a big pond, but it is yours.”
Then Coyote hops on a cedar log floating down the river and rides it all the way to the ocean. That night the Salmon People treat Coyote to a great feast. He eats and eats until he falls asleep.
Open-Ended Questions:
After the reading, debrief the story using the open-ended questions below.
Problem Solving
How can we change a situation where someone is acting with cruelty?
When should you step in when a friend is being treated unfairly?
Decision Making
What is a good time to approach someone behaving without kindness or respect?
How could you make a new person in the school feel welcome?
Peace Building
How can you help a friend who is being harassed by peers?
How can establishing class rules on kindness help students?
What can we do to ensure that we are benefiting those involved in our class?
Community Building Activity: Peer Bingo
Purpose: To get individuals to share more about themselves to learn more about each other.
Materials: 1 Bingo card per student and mentor (if virtual, you can just show the next page and have students keep track using a piece of paper with squares and X marks)
Instructions:
Explain to the students that each box of the Bingo Cards has a characteristic or description of something a person possesses/is true in their life. Examples include, “can sing,” “has a brother,” or “has the same birthday month as me.”
In-person: Once everyone has a Bingo Sheet, people should mingle with each other and try to fill up their entire sheet with names of people who match the different boxes. References can be made to other peers in different groups. There is one rule, though—no more than one student’s name per box on any person’s sheet.
Virtual: Take a few minutes to make sure that students have a piece of paper and a writing utensil to keep track of what they have marked off. The facilitator will begin by saying one of the descriptions and if it describes someone in the group, they can raise their hands. If there are many people, choose 1 person’s name to write down. The entire class should get a bingo at the same time. Once there is a bingo, ask the folks whose names are in the box to give a bit more information.
Ask as many questions as time permits. At the end ask people have learned about each other.
Reinforcing Activity: Helping Hands
Objective: Communicate about the peace building and helpfulness of others
Materials: Whiteboard, chalkboard or large piece of butcher paper
Instructions:
Read aloud the activity introduction
It doesn’t matter how old you are or how big you are, everyone can help.Think about the different ways that we can help each other—in class, at home, in our neighborhood. Look around the room, everyone brings some help with them when they join the class. Even things outside our class and school help us in ways we might not always consider.The trees and plants are busy always cleaning the air we breathe, bees are pollinating the flowers so that we can eat the fruits, wolves are hunting, keeping the ecosystems in balance.
For this exercise we are going to tell about the helpfulness of another person in our class who we appreciate. Each person will get a chance to share about one person even though, of course, far more than one person helps every day.
[Facilitators, model this first and then choose a student to continue.]
2.
In-person: When you share that gift that a person brings, that person can go with you to the board. You will trace one of their hands and write their helpfulness in the hand. Then they will choose a person from the class and do the same thing. To keep it going so that everyone is chosen two people cannot select each other.
Virtually - When you share, the student appreciated will give a thumbs up and facilitator will draw a hand on whiteboard and write in the helpfulness shared between. Keep going until all students have shared and been shared about.
3. Explain to the participants that they are going to make a large mural/google slideshow about the ways that people are helpers, and that you are going to use hands to remind us how we help each other. In-person hint: Use different colors to make the mural dynamic. If you like, you can start a rainbow pattern (violet on one end, red on the other). Virtual: Students will help by web searching images/words and copying/pasting the links into chat for the facilitator to put into the google slideshow.
4. Begin by asking the student: Who has seen someone in this group help another person in our school or community? What did the helper do? How did this make the community more peaceful?
5. As students volunteer an idea both the speaker and the helper go to the board/unmute. The speaker will either trace one of the helper’s hands (or facilitator will draw a helping hand on whiteboard) and write their helpfulness in the hand on the board. Virtually: Students will began web searching for images and words related to what was said.
6. The helper will choose a person from the class and do the same thing. To keep it going so that everyone is chosen, two people cannot select each other.
7. As students finish drawing/finding images, have observe and give input for the google slide design, or add details to the physical product until all others are able to contribute.
Note: If the mural is on butcher paper, share the mural with others in the school or community by hanging it in a place that is prominent and visible. Ask the students for ideas about a place where others will see it and will be encouraged to be helpers. If the product is a google slideshow, share it with school or community.
Debrief Questions:
How did it feel to participate in this activity?
What are your suggestions for changes that would make it more fun, interesting, or engaging?
What did you learn about other people in the group from doing this activity?
Closing Activity
Let’s end with a closing circle activity that will remind us of what we learned as a team working and learning as a team.
Today we explored the causes and effects of peer cruelty and hurtful behavior. We also reflected on strategies for dealing with hurtful actions and celebrated actions of peacebuilding and good will.
COME FULL CIRCLE- Open-Ended Questions
Write the word peace on the (white) board and ask students for examples of peacemaking. Acknowledge their responses and work toward the following understanding: different perspectives can co-exist.
Ask students to share their thoughts and ideas about what makes peace possible while also being challenging.
How might deciding not to be a bystander help/stop peers being treated unfairly?
How does telling the truth contribute toward a more peaceful community?
When it is clear that a situation is not going to benefit those involved and some will be left out, what can you do?
Who in your community is a peacemaker? Who can be a peacemaker?
How could today’s lesson help you practice the Four Awesome Questions?
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