Can joking be bullying Lesson Plan

The VotesforSchools lesson plan for Key Stage 1 students tackles the delicate subject of whether joking can be considered a form of bullying. The lesson begins with a feedback session where the whole class reviews the results from the previous week's topic. This is followed by a starter activity where students recall instances of receiving kind words and share how those words made them feel. The purpose of this activity is to set a positive tone and highlight the impact words can have on emotions.

The lesson then moves on to discuss the importance of the topic, linking it to Anti-Bullying Week, and engages students in understanding what bullying is through a true or false activity. This helps the students to differentiate between bullying and joking. The class continues with scenarios where students must decide if the situation is an example of joking or bullying by physically moving to a side of the room, promoting active engagement and discussion. To reinforce the power of positive language, the students participate in an activity where they fill in missing words with kind alternatives and, if time permits, create posters of kind words. The lesson concludes with a voting session where students review arguments and cast their vote on the topic, helping them to reflect on the strength of words and recognise different forms of bullying.