The children have been thinking and talking about bullying.
We began the lesson talking about what makes something bullying and everyone agreed that an action had to repeated or constant, to make it a bullying issue.
We then watched the trailer for the movie “Wonder.” Some of the class had watched this movie and knew that it was about a boy who had endured 27 different surgeries on his face by the time he was about 8 years old. He decided to wear an astronaut’s helmet rather than allow everyone to see his facial scars. Eventually the movie shows that he goes to school without the helmet and what happens to him.
Erin J volunteered to wear the Starwars helmet that Mrs Robinson borrowed off her son, Ethan. This was cleaned with anti-bacterial wipes and then worn by one child. Erin said it was heavy and made her feel “squished.” Someone thought of the word “concealed" to describe what the helmet would do for you. Erin said she didn’t think she would want to wear the helmet because she would imagine she would feel proud if she’d survived all those difficulties and would want to show off her face no matter what.
We discussed the trailer and the children picked up on the following issues “Auggie,” had to deal with:
- No-one sat beside him at lunchtime because of the way he looked.
- Someone said he should use an eraser to rub out his scars.
- He was attacked by boys in a wood and teased because of the way he looked.
- Children were cruel about wearing masks at Halloween and teased Auggie.
The children could feel that life was hard for Auggie but they were convinced that he should not have to wear a mask and that everyone was different in some way.
This led us to talk about what ordinary and unique means and they decided we are all unique and never ordinary.
One of the teachers in the movie asked what his pupils aspired to, because Auggie was inspirational in how he handled his issues.
We discussed what the children aspired to be known as:
Lewis- Good at games. Caleb- Kind. Niah- Honest. Luca- Brilliant. Gracie- Responsible. Erin J- Respectful. Kyle- A Pro-Cartoonist. Robin- Brave. Olivia- Confident. Erin M - Inspirational.
Other members of the class told us about the jobs they aspired to do: Here are some of them:
Adam- A Youtuber. Sam- A fireman. Amy- An Ice-Cream shop owner. Louie- A chief. Freya- A teacher and Ella- a singer.
Lastly they filled in “Wonder” worksheets about what makes them unique.
This was a really enjoyable, challenging and inspiring lesson. We are all unique and no-one should ever be bullied because of their differences.
Have a look at our photos.
