Gossip and Rumors Lesson

Last year I tried the cool glitter hand sanitizer thing. I couldn’t quite get it to work out how I wanted to though (not fine enough glitter? sanitizer too watery?) so I scrapped that as an opener. Because I was planning on a longer activity this go around, I went with the staple “cross the line if” hook. They all crossed the line for every single one – they’re an honest group!

Cross the line if…

• You’ve ever heard someone talking about someone else.

• Someone has ever talked about you behind your back.

• Someone has ever said something about you that wasn’t true.

• You’ve said something about someone else that wasn’t true.

• Someone has gotten into your business.

• Someone has told you to mind your own business.

Then we read What James Said. I mentioned before that I had to pick which book that would best fit our gossip and rumors lesson. I surprised myself when I decided What James Said was the best option for this lesson. It works because it’s short and because it, alongside Cross the Line, sets the stage for my wisdom. I project this sign and have some students read it aloud.

After discussing these ideas, I introduce them to my new favorite collaborative learning activity: Pick a Card! I made some “what would you do?” gossip/rumor scenario task cards to go with it. I tell the students to use my words of wisdom when they’re answering and either project the mini-poster or give each group their own smaller version.

The first time I did it, I just had cards with scenarios and left them open-ended with “what would you do?”. My students needed some more structure and scaffolding however, so in the rest of my homerooms, I used cards with multiple-choice options.

Pick a Card is essentially a structured way for small groups to answer questions. Each group has four jobs:

• Fan: Fan the cards out and say “Pick a card, any card!”
• Pick: Select a card and read it out loud.
• Answer: Answer the question!
• Respond: “I agree because….” or “I disagree because…”

After each question, the jobs rotate. I made the groups little job mats to use to help them remember who is in which role each time.

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