Don’t be a weenie, take a stand against bullying!
I am currently reading Weenies Series by David Lubar. This book is filled with tiny short stories that certainly have an underlying message behind each of them. The book I’m currently reading from the series is Invasion of the Road Weenies. At first, I thought this book was going to be about monsters who are weenies… this was just a guess I made simply by looking at the book cover. However, as I opened the book and began to read, I realized that my inference wasn’t true at all. Rather, this book is filled with stories about being brave, standing up for yourself, and being empowered (whether you are a boy OR a girl).
I really like this series so far because it shows how important it is for children to stand up for themselves. An example of this comes from the very first story in Invasion of the Road Weenies. In this story, a girl named Jennifer decided she didn’t want to trick-or-treat on Halloween because some of the older children took her candy away from her last year. When the day of Halloween approached, Jennifer decided to go searching for a costume in her basement. She found a hat and gloves. Little did she know that these gloves would be more help to her than just keeping her warm! Jennifer went trick or treating and was walking down the street when the same group of older kids from the year before started to follow her. Rather than just giving up her candy and being a ‘weenie’, Jennifer decided to stand up for herself. All of a sudden, claws came out of the gloves she was wearing and she scratched one of the boys who was bullying her. While I was reading this passage, I thought about how great it was that the author was showing that a child, let alone a girl, could stand up against bullies. This story also sent a message that bullying does no good… A message that ALL children should be aware of.
I think that this series fits best with 5th-6th graders. It is a pretty easy read, but it has some vocabulary words that could be hard to understand. Aside from the actual wording of this book, I think the messages and the stories seem most appropriate for 5thand 6th graders. This is because the book offers a lot of stories that include what it’s like growing up and dealing with siblings, bullies, and other struggles that most ten year olds face.
While reading through these stories, I brainstormed ideas of how this book can be used in the classroom. I thought about how this book can be used to promote an anti-bullying campaign. I can recall having a week long discussion in elementary school about how bullying was inappropriate and would not be tolerant. I think this is an extremely important message to send out to students, no matter how old we are. Many children are starting to use the internet and social media websites much younger than they have in the past, which unfortunately allows cyber bullying to begin at a younger age. By pulling out the stories that send a message about bullying, children can listen to how the situation was handled by all of the different characters. A classroom discussion can stem from these stories as well. Teachers could use these same stories and ask children what they would do if they were in the place of the bully and the person who is being bullied. By allowing students to think about how they would act in the situation, they may be less likely to be hurtful toward others.
Another way I thought this could be used in the classroom is to develop the skills necessary to decode a narrative. It is important for students to understand the characters in the text- who is the protagonist? Who is the antagonist? What actions do the characters do to label them as this type of character? Since there are many stories in this series that include a ‘bad’ and a ‘good’ guy/girl, this series would be an excellent resource to use when teaching students about literature. Along with this, students could fill out a plot worksheet (see picture). This would allow teachers to assess if students understand the problem that is occurring in the story, the rising action, the climax, and so on. The good and evil aspects that are included in Lubar’s stories offer many moral lessons that can be taught in the classroom.
One Reply to “Don’t be a weenie, take a stand against bullying!”
This book sounds like a great book, and one that every kid should read since bullying is such a common thing that is occurring and shouldn’t be. From what you wrote about the book, I think that it would be a great way for kids who are bullied to show that they are not alone and that they can stand up for themselves. It also shows, like you said, that bullying really does no good and it needs to stop.
I really like the way you would incorporate the book in your classroom. It is really important to talk about bullying and a quick over just won’t cut it. By using this book I think that it is a great way to actually get the students attention on the matter and really send out a message on the effects that bullying causes.
I also like your other way of using it in the classroom. By using a fun book that you know your students will enjoy, it will make the assignment of finding the literary devices used in the book. Great ideas!!