---
title: Be an Upstander!
description: Students will learn about living as an “upstander” and explore what they would say to someone who is bullying someone else.
image: https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/be_an_upstander-001-1.png
---

**Subject: SEL (Social-Emotional Learning)**

**Lesson Length: 20 - 30 mins**

**Topic: Anti-bullying**

**Grade Level: 4**

**Standards / Framework: **

- [CASEL: SOCIAL AWARENESS](https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/what-is-the-casel-framework/#interactive-casel-wheel)

**Brief Description:**  Students will learn about living as an **upstander** and explore what they might say to someone who is bullying someone else.

**Know Before You Start:** Students should know the difference between an **upstander** and a **bystander**.

**Hook:**

- Have students pretend they have travelled back in time to a time when they witnessed someone teasing someone else or they themselves were teased.
  
    - What would they say now?
- Explain that in stressful moments, we sometimes don’t know what to do or say to support ourselves or peers.
- As a group, practice some things they could say to be an upstander against bullying.

**Activity:**

- Read and discuss the sample comic. 
    - What would you do if you saw someone picking on someone? 
- Brainstorm ideas on how to be an “upstander” when situations like the one in the comic arise. Discuss “upstander” language.
- Using the comic as a guide, have students create a three-panel comic.
  
    - **Panel 1:** Show a bullying situation.
    - **Panel 2:** Show your avatar considering actions you might take to be an upstander against bullying.
    - **Panel 3:** Show your avatar confronting the situation and using appropriate upstander language.

**Closure:**

- Display student comics in the classroom.

**Differentiation:**

- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature
- Provide specific scenarios for students as needed.
- Provide a handout that describes characteristics of upstanders and bystanders.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.

**Resources:**

- Comic to print or display: [Comic](https://share.pixton.com/qbatu4i).
- Suggested Reading: 
    - [Dare! A Story About Standing Up to Bullying in Schools](https://amzn.to/3bA6rIP) by Erin Frankel.

**Suggested Content:**

- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2078530841190330368/thumbnail.png) Elementary School ](https://content.pixton.com/elementary-school)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2078531110531739648/thumbnail.png) Middle School ](https://content.pixton.com/middle-school)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2004983473167663104/thumbnail.png) Playground ](https://content.pixton.com/playground)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/1838241401767358464/thumbnail.png) Home ](https://content.pixton.com/home)
- [![](https://img.pixton.com/content-pack/2040150577165447168/thumbnail.png) Amusement Park ](https://content.pixton.com/amusement-park)
- [![](https://ideas.pixton.com/hubfs/thumbnail-sports-1.png) Sports ](https://content.pixton.com/sports)

Assign Activity

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