Student Version

Bullying at School:
Research Project
Reading selections for this module:
Article 1:
Banks, Ron. “Bullying in Schools.” ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early
Childhood Education, 1997. Infotrac 15 Aug. 2003 <http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-4/bullying.htm>.
Article 2:
Kuther, Tara L. “Understanding Bullying.” Our Children 29.2 (2004): 12–13.
Article 3:
Brown, Mark. “Life After Bullying.” National PTA. 20 Feb. 2005 <http://www.pta.org/archive_article_details_
1117638232140.html>.
Article 4:
Newquist, Colleen. “Bully-Proof Your School.” Education World 8 Sept. 2004. Google 21 Jan. 2005 <http://www.
education-world.com/a_admin/admin018.shtml>.
Article 5:
Kowalski, Kathiann. “How to Handle a Bully.” Current Health 2 (1999). Google 15 Aug. 2004 <http://bgeagles.tripod.
com/webquest/handle.htm>.
Article 6:
“Keep a Lid on Bullying with a Complaint Box.” Curriculum Review 11 Dec. 2003. PaperClip Communications.
Infotrac 15 Aug. 2004 <http://0search.epnet.com.library.csuhayward.edu:80/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an1
1735009>.
Article 7:
Kan-Rice, Pamela. “School Bullies Are Often Also Victims; Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying.” University of
California Agriculture and Natural Resources News and Information Outreach. A Scribe Health News Service 2 Sept.
2003. Infotrac 8 July 2004 <http://news.ucanr.org/newsstorymain.cfm?story=502>.
Article 8:
Coloroso, Barbara. The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. New York: Harper/Quill, 2004.
Article 9:
Olweus, Dan. “A Profile of Bullying at School.” Educational Leadership 60.6 (2003): 12–17.
Article 10:
Migliore, Eleanor T. “Eliminate Bullying in Your Classroom.” Intervention in School & Clinic 38.3 (2003): 172–77.
Article 11:
Lemonick, Michael D. “The Bully Blight.” Time Magazine 18 April 2005: 144–45.
Article 12:
Nansel, Tonja R., Mary Overpeck, Ramani S. Pilla, W. June Ruan, Bruce Simons-Morton, and Peter Scheidt. “Bully-
ing Behaviors Among US Youth: Prevalence and Association with Psychosocial Adjustment.” Originally published
in Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 285 (2001): 2094–100.

117
 Article 13:
Smith, Peter K., Kirsten C. Madsen, and Janet C. Moody. “What Causes the Age Decline in Reports of Being Bullied
at School? Towards a Developmental Analysis of Risks of Being Bullied.” Educational Research 41 (1999): 267–85.
Optional Readings:
California Department of Education. Bullying at School. Sacramento: California Department of Education, 2003
<http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/se/documents/bullyingatschool.pdf>.
Quiroz, Hilda C., June L. Arnette, and Ronald D. Stephens. Bullying in Schools: Fighting the Bully Battle, A Resource for
Educators and Law Enforcement. Westlake Village, CA: National School Safety Center, 2006 <http://www.school-
safety.us/bullying-in-schools-fighting-the-bully-battle-pr-111.html>.

Reading Rhetorically
This research project will help prepare you for the kinds of research
and writing you will do in college in many of your courses, both in
English classes and in the classes in your major. It will also give you
the opportunity to practice the skills you have been developing in this
class: reading texts, evaluating claims and evidence, making argu-
ments and supporting them, and considering the audience. For your
research project, you will be reading several different kinds of articles
and essays on bullying in schools, a topic that has become even more
important after the school shootings at Columbine, Colorado, where
two students who had been severely bullied went on a shooting spree
and killed many of their classmates.
STUDENT VERSION

The articles in your reading packet provide enough material for you
to fulfill the research project assignment, but your teacher might also
give you some additional research to do. There is a large amount of
material on bullying that is fairly new, published either in paper or on
the Web in the past few years. You might also have the opportunity
to survey and interview people at your school. The purpose of your
assignment is for you to learn how to use researched material—to
summarize, paraphrase, cite sources, and make an argument that has
consequences to an audience that is real (your School Board). This as-
signment may be conducted as a whole-class project, as small group
projects, or even as individual projects to suit your class.

The assignment is as follows:

Propose a Code of Conduct for your school that will take into
consideration everything you learn about bullying from your read-
ing, research, and discussions. Your audience will be the School
Board, a group of parents, teachers, and administrators who gov-
ern school policy. You and your teacher may present your propos-
al to your School Board. Therefore, you will not only need to be

118 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
 accurate about your evidence but also have to consider the needs
of your school and the beliefs and values of the School Board.
Your class may design your own format for this assignment, but a
successful proposal might include the following sections:
I.Introduction to the problem
II.Definition of bullying
III.Evidence that illustrates that bullying is a problem in schools
IV. Evidence that illustrates that bullying is a problem in your
school
V. Why your school needs a code of conduct
VI. The proposed School Code of Conduct
VII. Conclusion

Prereading

Activity 1 Introducing Key Concepts

Brainstorm words that relate to the words bully or bullying.

Which words have formal connotations and which are more informal?
Why do you prefer one word to go into one category rather than the
other? In which situations would you use certain words over others?
How might that vary by circumstance (audience, purpose)? For your
own use, make a list of the bully and bullying terms as shown in the
chart below:

STUDENT VERSION
Formal vocabulary related Informal vocabulary related
to bullying to bullying

Activity 2 Getting Ready to Read

You will not have to share these quickwrites unless you want to. Some
of this material may be private or embarrassing. However, you will have
the opportunity to share voluntarily after the writing, either in small
groups or as a whole class, because some of your experiences might
be used as evidence in your proposal to the School Board. These
quickwrites will help you start thinking about the topic of bullying.

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 Activity 2 Quickwrite 1 (10 minutes): Have you ever been bullied? How would
(Continued) you define the bullying that happened to you? How did you deal with
it? What were the consequences?

Quickwrite 2 (10 minutes): Have you ever bullied anyone? What did
you do? Why did you do it? What did the person you bullied do in re-
sponse? What happened afterwards?

Activity 3 Surveying the Text

1. Skim the articles on bullying by running your eyes over the pages
and making notations on a separate piece of paper about the titles
and headings you find in them. What are the major issues about bul-
lying that these articles seem to address?
2. Make a list of the issues that most of the authors seem to discuss.
3. Read the first sentence of each paragraph in the articles.
4. Add any additional issues you find in these sentences to your list.
Finally, read the brief biographies provided for some of the authors.
5. Who is the author and where and when was this article published?
6. Does the author seem to be qualified to write about bullying? Why or
why not?

Activity 4 Making Predictions and Asking Questions

Read the first paragraph of each article. In a sentence or two, answer
the following questions about the article:
STUDENT VERSION

1. What do you think this text is going to be about?

2. What do you think is the purpose of the author?
3. Who is the intended audience for this piece? How do you know?
Article 1. Ron Banks, “Bullying in Schools”

Article 2. Tara Kuther, “Understanding Bullying”

Article 3. Mark Brown, “Life After Bullying”

Article 4. Colleen Newquist, “Bully-Proof Your School” (paragraphs 1

and 2)

Article 5. Kathiann Kowalski, “How to Handle a Bully”

Article 6. Curriculum Review, “Keep a Lid on Bullying with a Complaint

Box”

Article 7. Pamela Kan-Rice, “School Bullies Are Often Also Victims;

Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying”
Article 8. Barbara Coloroso, The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander

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Activity 4 Article 9. Dan Olweus, “A Profile of Bullying at School”
(Continued)
Article 10. Eleanor Migliore, “Eliminate Bullying in Your Classroom”

Article 11. Michael D. Lemonick, “The Bully Blight”

Article 12. Tonja R. Nansel et al., “Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth:

Prevalence and Association with Psychosocial Adjustment”

Article 13. Peter K. Smith, Kirsten C. Madsen, and Janet C. Moody,

“What Causes the Age Decline in Reports of Being Bullied at School?
Towards a Developmental Analysis of Risks of Being Bullied”

Activity 5 Introducing Key Vocabulary

The words in group 1 for each article are critical to success in reading
about bullying; the words in group 2 are rarer and may not be familiar
to you. Seeing the definitions may help you read more productively.
After reading each article:
1. Record words you do not know in your vocabulary log.
2. Represent the meanings either in picture form or in a definition of
your own words and in a sentence using the word in your log.
3. Create an “advertisement” about the word. Sell a product, utilizing
the words your group was given.

Article 1: Ron Banks, “Bullying in Schools”

Group 1

STUDENT VERSION
• harassment (paragraphs 2, 9): To irritate or torment persistently
• empathy (paragraph 4): Identification with and understanding of
another’s situation, feelings, and motives
• perpetrators (paragraph 10): To be responsible for; commit: perpe-
trate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke
• intervention (paragraph 11): Interference so as to modify a process
or situation
Group 2
• correlated (paragraph 5) or correlation (paragraph 6): To put or bring
into causal, complementary, parallel, or reciprocal relation

Article 2: Tara L. Kuther, “Understanding Bullying”

Group 1
• exclusion (paragraph 2): A deliberate act of omission; for example,
“with the exception of the children, everyone was told the news.”
• antagonizing (paragraph 6): To incur the dislike of; provoke hostility
or enmity in; for example, “She antagonized her officemates with her
rude behavior.”

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 Activity 5 • retaliates (paragraph 6): To return like for like, especially evil for evil.
(Continued) To pay back (an injury) in kind
• empathy (paragraphs 8 and 13): Identification with and understand-
ing of another’s situation, feelings, and motives
• monitoring (paragraph 9): Monitor—one that admonishes, cautions,
or reminds, especially in matters of conduct
• implementing (paragraph 9): To put into practical effect; carry out
• manipulating (paragraph 12): To influence or manage shrewdly or
deviously; for example, “He manipulated public opinion in his favor.”
Group 2
• exert (paragraph 2): To bring to bear; exercise; for example,
“Exert influence.”
• stunted (paragraph 8): To check the growth or development of
• externalize (paragraph 8): To invent an explanation for . . . by
attributing to causes outside the self
• curriculum (paragraph 9): All the courses of study offered by an
educational institution
• attitudinal (paragraph 13): A state of mind or a feeling; disposition;
for example, “He had a positive attitude about work,” or “He had an
arrogant or hostile state of mind or disposition.”

Article 3: Mark Brown, “Life After Bullying”

Group 1
• peer mediation (paragraph 12): A process for settling a dispute. A
third party—a person of equal rank, in this case a student—attempts
to find common ground that will resolve the dispute.
STUDENT VERSION

Group 2
• crusade (paragraph 5): A vigorous, concerted movement for a cause
or against an abuse

Article 4: Colleen Newquist, “Bully-Proof Your School”

Group 2
• enormity (paragraph 2): The quality of passing all moral bounds; ex-
cessive wickedness or outrageousness; a monstrous offense or evil;
an outrage (Often confused with enormousness, which means huge.)
• emphatically (paragraph 7): Without question and beyond doubt

Article 5: Kathiann Kowalski, “How to Handle a Bully”

Group 1
• coerce (paragraph 4): To force to act or think in a certain way by use
of pressure, threats, or intimidation; compel
• disciplinarian (paragraph 24): Someone who demands exact
conformity to rules and forms

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Activity 5 Article 6: “Keep a Lid on Bullying with a Complaint Box”
(Continued)
Group 2
• vigorously (paragraph 1): Marked by or done with force and energy
• access (paragraph 1): The ability or right to approach, enter, exit,
communicate with, or make use of; for example, “She has access to
the restricted area or has access to classified material.”

Article 7: Pamela Kan-Rice, “School Bullies Are Often Also Victims;

Feeling Safe Reduces Youth Bullying”
Group 1
• perpetrator (paragraph 2): To be responsible for; commit; for
example, “Perpetrate a crime; perpetrate a practical joke.”
Group 2
• quelling (paragraph 7): To put down forcibly; suppress; for example,
“Police quelled the riot.” To pacify; quiet; for example, “He finally
quelled the children’s fears.”
• magic bullet (paragraph 12): Something regarded as a magical
solution or cure; for example, “There is no magic bullet against
cancer.” (Matt Clark).

Article 8: Barbara Coloroso, The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander
Group 1
• trivial (paragraph 3): Of little significance or value; ordinary; common-
place

STUDENT VERSION
• bigoted (paragraph 5): Blindly and obstinately attached to some
creed or opinion and intolerant toward others; for example, “a big-
oted person” or “an outrageously bigoted point of view”
• conscience (paragraph 14): The awareness of a moral or ethical
aspect to one’s conduct together with the urge to prefer right over
wrong; for example, “Let your conscience be your guide.” A source
of moral or ethical judgment or pronouncement; for example,
“a document that serves as the nation’s conscience.” Conformity
to one’s own sense of right conduct; for example, “a person of
unflagging conscience.”
Group 2
• systematic (paragraph 5): Using step-by-step procedures; purpose-
fully regular; methodical
• cowardice (paragraph 14): Ignoble fear in the face of danger or pain
• expediency (paragraph 14): Adherence to self-serving means; for
example, “An ambitious politician may be guided by expediency
rather than principle.”
• vanity (paragraph 14): Excessive pride in one’s appearance or
accomplishments; conceit

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 Activity 5 Article 9: Dan Olweus, “A Profile of Bullying at School”
(Continued)
Group 1
• proactive (paragraph 5): Acting in advance to deal with an expected
difficulty; anticipatory; for example, “proactive steps to prevent
terrorism”
• misconceptions (paragraph 10): A mistaken thought, idea, or notion;
a misunderstanding
• provocative (paragraph 12): Tending to provoke or stimulate
Group 2
• asymmetrical (paragraph 5): Having no balance or symmetry
• empirical (paragraph 10): Relying on or derived from observation or
experiment; for example, “Empirical results supported the hypoth-
esis.” Verifiable or provable by means of observation or experiment
• hypotheses (paragraph 10): Tentative explanations for an observa-
tion, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further
investigation
• restructuring (paragraph 12): To make a basic change in (an organi-
zation or a system, for example)
• replications (paragraph 18): A copy or reproduction

Article 10: Eleanor T. Migliore, “Eliminate Bullying in Your Classroom”

Group 1
• belittling (paragraph 4): To represent or speak of as contemptibly
small or unimportant; disparage; for example, “That person belittled
our efforts to do the job right.”
STUDENT VERSION

• convey (paragraph 7): To communicate or make known; impart; for

example, “a look intended to convey sympathetic comprehension”
• degrading (paragraph 11) Lowered in dignity; dishonor or disgrace;
for example, “a scandal that degraded the participants”
• condone (paragraph 17): To overlook, forgive, or disregard (an of-
fense) without protest or censure
Group 2
• de-escalate (paragraph 4): To decrease or diminish in size, scope, or
intensity
• multifaceted (paragraph 11): Having many aspects; for example, “a
many-sided subject,” “a multifaceted undertaking”

Article 11: Michael D. Lemonick, “The Bully Blight”

Group 1
• transgressions (paragraph 2): The exceeding of due bounds or limits
• lurked (paragraph 3): To lie in wait, as in ambush; to move furtively;
sneak
• targeted (paragraph 4): An object of criticism or attack

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Activity 5 • excessive (paragraph 5): Exceeding a normal, usual, reasonable,
(Continued) or proper limit
• incendiary (paragraph 6): Tending to inflame; inflammatory; for
example, “an incendiary speech”
• furtively (paragraph 9): Characterized by stealth; surreptitious
Group 2
• rupturing (paragraph 10): The process or instance of breaking open
or bursting
• Goth (paragraph 1): A style of rock music that often evokes bleak,
lugubrious imagery

Article 12: Tonja R. Nansel et al., “Bullying Behaviors Among US Youth:

Prevalence and Association With Psychosocial Adjustment”
Group 1
• aggression (paragraph 3): Hostile or destructive behavior or action
• solicited (paragraph 7): To seek to obtain by persuasion, entreaty, or
formal application; for example, “A candidate solicited votes among
the factory workers.”
• deviation (paragraph 12): The act of deviating or turning aside; an
abnormality; a departure; for example, “Vice was a deviation from
our nature.” (Henry Fielding)
• belittled (paragraph 12): To represent or speak of as contemptibly
small or unimportant; disparage; for example, “That person belittled
our efforts to do the job right.”
• internalize (paragraph 28): To make internal, personal, or subjective;
to take in and make an integral part of one’s attitudes or beliefs; for

STUDENT VERSION
example, “He had internalized the cultural values of the Poles after a
year of living in Warsaw.”
Group 2
• psychosocial (paragraph 4): Involving aspects of social and psycho-
logical behavior
• prevalence (paragraph 6): The quality of prevailing generally; being
widespread; for example, “He was surprised by the prevalence of
optimism about the future.”
• stratified (paragraph 8): To form, arrange, or deposit in layers
• demographic (paragraph 10): Of or relating to demography; a statis-
tic characterizing human populations (or segments of human popula-
tions broken down by age, sex, or income, etc.)
• querying (paragraph 13): A question; an inquiry; a doubt in the mind;
a mental reservation; a notation, usually a question mark, calling
attention to an item in order to question its validity or accuracy.
Expressing doubt or uncertainty about; for example, “to query
someone’s motives.” To put a question to (a person)
• ordinal (paragraph 15): Being or denoting a numerical order in a
series; for example, “ordinal numbers,” “held an ordinal rank of

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 Activity 5 seventh”; the number designating the place of an item in an ordered
(Continued) sequence
• constructs (paragraph 15): Something formed or constructed from
parts; a concept, model, or schematic idea; for example, “a theoreti-
cal construct of the atom.” A concrete image or idea; for example,
“[He] began to shift focus from the haunted constructs of terror in his
early work.” (Stephen Koch)
• nonlinear (paragraph 23): Behaving in an erratic and unpredictable
fashion; unstable
• longitudinal (paragraph 29): Involving the repeated observation or
examination of a set of subjects over time with respect to one or
more study variables (such as general health, the state of a disease,
or mortality); for example, “A longitudinal study of heart transplant
recipients was conducted over a five-year period.”

Article 13: Peter K. Smith, Kirsten C. Madsen, and Janet C. Moody,

“What Causes the Age Decline in Reports of Being Bullied at School?
Towards a Developmental Analysis of Risks of Being Bullied”
Group 1
• hypothesis (paragraph 1) (plural, hypotheses): A tentative explana-
tion for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can
be tested by further investigation. Something taken to be true for the
purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption
• bias (paragraph 8): A preference or an inclination, especially one that
inhibits impartial judgment. An unfair act or policy stemming from
prejudice. A statistical sampling or testing error caused by system-
atically favoring some outcomes over others
STUDENT VERSION

• pupils (throughout): British for students

Group 2
• monotonic (paragraph 3 and elsewhere): Of a sequence or function;
consistently increasing and never decreasing or consistently de-
creasing and never increasing in value
• peer nomination (paragraph 9 and elsewhere): The act or an instance
of submitting the name of one’s peer (equal) to a particular category
• methodology (paragraph 9): A body of practices, procedures, and
rules used by those who work in a discipline or engage in an inquiry;
a set of working methods; for example, “the methodology of genetic
studies,” “a poll marred by faulty methodology.” The study or theo-
retical analysis of such working methods
• developmental (paragraph 12): A progression from a simpler or lower
form or stage to a more advanced, mature, or complex form or stage
• hierarchy (paragraph 14): A series of ordered groupings of people
or things within a system; for example, “She put honesty first in her
hierarchy of values.” The organization of people at different ranks in
an administrative body

126 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 5 • enact (paragraph 16): To make into law; for example, “Congress
(Continued) enacted a tax reform bill.” To act (something) out, as on a stage; for
example, “He enacted the part of the parent.”
• formal operational thought (paragraph 16): Part of Piagetian theory
of four stages of thought (cognition). Formal operational stage (ado-
lescence and adulthood): In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated
through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts.
Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35
percent of high school graduates in industrialized countries attain
formal operations; many people do not think formally during adult-
hood.
• artifactual (paragraph 19): An inaccurate observation, effect, or
result, especially one resulting from the technology used in scientific
investigation or from experimental error; for example, “The apparent
pattern in the data was an artifact of the collection method.”
• nonchalance (paragraph 48): The trait of remaining calm and seem-
ing not to care; a casual lack of concern
• simplistic (paragraph 65): The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a
problem by ignoring complexities or complications

Reading

Activity 6 First Reading - Part A

This first reading of the articles “with the grain” is important for you to
understand the problem and the various solutions offered. Because you
will be using information from these texts when you write your assign-

STUDENT VERSION
ments, you will find annotating particularly helpful, whether directly on
the page or on a separate page, so you can find salient points quickly.
1. In small groups in class, silently read the text “Bullying in Schools,”
article 1 in your packet. “Read around” a circle, taking note of each
paragraph or chunk and discussing its meaning.
2. Notice which textual predictions about the text are confirmed.
3. Make notes as you are reading and listening to the text, making two
columns on a sheet of paper. Label one side “What the text says”
and the other side “What I think.”
• What is the problem this author is addressing?
• What evidence does he provide that the problem exists?
• Why does he think something needs to be done?
• What does he think needs to be done?

Activity 7 First Reading - Part B

Since researchers collect much more material than they will actually
use in their writing to get the coverage they need, they have to read
more than they will use; you will need to do this too. So you should

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 Activity 7 read all the articles in this packet to understand what goes into a
(Continued) research paper.
An essential part of writing any research paper is annotating your
sources and taking notes. The point here is to find the information in
your sources that will be useful in your paper.
Now read the next 12 articles in your packet (there are a total of 13
sources), highlighting relevant information and details as you read.
Then take notes in your own words on note cards. Label each card with
the author of the book or article and the page number or paragraph
where you found the information. Remember to put quotation marks
around any material that is taken word for word from the source.
In addition, make bibliography cards, either on paper note cards or in
your computer, for each source you read. The note card should have all
the information you will need to write a complete entry in your Bibliog-
raphy or Works Cited page (a list of all the sources you use). Arrange
these note cards alphabetically, since that is how you will present
them in your bibliography. For every source you will need to know the
following:

Author
Title
Publication (name of publisher, place published)
Date published
Page number(s)
Date of update on the Web site (if you can find it)
STUDENT VERSION

Date accessed if it’s on a website

How you got to the Web site (Google, AskJeeves, Yahoo, etc.)
Paragraph numbers on the Web site (if possible)
URL if it is accessible to anyone (not a paid subscription or through
your library’s subscription)

Activity 8 Looking Closely at Language

The intent of this activity is to build on the vocabulary work you started
with key words. As you read the texts assigned (those in your packet
and any additional texts), add to your vocabulary words by filling in
blanks in your self-assessment worksheet and add words that you
come across but do not recognize or cannot define. Look up those
words and choose the dictionary meaning that comes closest to the
way the word is used in its context.

Make sure you turn this worksheet in so that your teacher knows which
words are unfamiliar to you.

128 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 8 (Continued)

Self-assessment worksheet
Have
Know It Heard Don’t
Word Definition Well of It Know It
harassment To irritate or torment persistently X
empathy Identification with and understanding of X
another’s situation, feelings, and motives
intervention Interference so as to modify a process or X
situation

STUDENT VERSION

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 Activity 9 Rereading the Text
One particularly effective strategy to improve comprehension and key
vocabulary building is the I-Chart (Hoffman). The purpose of this chart
is to help you compare and contrast key ideas from the articles so you
can distinguish differences in their responses to significant questions
related to bullying.
An I-Chart is constructed as a table. On the left side are article titles
and on the top row, divided into separate columns, are key questions
that you pose. As you interact with the texts, you will look for answers
in the articles.
Since the focus of this module is on bullying, the I-Chart questions
may be similar to those in the example below. Your teacher and you
can decide which questions the class may want to answer as you read
each article.
Example:

What
How does solutions
the article How does does the
How does present the the article article
the article nature of the characterize offer to the
define problem of victims and problem of
Article title bullying? bullying? bullies? bullying?
“Bullying in
Schools”
“Understanding
Bullying”
STUDENT VERSION

In small groups, reread the article (or articles) your teacher assigns to
your group. After you have finished reading and discussing your article
(or articles) as a group, choose one of your members to report to the
class as a whole. As groups report to the class, each student should
begin to create an I-Chart based on these four potential questions.
You will answer the questions about each article and then be able to
revisit the questions in your writing at the end of the module. If you
cannot find an answer in a text, you should write NA (for “not appli-
cable”).

Activity 10 Analyzing Stylistic Choices

The words authors choose often indicate that they are using vocabu-
lary common to that topic; therefore, the authors are knowledgeable.
The words also often show the author’s attitude toward the topic.
Words
• What are some words that are repeated and, because they are re-
peated, may have significance in many of the articles you have read?

130 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 10 • Which of these words—or additional words—indicate the attitude of
(Continued) the writer toward the topic of bullying?
• How do the specific words the author chooses affect your response?
Sentences
• Some of the articles are formal, and some are informal. How can you
tell which is which?
• What effects do the choices of sentence structure and length have
on you?

Activity 11 Considering the Structure of the Text

In your packet, look at the texts that have headings. Examine how the
headings work: Do they divide large portions of text into manageable
sections? Do they give a brief summary of the content in the next few
paragraphs? Do they provide key words for the reader? Do some of the
headings seem to recur, indicating the headings are used regularly by
the scholars in the discipline? Make brief notes about the function of
the headings in each article that has headings.
Now that you have seen how headings work, provide headings for the
articles that don’t have them. Then compare your headings with those
of one or two of your classmates.

Postreading

Activity 12 Summarizing and Responding

STUDENT VERSION
Your group is to summarize your text or texts collaboratively, figur-
ing out the main points in each paragraph or section and conveying
its meaning in a sentence or two. Choose a recorder for your group to
report back to the class as a whole. You may find that the summaries
overlap, since all of the articles are on bullying. As you listen to the
recorders, one of you can make notes on the whiteboard; by the time
everyone is finished, there should be an outline of the most important
issues in research on bullying. You may copy down this outline and use
it as a starting point for your project.

Activity 13 Thinking Critically

Questions about Logic (Logos)
• Look closely at two of the articles about bullying in your packet. See
if you can find a claim that is particularly well-supported. What kinds
of support are provided?
• Can you think of counterarguments that the authors don’t consider?

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 131
 Activity 13 Questions about the Writer (Ethos)
(Continued) • Take one article that provides information about the author(s). Does
this author have the appropriate background to speak with authority
on this subject?
• Is this author knowledgeable? How can you tell?
Questions About Emotions (Pathos)
• Look again at the two articles you considered for their logical effect.
Do these pieces affect you emotionally? Which parts?
• Do you think the authors are trying to manipulate your emotions?
In what ways? At what point?
• Do your emotions conflict with your logical interpretation of the
arguments?
• Do you think your own experience (or lack of experience) with bully-
ing makes a difference in your view of the pathos of the articles?
A Question to Develop Critical Thinking
• When you read these articles, what do you think the authors believe
about bullying, and what are some things they value? Do they all
seem to share the same values and beliefs, or are some of them
different?

Connecting Reading to Writing

Writing to Learn

Activity 14 Writing to Learn

STUDENT VERSION

You already have a lot of material from your reading notes and exer-
cises that has helped you “write to learn.” If you haven’t organized the
material, now would be a good time to do so. You could organize it
according to the information mentioned in the assignment by making
different piles of notes for the definition of bullying; evidence that illus-
trates bullying is a problem in schools and in your school; information
that says why your school needs a code of conduct; and material that
will go into the code itself. Alternatively, you could organize your mate-
rial according to what you need for your own argument; what you have
found in arguments against yours; and the different ways you hope to
approach those arguments. You could also organize the materials into
folders in your computer if you prefer working that way.

Using the Words of Others

Activity 15 Using the Words of Others

When you are presenting your argument to the School Board, you will
probably want to use some of your research to demonstrate the seri-
ousness of bullying, the ways in which it shows itself in your school,

132 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 15 and the reasons your code of conduct is a good one that will succeed
(Continued) in reducing bullying. It is important to take careful notes when you are
reading to make sure you have all the information you need to be able
to use the material in your notes and to make a complete Works Cited
page—a page at the end of your proposal that will list all your sources.
(There is a Works Cited page at the end of your packet that you can
use as a model.) When you do use material from your sources, you
have four options: direct quotation, paraphrase, summary, and synthe-
sis. These are illustrated below.

Remember that you are using your sources to support your own argu-
ment. You don’t just string them together and hope they make sense.
Every source you use should be a form of evidence for the case you
are making for your proposal. Refer back to your I-Chart.

If you feel that an author has said something very well and that your
audience needs to know the information, or if you are providing facts or
statistics, then it’s best to quote the author. When you quote an author,
you need to let your reader know who the author is (if it’s the first time
you’re quoting him or her) and some context for your use of the quote.
In the direct quotation noted below, the author is identified, and the
next phrase provides the context for the quote, explaining what the
quote means or refers to. Note that the quotation becomes part of the
sentence, so your punctuation should help the reader to read smoothly.
In this case, a comma or a colon before the quotation would be cor-
rect.
• Direct quotation: Barbara Coloroso, in her book The Bully, the
Bullied, and the Bystander, explains that there are four serious

STUDENT VERSION
characteristics of bullying: “the imbalance of power, the intent to
harm, the threat of further aggression, and the creation of an
atmosphere of terror that should raise red flags and signal a need
for intervention” (22).
If the material you want to present as evidence for your proposal is
difficult to read or understand, you might want to paraphrase it in your
own words. This is easy on your reader, and it also helps you under-
stand your reading better. Again, you should provide a context. In the
example noted below, all the words are the writer’s (of the proposal),
but the meaning is from Coloroso’s book (the original passage is in
quotes, shown above). Remember that you must provide citation infor-
mation in parentheses after paraphrasing just as you do after quoting.
• Paraphrase: In her book The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander,
Barbara Coloroso allows that some incidents of bullying may seem
unimportant, but if there are serious issues of unequal power, of
trying to hurt others, of threatening to continue the harm, and of
making the environment extremely unfriendly, then the situation is
alarming and something should be done to alleviate it (22).

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 133
 Activity 15 When you have done a lot of research, you may find that the argu-
(Continued) ments become repetitive and that you do not need all the details and
specifics that exist in the original work. Then you can summarize what
you have read. When you summarize, you present the highlights of the
work without the details. Summaries include only high-level, important
information.
• Summary: In her book The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander,
Barbara Coloroso defines bullying (including racist and sexist bully-
ing); examines the characteristics of bullies, victims, and bystanders;
provides statistics for the seriousness of the problem of bullying in
our schools; and suggests several solutions for consideration by par-
ents, teachers, and school administrators.
As you prepare your proposal, you will find that some of your material
is covered by more than one author, or you may want to weave several
authors’ ideas into your own paragraph to support the paragraph’s
topic. In this case, you can synthesize several articles in your own writ-
ing.
• Synthesis: Many authors of articles on bullying offer several solu-
tions for schools concerned about the problem. Called “interven-
tions,” some solutions offer a simple change, such as an anonymous
“complaint box” (Curriculum Review). Other interventions can be a
series of characteristics that parents and teachers should look for
in students to see whether the students are victims of bullies or are
bullies themselves (Banks, Coloroso, Kan-Rice, Kuther, Lemonick,
Olweus, Nansel et al., Smith et al.). Still other interventions are pro-
posals for ways in which to significantly reduce bullying in schools
STUDENT VERSION

(Banks, Coloroso, Kowalski, Kuther, Migliore, Newquist, Olweus,

Nansel et al.).
Note that when an article has more than one author, you can cite just
the first author and put “et al.” after his or her name to signify the rest
of the authors. The reader can refer to your Works Cited page to find
the rest of the authors (see next paragraph).

You need to learn to take notes with full citation information because at
the end of your proposal you need to present a list of the sources you
used—the Works Cited page. Then anyone who wants further infor-
mation or wants to see the print material directly will be able to find it
from the information you provide. The Works Cited page is often called
a bibliography, and it is important for readers who need to check the
reliability of the sources. Dates and publishing information tell us more
than just where to get the source if we want to read it ourselves; the
information also helps us know how much we can believe the source.
The organization of the information is called “format” and has to be
done in a certain way. You must follow the format exactly so your read-
ers can find your source and judge its reliability for themselves. For
print material, at a minimum you need to record the author(s), title, city

134 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 15 of publication, publisher, date, and page number. The two most
(Continued) common documentation styles used in the humanities are the Modern
Language Association (MLA) format, used mainly by English depart-
ments, and the American Psychological Association (APA) format, used
by the social sciences. Here is the MLA style for a typical book
(in the Works Cited section):
Bean, John C., Virginia A. Chappell, and Alice M. Gilliam. Reading
Rhetorically: A Reader for Writers. New York: Longman, 2002.
Coloroso, Barbara. The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander. New
York: Harper/Quill, 2004.
The bibliographic information for the articles in the bullying packet is
provided at the beginning of this module. Your reader needs to know
the author or authors, the title of the article, and the book or journal
where the article is found, along with the publishing information and
page numbers. For example, the article in Educational Research would
be listed on your Works Cited page this way:
Smith, Peter K., Kirsten C. Madsen, and Janet C. Moody. “What
Causes the Age Decline in Reports of Being Bullied at School?
Towards a Developmental Analysis of Risks of Being Bullied.”
Educational Research 41 (1999): 267–85.
Note that all the authors are listed, with the last name first of only the
first author, and then the rest of the authors are listed as you would say
their names: first name first.

Many of these articles were found on the Web, and you may find ad-
ditional articles on the Web. To document a Web site, you need to
give the author (if known), the title of the site (or a description such as

STUDENT VERSION
“Homepage” if no title is available), the date of publication or update (if
known), the name of the organization that sponsors the site, the search
engine (if used), the date of access, and the Web address (URL) in
angle brackets. For example:
Brown, Mark. “Life After Bullying.” National PTA. 20 Feb. 2005
<http://www.pta.org/archive_article_details_1117638232140.
html>.
“Keep a Lid on Bullying with a Complaint Box.” Curriculum Review
11 Dec. 2003. PaperClip Communications. InfoTrac 15 Aug 2004
<http://0search.epnet.com.library.csuhayward.edu:80/login.
aspx?direct=true&db=aph&an=11735009>.
The author for the site named above is unknown and so is omitted.
Sometimes the URL will be omitted because the article was accessed
through a university-sponsored gateway, although in that case anyone
could have accessed it from the library. This entry would appear in the
Works Cited section alphabetized by the first word in the title, “Keep.”
Note that all entries in a Works Cited page are in alphabetical order—
do not number them. They are alphabetized so that when readers see
the author’s name in your text after a quotation, summary, paraphrase,

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 135
 Activity 15 and so forth, they can then turn to your Works Cited page, find the
(Continued) author alphabetically, and read about the source.

MLA style also requires in-text documentation for every direct quota-
tion, paraphrase, summary, or synthesis. You might believe that docu-
mentation is necessary only for direct quotations, but that is not true—
the author needs to be cited in all cases. If the author is given in the
text, the page number should be given in parentheses at the end of the
sentence containing the material. For example, here is a paraphrase of
material from the Coloroso book. Because the author is not named in
the text, the last name goes in the parentheses.

While it is true that some incidents of bullying can seem unimportant,

especially if they are isolated incidents, school personnel should be
alert to incidents that involve displaying unequal power, hurting oth-
ers, threatening to continue the harm, and making the environment
extremely unfriendly (Coloroso 22).

Documentation, citation forms, and formatting are all very important in

college in almost all subjects. If you are confused or want more infor-
mation, a good resource online is the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu>. This site is helpful for all kinds of
writing, especially academic writing. There is a whole section on docu-
menting sources that you can click on.

Practice with Sources: Quote, Paraphrase, Respond. Choose three

passages from any of the articles you have in your packet that you
might be able to use in your proposal. You may want to choose pas-
sages that you strongly agree or disagree with. Note that when you
STUDENT VERSION

punctuate a quote, if the parentheses with the citation information are

in the middle of a sentence, put any necessary punctuation marks,
such as a comma or semicolon, after the parentheses. If the quotation
is at the end of the sentence, put the period after the citation paren-
theses. Think of the citation information as part of the sentence. (See
examples noted above.)
• First, write each passage down with the correct punctuation and
citation for a direct quote.
• Second, paraphrase the material in your own words with the correct
citation.
• Third, respond to the idea expressed in the passage by agreeing
or disagreeing with it and explaining why, again with the correct
citation.

136 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Writing Rhetorically
Prewriting
Activity 16 Reading the Assignment
The articles in this module give you information about bullying, a term
professionals use to describe the behavior of students when they tease
others or are mean with words or actions. After the school shootings at
Columbine in Colorado, educators began to take a closer look at bully-
ing, and some schools made policies as a result of their research. Read
the assignment carefully to be sure you understand what you are asked
to do.

Writing Assignment
Propose a School Code of Conduct for your school that will take,
into consideration what you have learned about bullying from
your reading, research, and discussion. Your audience will be the
School Board, a group of parents, teachers, and administrators
who govern school policy. You and your teacher may present your
proposal to your School Board. Therefore, you will not only need
to be accurate about your evidence but also have to consider the
needs of your school and the beliefs and values of the School
Board. Your class may design your own format for this assign-
ment, but a successful proposal might include the following
sections:
I. Introduction to the problem

STUDENT VERSION
II. Definition of bullying
III. Evidence that illustrates that bullying is a problem in
schools
IV. Evidence that illustrates that bullying is a problem in
your school
V. Why your school needs a code of conduct
VI. The proposed School Code of Conduct
VII. Conclusion

Read the assignment several times. Underline key words. Since you
have read the articles in your packet, you should already be forming
some ideas about how to construct a School Code of Conduct and the
arguments you will need to make to convince the School Board that
they should adopt it. If you have any questions about the assignment,
be sure to ask your teacher.

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 137
 Activity 17 Conducting Research for the Assignment
You will need to do some additional research to strengthen your argu-
ments and your proposed code of conduct.

Secondary Research Assignment: “Secondary research” is research

that has already been done and written up. The first 11 articles in your
packet are secondary research (the last two, 12 and 13, contain prima-
ry research as well). For more secondary research, search your library
and the Internet for information on bullying. If you put “bullying” into a
search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, you will find many resources.
Be careful to evaluate those resources before you use them. For ex-
ample, one of the articles in your packet came from the Web site of the
national Parent-Teachers Association (PTA); it is reputable. If the Web
site is associated with a school, the chances are it is reputable, but
search through it to find who sponsors it. Some Web sites might be set
up by young people to complain about bullying. These are less formal
but could provide anecdotal evidence for your proposal; however, it is
difficult to tell if such stories are true.

Bring to class one additional piece of information about bullying that

you think would add to your class proposal. Remember to write down
all the information about your source, including title, author, publisher,
date, and Web site if applicable.

Primary Research Assignment 1: Making a questionnaire. In small

groups, make a list of questions about bullying in your school. Then in
a whole-class discussion, share the items on your list and compose a
questionnaire to distribute to people in your school. Some likely people
STUDENT VERSION

might be the following:

• School nurse or medical professional who serves students who
might have been bullied
• School coaches and physical education teachers
• School psychologist (if there is one)
• Teachers who are willing to respond
• Any administrators willing to respond (the principal, vice-principal,
guidance counselors, office staff, etc.)
• Parents and teachers, especially those who are members of the
School Board
• Students
Be sure to make the questions easy to understand and try to keep the
questions from being “leading” (leading the responder to a particu-
lar answer, which would bias the questionnaire). Then distribute the
questionnaire to the responders. You will have to decide whether the
responses are anonymous (in which case no one will know who the re-
sponders are and no names will be involved), or you may ask people to
respond knowing that they may be quoted. You might ask if they would
be willing to be interviewed, or you could give them the choice. Make it

138 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 17 as easy as possible for responders to fill out your questionnaire. Simple
(Continued) questions with yes or no answers or scaled questions (rated from 1
to 5 or similar graphs) are usually easy to answer. You might want to
give space at the end for written comments. Allow the responders two
days to respond and offer to pick up the questionnaires or arrange to
have them placed into an envelope in an easy-to-reach place, such
as the school office. (This step is necessary if the questionnaires are
anonymous, so the responders can be assured no one will know who
answered which questionnaire.)

Primary Research Assignment 2: Devising a series of interview

questions. These questions will be in addition to those in the first
questionnaire and might include asking the persons interviewed how
they define bullying, how they feel about it, and what they would do to
reduce bullying. Some good ideas for your School Code of Conduct
may emerge from these interviews.

Primary Research Assignment 3: Finding out about your school

board. Ask your parents, teachers, and other members of your school
about their impressions of the School Board members. What do the
members value? What do they care about, or worry about, regarding
your school? If you were writing them a letter, what would be the best
approach to ensure that members would read it? Your goal here is to
learn enough about the values and beliefs of the School Board mem-
bers so that you will be able to appeal to them when you present your
proposal.

STUDENT VERSION
Activity 18 Getting Ready to Write
Whole-class discussion: Discuss as a class the best structure for your
proposal, given what you have discovered about bullying in general
and bullying at your school in particular. You may find some models in
your reading, but be sure your structure is the best for your school.

Evidence: In small groups, write down the evidence you have in your
notes to support the portion of the proposal your teacher gives you
as your responsibility. Decide among yourselves which are the most
important points for you to make in this portion.

Audience: All members of all the groups should discuss and make
notes about the audience. How much do you think the School Board
members know about bullying? Why should they care about it? What
concerns would they have about your plan (e.g., Does it cost money?
Would it violate anyone’s privacy?)? What kinds of persuasion do you
think you will need to help them understand your point of view? What
would be the best evidence?

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 139
 Activity 19 Formulating a Working Thesis
In working with your group and afterwards when you are continuing
your brainstorming for your proposal, think about and write the
answers to the following questions:
• What is your tentative thesis?
• What support have you found for your thesis?
• What evidence have you found for this support (e.g., facts, statistics,
authorities, personal experience, anecdotes, stories, scenarios, and
examples)?
• How much background information do your readers need to under-
stand your topic and thesis?
• If readers were to disagree with your thesis or the validity of your
support, what would they say? How would you address their
concerns (what would you say to them)?

Writing

Activity 20 Composing a Draft

Compose a draft: Write for a total of one hour what you would like to
see in the proposal to the School Board. You do not necessarily have
to start at the beginning with the introduction, although you may. Your
goal here is to get down on paper, in complete sentences, your argu-
ment for the School Code of Conduct.

Compose the School Code of Conduct: Write for a total of 30 min-

utes every item you would like to see in the code of conduct you are
STUDENT VERSION

proposing to the School Board.

Activity 21 Organizing the Essay

The following sections are traditional parts of an essay. The number of
paragraphs in an essay depends upon the nature and complexity of
your argument.
Introduction
These components might be included in your introductory paragraph or
paragraphs:
• A “hook” to get the reader’s attention
• Background information that the audience may need
• A thesis statement, along with an indication of how the essay will be
developed (“forecasting”). A thesis statement often states the topic
of the essay and the writer’s position on that topic. You may choose
to sharpen or narrow the thesis at this point.

140 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 21 Body
(Continued) The body usually follows this outline:
• Paragraphs that present support of the thesis statement, usually in
topic sentences supported with evidence (See “Getting Ready to
Write.”)
• Paragraphs that include different points of view or address counter-
arguments
• Paragraphs or sentences in which you address those points of view
by doing the following:
– Refuting them
– Acknowledging them but showing how your argument is better
– Granting them altogether but showing that they are irrelevant
• Evidence that you have considered your own values, beliefs, and
assumptions; the values, beliefs, and assumptions of your audience;
and whether you have found some common ground that appeals to
the various points of view
Conclusion
A final paragraph (or paragraphs) that includes a solid argument to
support the thesis and indicates the significance of the argument—the
“so what?” factor
Works Cited (Bibliography)
The Works Cited page presents all the sources you used, arranged
alphabetically according to the format your teacher provides.
For this assignment, your teacher may choose among the following
alternatives as the best approach for your class:

STUDENT VERSION
Alternative 1: Write a proposal to the School Board for a School Code
of Conduct about bullying at your school. Be sure you have an intro-
duction, several body paragraphs with topics and evidence that sup-
port your argument, and the full School Code of Conduct you have
devised. Remember to use parenthetical citations and prepare your
Works Cited, or bibliography, page.
Alternative 2: In small groups, collaboratively write up your portion of
the proposal to the School Board for a School Code of Conduct at your
school. Then all groups will share what they have written, and the class
as a whole will work on a complete draft. Remember to include your
Works Cited, or bibliography, page.
Alternative 3: As a whole class, collaboratively write a proposal to the
School Board for a School Code of Conduct about bullying at your
school. Be sure you have an introduction, several body paragraphs
with topics and evidence that support your argument, and the full
School Code of Conduct you have devised. Remember to include your
Works Cited, or bibliography, page.

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 141
 Activity 22 Developing the Content

Whether you write individually or collaboratively, the final product

should reflect the following points. Read and discuss them in class:
• Most body paragraphs consist of a topic sentence (or an implied
topic sentence) and concrete details to support that topic sentence.
• Body paragraphs give evidence in the form of examples, illustrations,
statistics, and so forth and analyze the meaning of the evidence.
• Each topic sentence is usually directly related to the thesis
statement.
• No set number of paragraphs make up a proposal.
• The thesis dictates and focuses the content of a proposal.

Revising and Editing

Activity 23 Revising the Draft

When you have completed the draft of your class proposal, each of you
should have the opportunity to review it for revision. As you read the
draft, answer the following questions:
1. Have we responded to the assignment?
2. What is our purpose for this essay?
3. What should we keep? Which parts are the most effective?
4. What should we add? Where do we need more details, examples,
and other evidence to support our points?
5. What could we delete? Did we use irrelevant details? Were we
STUDENT VERSION

repetitive?
6. What should we change? Are parts of our proposal confusing or
contradictory? Do we need to explain our ideas more fully?
7. What should we rethink? Is our position clear? Did we provide
enough analysis to convince our readers?
8. How is the tone? Were we too overbearing, too firm? Do we need
qualifiers (words such as “sometimes” instead of “always” or
“seldom” instead of “never”)?
9. Have we addressed differing points of view?
10. Does our conclusion show the significance of our proposal?
11. Is our documentation correct? Have we documented all material
that was borrowed, whether it is quoted, paraphrased, summarized,
or synthesized? Have we included all the necessary material in the
Works Cited, or bibliography, page?
12. Did we use language appropriate for the audience we identified?
Did we use vocabulary that is mature and specific? Did we choose
to refer to definitions from the articles or from class discussions?
13. Is the language and the formality of the language appropriate and
well suited for the target audience?

142 | BULLYING AT SCHOOL CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO
Activity 24 Editing the Draft
Edit your draft on the basis of the information you have received from
your instructor or a tutor. Use the editing checklist provided to you. The
following editing guidelines will also help you to edit your own work:
1. If possible, set the proposal aside for 24 hours before rereading it to
find errors.
2. If possible, read the proposal aloud to a friend so you can hear the
errors.
3. Focus on individual words and sentences rather than on the overall
meaning. Take a sheet of paper and cover everything except the line
you are reading. Then touch your pencil to each word as you read.
4. Look for only one type of error at a time—one pattern of errors.
Then go back and look for a second type and, if necessary, a third.
5. Use the dictionary to check spelling and confirm that you have
chosen the right word for the context.
6. Check the form of documentation within the body of the proposal
and on the Works Cited, or bibliography, page. Make sure all the
information is correct, including spacing, periods, capitalization,
and order of the items.

Activity 25 Reflecting on the Writing

Reflect on your experience with this research project by responding
to the following questions:
1. What did you learn from this assignment?
2. How do you feel about collaborative writing and why?

STUDENT VERSION
3. Do you feel confident about how to do a research paper, or do you
still have questions? If you have questions, what are they?
4. Do you think your proposal will be successful?
5. What could you do to follow up on your proposal?
Your teacher will let you know how your proposal will be evaluated.
If you have questions, ask them.

Activity 26 Preparing for Submission

Once you have completed all the work on your proposal for a School
Code of Conduct, discuss as a class the best way to present it. Should
it be in a binder? Should it be presented with illustrations or as part of
a PowerPoint presentation? Should the whole class present it or just
a few students, or should it be presented in written form only? You
may want to make an appointment with a representative of the School
Board to talk about your proposal and to ask if you could present it
to the Board at one of their meetings. With your teacher and the help
of other people who know the members and schedule of the School
Board, you will be able to find the best way to present your research
project so that it will be adopted by your school.

CSU EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE | SEMESTER TWO BULLYING AT SCHOOL | 143
 Works Cited
Banks, Ron. “Bullying in Schools.” ERIC Digest. Champaign, IL: ERIC
Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, 1997.
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