Primary students resolve conflicts with the support of their peers on the

Bridge to Peace

Yvette McBainand Kimberly Meyerson

Recess is over, are your students ready to learn?

Teaching Students to Get

Along

StudentsTeachers

School StaffParents

Lunch AidesAdministration

The First Day of School

and every day …

Model Active Listening• Make eye-contact.• Show you are listening.• Say what you heard.

“Stop, we have a conflict! Let’s work it out”

“Stop, I don’t like that.” Get help.http://www.safeatschool.ca

 

Stop 

When you are upset stop what you are doing. 

Breathe In 

Breathe in deep and smell the roses. 

Breathe Out 

Breathe out like you are blowing a stream of bubbles. 

Think  

Now you can think about solving the problem. 

Say what you want.I want because…

Say how you feel. I feel …..

I am sorry because…Next time I will…Will you forgive me?

You will see an increase of Conflicts and use of the Bridge to Peace after training is complete. The students are using their new found skills. It should decrease over time.

Go out in pairs.

Rotate so each child in class gets a turn.

Are easily identified on the schoolyard.

Carry a coin or two colored counterand a card with Rules for the Bridge.

Explain Rules for the Bridge Help Think of Solutions

Include Others in Play

Get Help from Adults

The Peacemaker will flip a coin to see who speaks first.

No name calling.

Listen to each other.

Work together to solve the problem.

No student should be made to use the Bridge if they do not want to.

The Role of the Heart ClubGrade 4-5 Peer Mediators

The Heart Club goes to each classroom during D.E.A.R. time to see if there are conflicts that need to be resolved. They use The Bridge to Peace banners that are in each Hallway. The Heart Club helps first through third graders solve conflicts that they may want to solve privately without the classroom Peacemakers. They also mediate conflicts for their peers in fourth and fifth grade.

Works Cited

Canter, L., Petersen, K., & Lee Canter & Assoicates. (1995). Teaching students to get along: Classroom scenes. Santa Monica, CA: Lee Canter & Associates.

Classroom Close-Up NJ. 2010. NJN Public Television. DVD.

Jasmine, Julia. Conflict Resolution. Westminster: Teacher Created Materials, Inc., 2004. Print.

Merrell, Kenneth W., Danielle M Parisi, and Sara A. Whitcomb. Strong Start. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2007. Print.

soulshoppe.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2011.

Yvette McBain yvette.mcbain@pequannock.org

Kimberly Meyerson kimberly.meyerson@pequannock.org