More on the Anti-Bullying Project

Day Three

Day three brings up the final presentation of the positive ideas. This is also the day of the parent presentation for the smaller site. Southport. With only about twenty students to manage, crafts and the projects can be completed more quickly.
The presentation time will begin with what seems like a craft—each student will draw or write the name of his or her favorite soup ingredient on a piece of paper. I will have several in reserve for those who cannot think of one.

When the parents come in I will tell this story in a directed fashion, with the students acting it out as I tell it, “adding their ingredients” by walking up to the imaginary pot and putting their ingredient into the pot.

After the telling I will address the parents (if there is time) All students will receive a soup recipe handout as they leave. At this time they may also take home their Billy Goat and Bear’s Breakfast puppets if the Site Director wishes (or those may remain for later)

Stone Soup is often told to highlight the value of many types of ideas adding value in a situation but the story is very flexible and in this version I will stress not only the value of each contribution but also the idea of cooperation, of sharing with others and accepting someone new with respect.

Stone Soup at School
By Joan Leotta
Instead of a soldier coming to town, the person in my version of the tale is a new student at school who arrives on a day when the cafeteria has no food and no one has brought a lunch. At first no one likes the new student. No one talks to him (we can have a him and a her for the larger group). Then the new person will suggest, “Excuse me but lunch time is coming. Maybe we should make some soup.”
“Soup” say the students. “That is a boring lunch!”
“Not my soup,” says the new student and he/she pulls a stone out of the pocket.” I make stone soup and it is the best you have ever tasted. Of course I will need a pot and some water.”
Even the teachers have not been paying attention to the student but now they say that they will help. The teachers agree that instead of sending everyone home for lunch they will make soup and eat it at school. So the teachers bring out a large pot (Represented by a piece of ribbon on the floor ) and puts it on the fire and the student puts in the stone.
Each of the other teachers adds an imaginary bucket of water to the soup. (Real teachers do not need to get up)
“Wow,” says the new person, “The soup is starting to smell really nice!”
Of course no one else can smell the soup since there is nothing but water and a stone in the pot but one of the other students says, “I think it would be even nicer if you added carrots. (Then I ask the real students to think of an ingredient that they like in soup.)
Teacher, may I run home and get some carrots?”
This school is very close to everyone’s home so one by one the students go home, get something to add to the soup and then come up the pot and put in their soup addition! (Now they come up from the audience—in the larger school they will come up by rows)

Some people thought that their ingredient was better than any one else’s when they brought it to the soup. While the soup was cooking they said things like this” I think my ingredient will make the soup taste really good—I know that because I added pepper the soup will be really good.
After an hour or so the soup was done! Each student received a bowl of soup. The teachers served But strangely enough when they tasted the soup, each person liked the soup, but found that the ingredient they added was hardly noticeable. “Where is my pepper?”
“Where is my salt?”
But they all agreed that even though it was not carrot soup or salt soup or pepper soup, it tasted really good!
The new boy as he took his bowl over to a table full of students. They moved over and made room for him to sit down with them
“Mmmmm the soup is really great!” he said. And they all agreed.
Then the new student said, “I know what happened! Each one of us put in something different but the ingredients worked together to make a tasty soup. That’s how it works to make stone soup But I do have to agreed that this is the best stone soup ever !”

“Thank you,” said the teachers. “Thank you said the students! This is the best lunch we have ever had at school!”

A Stone Soup handout will be given to the teachers for use in follow up with students during the following week for the small school but the handout questions will follow the story (orally) at the larger site.

The rest of the Day 3 Parent’s Presentation
After Stone Soup, depending on the advice of the site instructors, students will share the story of the Bear’s breakfast in a group telling or will be encouraged to tell at home with their hand puppets at home. Students will take all crafts home. Students will receive a soup recipe handout.

Large site variation
The students will act out the story of stone soup on day three in a different way—instead of each one getting up to put his/her drawing in the imaginary pot, the students will add their contributions by row. Then the students will be separated into two groups. One group will retell the story of stone soup for the parents another will be directed through the telling of the Bear’s Breakfast—most of the students will be in the Stone Soup group. The students will call out the name of an ingredient instead of draw it for parent day.
Students at the large site will practice a retelling of the Bear’s Breakfast on Day 3 and present on Day 4.