No Bullying- crumpled hearts

There has been a lot of talk about bullying the past few years.  Kids are being taught strategies for what to do when bullying comes to play in their lives.  One very good visual is to read the book Chrysanthemum.  I love this book because it shows that mean words can and do hurt. They hurt hearts. As Chrysanthemum enters school she is bullied by classmates about her name.  As I read the book to the class, I pass around a large paper heart.  Everytime one of the characters in the book makes fun of Chrysanthemum, the kids take turns crumpling up the paper heart.  As it turns out, at the end of the story Chrysanthemums teacher has an interesting name as well.  She announces that she might name her child Chrysanthemum!  The other characters stop bullying Chrysanthemum!  In class we try to smooth out the crumpled heart, but it never is quite the same.  I let the kids put bandaids on the heart and hang it up as a yearlong visual to the importance of using kind words!!