Understanding Bullying Through 'The Recess Queen' in Grade 1 Literacy

This assignment analyzes the children's book 'The Recess Queen,' focusing on its relevance to early literacy and the issue of bullying. The student explores the book's themes, characters, and narrative structure, particularly its portrayal of the playground dynamics and the transformation of the 'Recess Queen.' The assignment fulfills the requirements of a literacy in the early years assignment by discussing the importance of genre, illustrations, and the book's suitability for first-grade students. It details how the book can be used to teach social skills, prevent bullying, and meet specific curriculum expectations from the Ontario Grade 1 curriculum. A literacy-related activity is proposed, involving a chart to categorize character traits of bullies and friends, connecting the book to the curriculum and promoting discussions about behavior. The student also draws parallels to their own experiences and provides references to support their analysis. The assignment demonstrates an understanding of early literacy principles and the application of strategies for children aged 3-8, as required by the assignment brief.

Running head: BULLYING 1
The Recess Queen; Perspective of Bullying
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Rational and goals: In an attempt to make friends or get attention from others, Kids become
bullies. There is more to the playground bully kids than meet the eye.
The Recess Queen illustrates that kids tend to bully others as a way of seeking attention. It shows
how when one can look beyond the yelling and engage them; they can drop the act and start
enjoying themselves with other kids. The book also shows how kids can socially interact with
one another in the playground to enjoy themselves and discourage bullying.
The importance of genre: The book also shows how the prevention of social isolation
can help prevent bullying. Teachers and parents can encourage other students to befriend the
'bully' to prevent the habit of bullying. Behaviors such as bullying develop in early childhood.
Atiles, Gresham, and Washburn (2017) denote the significance of early childhood educators to
teach kids about bullying and prevent it. People learn different skills at an early age, and teaching
kids on how to develop social skills to prevent and stop bullying are important for their
development. The beginning of the year is the best time to read the book ‘The Recess Queen’ to
kids as it is time they get to know each other and make friends. The book will teach them the
social skills they need to interact with one another.
What the content of the story has enabled fit for the kids to read. The story narrates in a
simple language how the bully stops and finally starts enjoying themselves. The author chooses
bullying which has become a common topic and creates an insight to the readers targeting an
early age where the development of most skills occur. Children can learn how to prevent and
what causes bullying at an early age and apply it later on in life. The book shows an insight into
the wider cultural and social problem. It illustrates how kids bully others when they lack the
social skills to make friends and find negative ways to gain their attention.

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The cover of the book highlights how kids are afraid of the playground queen who is more of a
bully. They run away from her and let her command the playground. It shows a cartoon which is
effervescent.
The story is lively, and the new kid in class enlightens the schoolyard bully on the
importance of friendship. The story begins with "Mean Jean was Recess Queen and nobody said
any different," (O’Neill, 2002). Everyday Mean Jean will yell, push and blasts her classmates in
the playground so that she can bounce, kick and swing before anyone else. “No one dared to
cross her path as "she'd push 'cm and smoosh 'em, lollapaloosh 'em." (O’Neill, 2002). But one
day when a new student Katie Sue arrives, unaware of the bully, she goes to the playground and
enthusiastically starts playing before anyone else. When Recess Queen arrives, she starts yelling
at Katie, but Katie instead invites her to play together. Mean Jean accepts and plays together with
Katie enjoying themselves and laughing. The author uses the rollicking rhythm, and the
assessment of the Recess dynamics are felt to be authentic. The language of the book is playful,
with words such as "skippity" it becomes friendly to the kids, and they love the book. The book's
language targets the kids as the audience.
The competence of teachers in literature is important to identify the kind of stories to read
to students (Akins, Tichenor, Heins, & Piechura, 2018). The knowledge in genres is important to
teachers as they get to know what is important to foster positive attitudes for the kids. The book
through illustrations shows how kids were finding it challenging to play in the playground and
how they feared Mean Jean. The kids would have to wait for Mean Jean to play first to avoid
being kicked or blasted. The narration also shows the happiness of the Recess Queen when she
made her first friend. The kids get to learn that all that Mean Jean needed was a friend as she is
seen laughing and playing happily with her new friend (O’Neill, 2002). The book is also

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important to the teachers as it shows that they need to teach the kids on how to interact with
others to form a friendship and encourage kindness among them.
The book uses the ability to deal with a bully in a remorseful way. The idea is good as the
kids can learn the importance of the friendship and also shows that all that bullies need is
attention and due to lack of the necessary skills to interact with others, they become bullies. The
author portrays the Mean Jean as a lonely kid who lacks the social skills necessary to make
friends and uses her power to torture other kids in an attempt to get their attention. Using
language that attracts kids, make them love the book and become easy for them to read.
According to Akins et al. (2018), reading books positively impacts the literacy skills of the
children. The story offers an insight into bullying which is common in playgrounds and schools.
Through reading in class, the teacher can engage the kids in the topic and prevent bullying. Kids
learn from the stories they read. The story also shows that all it takes to dethrone a recess queen
is the willingness to see beyond the tough cover. It shows that all kids want to do is have fun and
make friends.
At my workplace, kids tend to copy one another in doing things such as the kind of outfit
they put on; I had to read them the story "Those Shoes" so that they can understand the
importance of appreciating what they have and learning to be comfortable with themselves. The
book 'Those Shoes' by Maribeth Boelts was a good choice as it illustrates how a boy wanted the
shoes that everyone in school was wearing, but the grandma told him they could not deal with
'wants' at their place as they can only afford what they 'need.' When the guidance counselor gives
him a hand down a pair when his shoes fall apart, he realizes how comfortable his shoes were
and also that he has the best from his grandma. He learns to appreciate himself and the little

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things he has. The book was a good fit in passing down the message to the kids as we read in
class. Below is the cover of the book.

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References
Akins, M. ., Tichenor, M. ., Heins, E. ., & Piechura, K. (2018). Teachers’ Knowledge of
Children’s Literature: What Genres Do Teachers Read? Reading Improvement, 55(2),
63–66. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=eft&AN=130164171&site=ehost-live
Atiles, J., Gresham, T., & Washburn, I. (2017). Values and Beliefs Regarding Discipline
Practices: How School Culture Impacts Teacher Responses to Student Misbehavior.
Educational Research Quarterly, 40(3), 3.
O’Neill, A. (2002).The Recess Queen (Book).Spoken Arts.