1. ABC ASSET YEAR LESSON 2 PROJECT CORNERSTONE
SIMON’S HOOK
ABC ASSET YEAR LESSON 2
PROJECT CORNERSTONE
This presentation is intended for use by ABC Leads who have attended the monthly ABC Lead training hosted by Project Cornerstone. Notes for facilitating a discussion with this presentation accompany each slide.
As the ABC Lead, please provide positive role modeling of how to create an inviting, welcoming space.
Refreshments, music, and greeting volunteers as they enter can make your meeting feel inviting and welcoming.
Continue to use name tags. Make getting to know each other as easy as possible.
Give your volunteers a chance to connect and get to know each other. Allow your volunteers to share their experiences and wisdom- make contributions. This will make their volunteer experience as ABC Readers much more fulfilling!
References:
ABC Reading Guide
ABC Outline

2. Don’t Take The Bait… Teasing is a hook. Choose to swim free!
Refer to Reading Guide: page 1
Refer to Outline: page 1
In our lesson today, our goals are to:
Help students feel empowered and in control of their responses to hurtful teases and put-downs.
Have students learn and practice specific language and techniques to allow them to swim free.
MESSAGE TO ABC READERS
The focus of this book is to help students recognize the choices they have in responding to teasing. It empowers them to avoid perceiving themselves as a powerless victim of hurtful behaviors like name calling. Children can get so involved with their own emotional reaction to a tease that they react impulsively, rewarding the teaser with entertaining reactions that accentuates their feelings of loss of control and power.
This book introduces five specific skills to use in response to teasing. These five responses allow youth to choose from a variety of techniques to help them stay in control. Simon's Hook compares teases to fishing hooks and promotes the idea of swimming free of those hooks by choosing a response that will keep youth feeling free from the teases.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

3. At each class meeting, invite children
Getting Started
At each class meeting, invite children
to build a relationship with you.
Remind youth that you are someone they can count on.
Learn Names. Ask students to introduce themselves each time they speak. Use their names as part of your conversation.
Ask for student feedback on last month’s lesson- Have You Filled A Bucket Today?
Refer to Reading Guide: Conversation Starter, page 2
Refer to Outline: Conversation Starter, page 1
Remind the students about last month’s lesson -Have You Filled a Bucket Today?.
Tell them a bucket filling story that you observed from your own life and ask them if they have any to tell you.
Ask if they remember the second rule of bucket filling: Don’t dip. Try not to say or do anything that will remove good thoughts and feelings from the bucket of others.
Tell your students about a time you were teased and how it made you feel. Ask them: Have you ever been teased? How did it make you feel? Teases are bucket dipping words and actions that make somebody feel bad. (cold pricklies)
Finally, Tell students how you used your lid to protect the good feelings you have about yourself. Today’s story will help us practice 5 ways to use our lid.
As students share their stories, show that you value their experiences by writing their feelings words on the board.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

4. Conversation Starter: Digital Citizenship Swim Free on iPad, texting, computer, online games
Refer to Reading Guide Conversation Starter-Upper Grades, page 2
Make a digital citizenship connection! Write the words: Did you see Simon’s hair? He looks like a lawnmower head! on a piece of paper. Hand that paper to a partner and tell them to pretend that they just received this text message. Have them read it out loud and react.
In the language of bucket fillers, online dipping is called, long handled dipping, because the dipper can be far away, or anonymous. Follow Simon’s Rules For Being a Free Fish to use your lid online.
How did that feel for the sender and the receiver? Now say those words to your partner in a light-hearted tone with a smile. How did you and your partner feel with a face-to-face conversation? Why would you feel differently if you received this message verbally versus a message delivered by a text?
Misunderstandings are common online because we lose many of the social cues we depend on in face-to-face conversations.
For more information go to Common Sense Media:
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

5. Introducing and Reading the Book
Refer to Reading Guide: Read the Book, pages 2-3
Refer to Outline: Introduction to Book and Reading, page 1
Note for reader- Before reading the book, plan ahead. Select 2-3 bubbles to read on each page. As you read the bubbles, try using different comical voices.
Read the title and show the book cover- Ask for guesses: What is this book about?
Kindergarten and First Grade—Familiarize the students with the book, its key phrases, and use the Rules for being a Free Fish sign. Clarify the metaphors of swim free, don’t bite, don’t take the bait, etc., as you read to younger kids and English Language Learners.
Upper Grades- Act It Out!
Prepare in advance by supplying sets of hooks and responses from each page in the book. Or, use the Hooks with Teases found on the website. Ask for pairs of volunteers to read the hook and their response. Encourage use of silly voices and body language to convey the strong attitudes and confidence in choosing a response to the hook. Each page can offer a chance to participate for several pairs of volunteers.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

6. Introducing and Reading the Book
Rules for Being a Free Fish!
DO little or nothing! Don’t react!
Agree with the hook!
Distract! Change the subject!
Laugh at the hook! Make a joke!
Stay away! Swim in another part of the sea!
Grandma Rose suggests 5 ways to use your lid to protect the good feelings you have about you.
Digital Connection: In the language of bucket fillers, online dipping is called, Long Handled Dipping, because the dipper can be far away, or anonymous. Use your lid online by following the rules for being a free fish.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

7. Discussing the Book: Bucket fillers use their lids to stop, think and understand bucket dipping.
1. Why was Simon having a bad day?
How full was Simon’s bucket?
When our own bucket is low, it can be hard to use our lid.
2. What do Simon’s friends do to dip into Simon’s bucket?
When the kids tease Simon, what kinds of things do they say?
Has something like this ever happened to you?
How do you think Simon feels?
3. Who is Grandma Rose?
How did she help Simon?
What are Grandma Rose’s 5 ways to be a free fish?
4. Who is your Grandma Rose?
ABC Readers, identify yourself as a caring adult!
Refer to Reading Guide, Discussion, page 3
Refer to Outline, Discussion Questions, page 2
Let the discussion of the book be a relationship booster! Look to the discussion questions as ways to begin relationships and learn about each other.
The conversations, connections and insights gained through conversation about the book are crucial to internalizing the skills of the lesson. Don’t rush.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

8. Discussing the Book:
When Simon sees his friends again, what kinds of things are they saying to him?
Are they still calling him “Lawn Mower Head”?
Are they still teasing him?
What is different this time?
How does Simon answer their teases?
How do Simon’s new choices and actions change the outcome of the situation?
Do you think Simon is having fun, now?
How do you think Simon feels?
What or who has changed?
Did you notice the kids who teased Simon at the beginning of the story were still teasing him at the end? They didn’t change. Who changed? Simon changed! At the end of the story, Simon focused on his own actions. He said, “They can tease me all they want. I won’t take the bait.”
We always have choices. If we don’t like the way things are going, we can change what we do. We don’t have to wait, or wish or complain about how others should change.
In this story, Simon didn’t have to bite! Grandma Rose showed him 5 powerful ways he could choose to react and swim free. The next time Simon sees his friends, he chooses how to react to teases and put-downs by using the 5 Rules: do little, agree, distract, make a joke and ignore. The best part is that Simon felt good about choosing to use his lid.
ABC Readers,
There are times when the 5 Rules just aren’t enough. When the problem feels too big, advise youth to tell an adult. Simon had Grandma Rose. Your students have you, their teacher and other caring adults at school and at home. Help youth identify caring adults they can trust to help them.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

9. Discussing the Book: They Talk or I Talk
At the start of the story, Simon complained about the other kids: Why do they make fun of me?; Why don’t they leave me alone? This is they talk. They talk sounds like this: “They did this to me.”, “I can’t be happy because of her.”, “Why can’t they be different.?” “He made me.” They talk focuses on the power we give to another person.
At the end of the story, Simon focused on his own choices
and actions.
This is I talk. I talk sounds like this:
“What can I do?” “If they aren’t nice to me, what are my choices?”
“I can do little.” “I can agree.” “I can distract.”
“I can make a joke.” “I can stay away.”
I talk focuses on your personal power to choose how you react. When you focus on choosing what you can do,
you can take actions to make your life better.
When you choose how to take action, things change for you.
We can’t wait for other people to change . They may never change. We have no control over others. What we can control is ourselves.
Like Simon, when we change our own reaction, the whole interaction can change, too. This is using a growth mindset.
Adapted from Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

10. Discussing the Book: Digital Conversation
See Reading Guide: Discussion, page 3, (for older students)
How does swimming free online work? How can you avoid long-handled dipping?
Use your lid to stop, think and visualize what is happening. Remain cool and calm. Take a deep breath and count to 10 backwards while you think what to do.
Ignore and deprive the sender of your reaction. Use I talk to remind yourself that this is in your power of control. You have the power to decide how you react.
If you chose to use these techniques, you can deprive the sender of gaining pleasure in your loss of control. Choose to react by staying in control of your response to teasing!
If you receive inappropriate messages or pictures—What should you do?
Don’t forward, don’t reply or delete them. Make a report to a caring adult-teacher, friend, or family member. Save the communication, so you can show exactly what was said.
Think: Who is your Grandma Rose in this situation? Who would you talk to about an cyberbullying situation? This person should be someone who wants to hear what you have to say and will help you work on a solution. Be persistent. You may have to ask for help again, or find another trusted adult.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

11. Activity Ideas: I can Yep! You beat you! run fast!
Refer to Reading Guide: Group Activities, pages 4-6
Refer to Outline: Group Activity, pages 2-3
As the ABC Lead, have your volunteers sit by grade level and discuss age appropriate activities for each grade. Focus readers on practicing the tools taught in this lesson. (Art ideas make good fun visor activities for lunch time.)
Refer to Reading Guide Resources attached to lesson:
Fish Quiz:
1. See Reading Guide, page 4, to adapt this quiz as a game show or role play. Consider posting the 5 Rules for Being a Free Fish around room and have students choose how to react by moving to their poster choice.
2. The Grandma Rose website has a cute online quiz:
3. Don’t Take The Bait worksheet- Create your own advice column!
4. Hooks- Adapt these hooks for use as comic strip prompts, role plays, puppet theater, etc. Use with the 5 Rules for Being a Free Fish poster.
Yep! You
run fast!
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

12. Activity Ideas: . Refer to Reading Guide: Group Activities, pages 4-6
Refer to Outline: Group Activity, pages 2-3
More ideas: Bulletin board, mural, sidewalk chalk, or posters
Songs: 1.
See video 3 from 5:33-7:00 for song
2. Resource-When You Hear a Put-Down Song
3. To the tune of: When You’re Happy and You Know It…
When you need to use your lid, Don’t react! (Clap twice, 1, 2) When you need to use your lid, Don’t react! (Clap twice, 1, 2) When you need to use your lid, choose your power as a kid! When you need to use your lid, Don’t react! (Clap twice, 1, 2)
When you need to use your lid, Just agree! (Clap twice, 1, 2)
When you need to use your lid, Act to Distract! (Clap twice, 1, 2)
When you need to use your lid, Make a joke! (Clap twice, 1, 2)
When you need to use your lid, Swim Away! (Clap twice, 1, 2)
4. Upper grade/MS/HS “I Shake It Off”- cover
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

13. Review the Free Fish Gestures:
3 Minute Huddle:
Reinforce Key Concepts:
Review the Free Fish Gestures:
Do little or nothing. Use two fingers to make a zero.
Agree with the hook. Thumbs up!
Distract! Point off to distance.
Laugh at the hook. Trace a smile with one finger.
Stay away. Ignore. Use your palm and have your fingers walk away on top of palm.
Call To Action:
At recess, what will you say or do if you hear a hook? Give examples.
Refer to Reading Guide: Closing, page 7
Refer to Outline, Three Minute Huddle, page 3
Taking the skills and concepts of the ABC book and discussion and putting them to action is a big step. Use the 3 Minute Huddle to coach youth on ways to take these skills from the classroom to the playground.
Remind students that they are in control of being free fish and they have the power to choose to swim free and not take the bait!
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

14. Next Steps: Communication
Parent Letter- Strengthen the Home and School connection by sending the parent letter every month. Staff Letter and Resources- Strengthen your relationship with the teacher by offering ABC Resources and the staff letter every month.
Parent Letter and Staff Letter are available for download from our website:
Visit the Volunteer Center
Download Lessons (See Contact page in Volunteer Handbook for password and lesson plan.)
Asset –Simon’s Hook
See materials to download
ABC messages need to be provided to our entire school community.
Check-in.
How is your school wide communication implementation process going? Is staff receiving lesson material? Is the prepared ABC newsletter information being distributed in hard copy or online?
Where are the challenges?
What are the opportunities?
Help your ABC volunteers get in a routine that will support school wide adoption of the ABC lessons and skills.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

15. Next Steps: School Wide Extension Ideas
Family Night Transform the cafeteria Snuggle-Up and Read; Perform Skits Invite Grandma Rose
Refer to Reading Guide: School Wide Extensions, page 8
Refer to Resources: Middle School Skit Idea
Transform the cafeteria into an underwater scene, complete with hooks, stuffed fish, fish bubbles and examples of free fish. During art or fun visor time, each class can make large, stuffed fish, ocean plants and creatures to hang complete with hooks and responses in speech bubbles.
Use the book to create a Family Literacy Night tied in with Book Fair. Invite Karen Burnett to speak. Have students and staff put on skits that illustrate Have You Filled a Bucket Today and Simon’s Hook.
Karen Burnett, the author, is available to speak at schools. She will tailor her presentations to your needs. She can focus on Simon’s Hook, do workshops on writing for older students, parent education nights and is also willing to discuss her other books. She lives in Northern California, and will travel to your school site. Contact her at
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

16. Next Steps: School Wide Extension Ideas
Newsletter
Blog
Combine a craft and parent update to bring the ABC story home. This teacher created an interactive blog for students. Great idea! Check with your school administration when implementing your new ideas.
Perhaps ABC Readers could partner with your Expect Respect Club to empower youth to create and implement school wide extensions for ABC lessons?
As an ABC Reader, you are intentionally inviting relationships with youth on campus. Bravo!
Project Cornerstone challenges ABC Readers to:
Take intentional relationship building to the next level:
Get to know young people
Take a personal interest in youth
Use every interaction as a chance to build assets
Smile; Say, Hi!; Learn names
Invite and include adults on campus, too!
At our school, everyone belongs!
Ask your ABC Readers to share their own tips for connecting with youth and adults on campus.
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone

17. Closing Comments To the ABC Lead(s):
Share your program successes and the stories of engagement from parent volunteers. Let the school community know of your efforts and activism on behalf of youth.
Provide input for the school wide calendar on asset building opportunities:
PTA meetings, school functions, assemblies, principal coffees, etc. are all opportunities to spark asset building ideas school wide.
Questions: Please Project Cornerstone for assistance!
ABC Coordinator:
School Support Specialist:
Administrative Specialist:
Simon's Hook | ©2015 YMCA/Project Cornerstone