Children likely hear the exchange of rumors in the hallways at school almost daily. Ask students to write about their experiences with rumors. Students can chronicle a time when they were the victim of a rumor, or when a friend or classmate was the subject of a rumor. How did the victim deal with the rumor? How did the rumor make the victim feel, or how did the child feel about hearing the rumor? Ask students to address these questions in two to three paragraphs.
Students can learn first-hand how rumors get distorted through transmission by participating in a classroom activity. Instruct children to sit in a circle, side-by-side with one another. The first student will make up a rumor and whisper it to the next student. That student immediately whispers what he heard to the next student. The cycle repeats until the last child. Ask the last child to say what she heard. The student who started the original rumor can share the actual rumor. This activity can help children see how rapidly a rumor can get changed.
Ask students to analyze how rumors might get started or what might motivate a person to make up a rumor about another person. Do some people innocently start rumors, unaware of the validity of the rumor? What harm might come from spreading rumors? If a student hears a rumor, what steps can he or she take to determine whether the rumor is true or false? Ask each student to explain how she would feel if a classmate informed her that rumors were being spread about her.
Acknowledging what the children have learned about the spread of rumors, instruct them to create posters focused on the reasons why rumors are spread and the harm that can result from rumors. Children can also include instructions on how to fight back against rumors, such as asking the subject of a rumor firsthand about the rumor, rather than spreading the rumor to someone else. Place posters in hallways or decorate the home or classroom with posters.