Boredom is the enemy of education. These resources aim to give students an engaging, fun way into topics that are relevant to their lives, including awkward ones like sex education, and informing about issues that are shaping the world and their future. My hope is that they help be an effective tool to the teacher to wake up a hunger for knowledge in students, and that everyone in the classroom would have a more enjoyable and enriching experience because of their use.
Boredom is the enemy of education. These resources aim to give students an engaging, fun way into topics that are relevant to their lives, including awkward ones like sex education, and informing about issues that are shaping the world and their future. My hope is that they help be an effective tool to the teacher to wake up a hunger for knowledge in students, and that everyone in the classroom would have a more enjoyable and enriching experience because of their use.
Including youtube links, independent learning activities, discussion activities and plenty of information, this lesson is about exploring the 'snoopers' charter' culture of the NSA and GCHQ, Edward Snowden's role as a whistleblower, and if we should allow our governments to spy on us. Particularly good for citizenship, sociology, RS and Politics this lesson is engaging and interesting to students.
Did you know facebook's new privacy policy allows them to use your microphone and camera? AI notes down everything we say via their app...1984? Or safety procedure?
Differentiated activities by outcome and task design, there's plenty here to stretch and challenge as well as scaffold.
This lesson also includes a debate and information which can be used like a treasure hunt activity. 26 slides of high quality teaching material.
Learning questions are:
Why is privacy important?
What is a whistleblower and what were Wikileaks?
Is the internet a force for increased freedom, or increased surveillance?
Which is more valuable, freedom or safety?
A 1 hour lesson including a 30 minute documentary, debate, opinion line, extension activity and reflection exercise to measure students improvement in their understanding.
Lesson objectives include:
What is life like in North Korea?
Why is the world talking about it so much?
Should we or the USA attack North Korea?
There is a discussion included about nuclear war: try to draw out students understanding of the long term effects of nuclear weapons.
Good luck, and if I may try to remind students that most things that happen in the world are good, that's why the news (which is always negative) is 'news': the good things people do are the norm. Try not to let them leave the room pessimistic. For instance, there are 12.7 MILLION volunteers in Britain every year. That's almost 20% of the population. Awesome.
This is of course a notorious issue for one that sparks conflict between groups. These 3 resources: a powerpoint, Prezi and roleplay try to help students empathise and understand both sides of the conflict without siding specifically on either one. The lesson objectives are:
What is the conflict in Israel and Palestine about?
What are the different responses to it?
What do you think is the best response and why?
There are about 4 hour long lessons worth of activities here with varying levels of difficulty: from role plays, youtube clips of varying degrees of debate (the hardest being the 15 minute clip by John Pilger, Palestine is still the issue).
It's really worth putting this into context with the history of the formation of Israel (which this clip is quite good at, but I don't think very accessible to KS4 but more KS5 level https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wo2TLlMhiw). There's a simplified version in the powerpoint.
It's excellent for world politics, terrorism and extremism, SMSC, PHSE, Religious Studies. I really recommend you watching the clips first if you can, and getting the students to engage with them. I usually get the students to watch the clips and do the roleplay in one lesson and then do more research written work in the next.
The roleplay has 24 separate individual roles (sorry, I ran out of steam, i nearly made it to 30!) which vary in nationality, religious belief and is a very useful way to get students to empathize. If you have more than 24 people I recommend you let students chose their relationship to the families (aunts/siblings/grandparents/friends etc.)
It also really helps for me to remember to ask questions rather than tell students they are wrong if they bring in extreme(ish) opinions from home (of which Arab and Jewish families often do pass on to their children).
Prezis, if you've never used them, work just like powerpoints: you make them full screen and then just press the right arrow on your keyboard.
Good luck in teaching this lesson with informed sensitivity, kindness, and with hope for a peaceful resolution!
A scheme of work which covers the causes of war, how it is justified politically and religiously, nuclear war, pacifism, north korea, 9.11 and terrorism, with an opportunity for an creative and analytical assessment.
I've tweaked, modified and re-vamped these resources to maximise engagement and learning for 2018.