Shot at dawn - A free activity for Remembrance Day

Tweet

Image: Tinelot Wittermans

Many schools will be doing something special this year for Remembrance day - are you? This free activity is designed to honour the men who fought and died for our country, while also engaging students in a deep moral, historical and political debate.

In 2006, the British Defence Secretary, Des Browne, pardoned the soldiers who were executed for cowardice during World War I. The service of these men is now free to be honoured on Remembrance Day along with the many others who died during the fighting.

There are arguments for and against pardoning these men, and the complex and thorny issues surrounding the topic provide a useful opportunity for students to develop their debating skills and to practice writing to persuade/argue.

In this free activity, students use the text provided and their own research to write an argument either for or against pardoning the men who were executed for cowardice during WW1. The activity could also function as a letter-writing exercise, a class debate or a philosophical enquiry using the included text as a stimulus.

Older pupils may well be the same age as some of the executed soldiers, who, at only 15 or 16, lied about their age to join the army. This, along with wide-spread media focus on Remembrance Day, will make for a relevant and thought-provoking discussion.

You can download the activity resource pack for free here. It includes instructions for implementation and also the stimulus text.

This free activity is taken from our cross-curricular project plan, The Great War. You can purchase the rest of this project for £36.

Activities include:

• Plotting the path to war, examining each country's motives for joining in detail
• Identifying the purpose of propaganda and creating a propaganda poster
• Writing a poem about a gas attack in the trenches
• Investigating the impact of the armistice on Germany and the rest of Europe

...And much more!

See here for a full description of the project and its included activities and resources.

A teacher's guide to Facebook in the classroom

Tweet

Since its launch ten years ago, Facebook’s potential for use in the classroom has become undeniable. But how can teachers keep their private life private, while still making use of Facebook as a collaborative learning tool? 

Many people will rightly advise you that to expose your private life to students is to risk public humiliation. It could happen to anyone, anytime. A photo is put up on Facebook, it’s tagged with your name, the privacy settings aren’t as strict as they could be and there you are: on a lively night out, in provocative fancy dress, a bit worse for drink, and for all the world to see.

The teaching profession, in particular, is in the public eye and many teachers are finding that Facebook – and their pupils – are revealing much more about them than they’d expected.

But Facebook has the potential to create an open and supportive environment for the pupils, and allow you to get to know them in a whole different light, and to revolutionise the way homework is planned, completed and reported on.

It can also be a great tool for teachers’ professional development, providing a safe space for teachers to share their expertise and professional practice within and beyond the walls of the classroom.

But how can you make the most of Facebook in your classroom without falling into its traps? Our guide below will take you through the process, and hopefully give you a few exciting ideas to try in your own school.

Creating a profile
The first thing to do is create a new Facebook profile that you only use for school. Only include the information you want your pupils and colleagues to see. Set all your security levels to high.

Next, set up a fan page for your school. Fan pages allow you to distribute announcements, blog posts, events, assignments and more right into the live streams or 'News Feeds' of those that ‘like’ your page. This is better than using a personal profile because there is no need for parents or students to be your friends to get the updates, and it can really be used to develop an online community around your class or school.

Setting up groups and pages
For most teachers, pages and groups will be the two key tools of your communication hub.

A page is public, which means that anyone can view it. Anyone can like a page on Facebook, and students who do will see updates in their News Feed.
Groups enable you to communicate to a smaller audience and allow you to limit membership to only those you approve. Using a page or a group is a great way to use social media with your students without blurring the line between your professional and personal lives.

Facebook groups can be quickly created, with their access easily limited only to a form or year group. Pupils can be invited by email. Files can be uploaded by the group administrator, who can also begin debates using an inbuilt polling feature. Pupils can be directed to the group where they can easily access a set of resources for a specific subject, share links to resources and discuss revision assignments. 

Plus, when a teacher adds a new file, question or post, they are able to see how many group members have seen and read the item.

How to introduce Facebook to your school

• Get leaders on board – get your headteacher, senior leaders and governors to understand the benefits for learning, engagement and communication.
• Talk to ICT – identify and unblock Facebook access restrictions for teachers first so you can test ideas and projects with colleagues. Start simple – experiment with the use of a Facebook page or group where you can test the tools and technology.
• Privacy – if you are working directly with students, adjust your own privacy and security settings on Facebook and get them to do the same.
• Start outside the classroom – consider starting to use Facebook in an out of school hours learning activity like a sports team or drama group.
• Test ideas – use fellow staff members and pupils to explore what works and doesn’t work to develop and test your ideas across subjects to extend the reach of the initial project. Informally test and evaluate its impact.

EXCITING IDEAS!

• Use polling tools to set up a series of questions or debates for a group of pupils.
• Set up a Facebook page for each project you do with your students. You can post news, photos, videos, comments, competitions and information relevant to the project. The page’s Timeline will keep a record of it all, allowing you and your students to track back and access older content.
• Just in time for remembrance day… why not have your students create a comprehensive and interactive history of WW1, or indeed any other time period? Split your class into groups, have each group create a Facebook page, and then ask them to post relevant images, information, articles and other media to the page’s Timeline, pinned to the dates these major events occurred.
• Ask outside experts to chime in on your Facebook page – easier, quicker and cheaper than booking a school visit!
• Use Facebook for foreign language learning and partner your students up with pupils who speak different languages, from Spanish to Japanese. It’s easier than writing and sending letters and allows students to engage with their pen pals frequently and instantaneously outside of the classroom.
• Set up a Facebook group for your students' parents. The group acts as a central hub for information – so using the example of a school trip, you can use it to share relevant staff contact details, itineraries and maps. You can even use it to keep parents updated during the trip itself, for example by posting photos.
• Set up an event on Facebook to ensure your students never miss an upcoming exam or essay deadline. Invite all the relevant students to that event – they’ll receive a notification of the invitation and then when they accept or join the event, they’ll receive alerts when you or other members post information or update the event details. 
• Not really a Facebook tool, but inspired by it... Fakebook allows you to create a fake Facebook account for a book/film character or historical figure (it doesn't create an actual Facebook account). This is a much more inventive alternative to writing a standard biographical piece. There are lots of other tools/templates like Fakebook if it doesn't work for your particular needs. Students could even create their own in powerpoints and word documents.

More advice and an even greater range of exciting ideas and inspiration can be found in our article, Facebook in the classroom, available to purchase from our website.

'Never again' - Helping the next generation to understand the Holocaust

Tweet

It's been 100 years since the war 'to end all wars', and just over 70 since the systematic murder of 6 million Jewish men, women and children shocked the world into declaring 'never again'. 

Guest blogger David Lawson describes how he does his bit to support the next generation in keeping that promise, using the story of a young Jewish girl who survived the Holocaust.

Eva Erben was born in 1930 in Czechoslovakia and now lives in Ashkelon, Israel.  Her life as a young girl from 8 to 14 years old was spent in Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, Christianstadt, and on a death march. I have written her life story – with her help and encouragement - and it has been published.

It is quite a short book, written very simply as if told by Eva as a young girl as she experienced events. It has been read by adults and children, literally from age 8 to 80. They all comment that the text is very under-stated but has a very powerful emotional impact.  It is easy to read and hard to forget.  I say this not because I am a brilliant writer but because Eva’s story, as she tells it, is powerful and under-stated.  The story more or less wrote itself.

I have spoken to many groups, from Rotarians and Church groups to schools, about Eva’s life and my involvement in it but it is the school groups that I wish to write about and to explain how some of my hidden preconceptions were, happily, shattered.

Never too young
My first talk was to Year 8 in a Jewish school and I was not surprised that the students could relate to the story and its implications and that we had a very lively discussion terminated only by the end of the school day.  But then I was invited to talk to Year 5-6 in a North of England primary school.  I refused, firm in my view that the children were too young to appreciate the story.  However, the class teacher insisted and explained that the school had successfully studied World War I and II and the Holocaust for many years and that my talk would be welcomed.  The school was about one mile from where I was born and that more than anything persuaded me to accept the invitation.

So I arrived at the inner-city school, in quite a deprived area, ready to talk to about 40 children. Some of them were recent immigrants and were not fluent in English.  One was statemented and had a carer with her. And all of them appeared to me to be too young for what I was about to tell them.  My talk was due to start at 1 o'clock and I expected to be well on my way home within half an hour.  Two hours later, with no break, the class teacher called a halt as I had to leave to catch my train!  The interest and involvement were intense and the discussion lively with all the children taking part, asking quite searching questions both about Eva and the Holocaust and about how I came to write the story.

I spoke at a school in Bradford, with a large majority of Muslim children (all of whom spoke with a broad Yorkshire accent) and a school in Cornwall and in each case, the interest in, and the emotional response to, the story was remarkable. One school invited me back to talk about the problems I experienced in writing the story!

What is clear is that children are much more receptive and mature in their reaction than I had imagined. They can and do easily relate to Eva’s story because she was their age when it happened and her story is written and told as if she was there as a young girl telling it. Although it is not a direct first-hand telling as Eva is not there herself, it is as close to that as is possible. It is easier for the children to relate to someone who is present, talking directly to them, and who knows and has spoken to Eva than it would be to a third party or even a teacher.

Why do children need to know about the Holocaust?
There is, of course, more to the talk than simply describing the events, horrifying though they are. The conclusion of the talk is to explain why I spend my time talking to schools (I am not paid!) and why Eva herself still goes to talk to schools in Israel, the Czech Republic and Germany, despite being now 83 years old.  

There are four reasons or key lessons, in increasing importance:

1. To bear witness to what actually happened.
2. To explain that genocides start with small matters, minor discriminations, bullying etc.  Everyone, including the children, can and should resist and prevent such things.
3. At the same time, there is usually propaganda that such and such a group of people are different, not as good as us and are somehow evil or undesirable and should be excluded.  We must all be alert to such pernicious propaganda and counter it.
4. Each life is precious.  Each of us has only one life and we must all make the most of it.

The story is specific and particular to Eva and the Holocaust but the lessons are universal. Given recent events in Syria, Iraq and many other places, the lessons are needed now as much as they ever were.  Humanity has learned nothing, apparently, from history. However, at least in the schools I have spoken to, the lessons seem to be accepted, understood and appreciated.

- David Lawson

Would you like David to visit your school? He's happy to speak to primary and secondary schools free of charge (though he does ask that schools cover his travel expenses). 

If you would like more information, or to book David for a talk, please contact Imaginative Minds by email at enquiries@imaginativeminds.co.uk or by telephone at 0121 224 7599. 

See here for more information on Escape Story. Individual copies cost £8.99 each, but can also be bought in bulk for discounted prices.

*                    *                    *

Interested in teaching the Holocaust? Check out this blog post featuring a range of useful websites and resources for teaching about conflict and genocide.

Top 5 websites for teaching about conflict and genocide

Tweet

(Image: bbc.co.uk)

August 2014 will mark the centenary of the start of World War I - the bloodiest human conflict the world had ever known. The theme of conflict and by extension, genocide, is on many minds. Have we learnt anything in the last 100 years?

Apparently not. Wars and genocides killed nearly 170 million people during the twentieth century,  and many more since.This makes for a sensitive subject, and one that poses many challenges when working out how to broach the subject in the classroom.

How do we make learning about genocide lively and engaging for students of all ages and abilities? How do we do this and still retain the respect such a subject deserves? And the big one – how do we make such horrific events relevant and meaningful to our students? After all, the death toll is merely that – a figure – and it can be very easy to detach ourselves from dry facts and long lists of statistics.

We've picked out what we think are the best 5 websites for teaching about conflict and genocide. A key theme threading its way through each and every one of them is that conflict and genocide is not at all a thing of the past. It’s happening now, it’s relevant to all of us, and there are things that we, as teachers, students and ordinary human beings, can do. 

It’s a lovely approach to take when teaching about war and conflict, and as well as a range of teaching tools, there are plenty of practical ideas on these sites for awareness-raising activities and initiatives that students might be motivated to set up in their own schools.

1. British Red Cross
The teaching section of this site is very philosophically inclined – most of the resources are aiming to develop students’ questioning and critical thinking skills.

You’ll find lesson plans, assembly kits and a whole array of multimedia resources. Some of it is less relevant to conflict and genocide, but there are some fantastic lesson plans for a range of age groups, covering subjects such as:

• prisoners of war
• war crimes trials
• the 2011 UK riots
• child soldiers
• refugees (for both secondary and primary)
• terrorism.

There are some very poignant and compelling images here – great discussion starters.

Also worth a look is the 'Quick activities' section, which features a variety of unusual lesson starters and activities, including charming your way through a hostile checkpoint in a troubled country, exploring daily life in a war zone, and an interesting discussion on acting with humanity  and morality during war.

2. Children of Conflict
An offshoot of the BBC’s World Service, Children of Conflict is an awareness-raising initiative, and as such, aims to shock. It focuses on the stories of children who have lived and are still living through wars and conflict - in particular, child soldiers, lost children, wounded children, children running households (generally orphans with younger siblings) and child workers.

The information in each of the main sections is direct and simply put. A child with only moderate literacy skills would have no problem navigating the site and reading the information. You’ll also find quotes and stories from children all over the world here, all in the child’s own words, translated directly and shocking in their simplicity.

The majority of quotes are from school-age children between the ages of ten and 17, which should make them all the more thought-provoking and relevant to our students. It might encourage them to ask, ‘What would I do in their shoes? How would I feel? How could I cope?’

3. Hiroshima Remembered
A fantastic resource for any project or research assignment on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this website tells the story right from the testing of the bombs all the way through to the Japanese surrender and beyond

There’s a substantial number of photographs, a couple of maps and a few short video clips of the explosion and its aftermath. You'll also find a selection of brief biographies of those behind the design, testing and dropping of the bombs – very useful, as the articles themselves don’t waste much time explaining who’s who.

If your students are investigating whether the bombings can be justified, then the 'Historical Documents' section is especially worth pointing them towards. In it, you’ll find a compilation of documents, including lead nuclear researcher Leo Svilard's petition to the president arguing against using his newly developed atomic weapon on innocent civilians, the White House press release on the Hiroshima bombings, and the personal reflections of President Harry Truman on giving the order to drop the bombs. A lot of interesting and thought-provoking resources here – the highlight of the site as far as we're concerned.

4. A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
A must visit for teachers of all key stages – and students too.

(Image: thephilanews.com)

Aside from pages and pages of facts, figures, eyewitness accounts, photographs and lesson plans, you'll also find a massive compilation of multimedia resources such as photographs, video clips, music, maps, bibliographies and more.

Highlights include hundreds of primary source documents related to the Holocaust, and a collection of virtual reality movies. These virtual reality movies – essentially interactive panoramas – will take you and your class on a virtual tour around concentration camps, Nazi ghettoes and Holocaust war memorials. Especially poignant are the images from Majdanek camp and killing centre, which lead you through the final journey of the Nazi’s many gassing victims – beginning with the undressing room and ending in the crematorium. 

For many students, the Holocaust is a difficult thing to comprehend – these panoramas are an effective way to make it real, and might also stimulate some interesting responses through creative writing, drama or music.

5. Rwandan Stories
A striking site, Rwandan Stories traces the history of the Rwandan Genocide right from its origins, all the way through to the nation’s recent and rocky recovery.

The articles are clearly organised and categorised, and the information included is extensive.
There are some stunning photographs here, and a large number of fantastic video clips, the majority of which are around two to three minutes long, making them perfect for a classroom setting.

Highlights include ‘My friend the killer’, the firsthand account of a young woman who became friends with one of the interahamwe militia, and ‘A good man’, in which a young Rwandan man who lost over fifty family members during the genocide, recounts his grandfather’s murder.

The site is full of stories like these, and not only from journalists, relief workers and victims of the genocide either. The most interesting and unique aspect of this site is that it includes stories from those who participated in the genocide too – the killers. 

Their tales of brutal murder are chilling, but reading through, you realise that they are people too. It’s a sobering thought, and has such potential for deep exploration, especially with older students, providing a fantastic starting point for all sorts of philosophical enquiries into morality, prejudice and dehumanisation.

The killers speak
(Image: rwandanstories.org)

A treasure hunt for the digital age

Tweet

A QR code

Creative teaching need not be about play-dough and paint, but can simply be taking advantage of the learning opportunities that technology can offer - even relatively simple ones.

In this post, we share an exciting series of lessons based around the idea of a treasure hunt using student-generated QR codes. The lessons make use of Solo Taxonomy and were designed and first implemented by Rachel Jones, a teacher and blogger with a penchant for all things creative.

Engaging older learners

Rachel is an A Level sociology teacher, so she works with older students - often those who found school difficult and are hoping for a fresh start at Sixth Form.

Aside from the play-dough and paint (which she does use - along with ball pits, parachutes and 3D essay plans!), Rachel likes to indulge her geekier side. She designed this QR code treasure hunt to self/peer teach Feminist approaches to inequality, and replaced lesson plans that, the previous year, Rachel reveals, had included a 34 slide powerpoint.

The following outline was featured as part of a longer article for our magazine. You can purchase the full article here. It also featured as part of a post from Rachel's own blog, 'Create, Innovate, Explore'. You can view her original blog post (which features loads more exciting ideas for all kinds of treasure hunts) here.

Lesson one 

One student's 'treasure map'
(Image: createinnovateexplore.com)

Students were divided into small groups of two or three and given an area of Feminist enquiry into inequality to become experts in – for example Hakim, the pensions gap, and so on. Rachel gave them an hour and a half to research the topic and then create a 'treasure map' (a Solo style station) with QR codes that would enable other students to research and become experts in that area. 

"The classroom was soon filled with learners utilising their own devices to research and then create resources for the use of other groups," she says. 

By the end of the lesson, all the groups had produced QR codes (Rachel recommends www.qrcode.kaywa.com for generating the codes) that linked to relevant web-based or student-generated content. 

They had achieved the unistructural phase of learning. 

Lesson two 

The students arrived with a QR scanner already downloaded onto their devices. They then worked round the room using the QR stations to complete a grid that covered the content of the specification.

Rachel was amazed at the quality of the content that the QR codes led to. She says: "Students had not only linked them to web content, but had also created podcasts, infographics, and even a twitter account (for a dead Marxist Feminist) to assist their classmates in their learning.

"The beep noises the phones make when they scan the codes made my classroom sound like Tesco checkout, but the students were totally engrossed working round the various stations to ensure that they completed the grid."

"There was a surprising amount of peer support and sharing of information," she adds. "All students completed the grid, which was a demanding amount of material."

This was the multistructural phase of their learning.

Image: createinnovateexplore.com

Lesson three
According to Rachel, "this was the day the sun first came out and so we decided to decamp outside." Before doing this however, she gave each group  a giant hexagon and told them to summarise their initial unistructural learning onto it. The students then took the hexagons outside and spent time as a whole class moving the hexagons around to create evaluative links between the theorists.

"This was more complicated than it sounds, and took some negotiation between the different opinions and evaluations of individual learners," Rachel says.

This negotiation, and the evaluative skills that it required to reach a collaborative conclusion, made up the relational and extended abstract phase of the learning. 

"It encouraged the learners to think beyond the information presented and utilise learning from other modules and even areas outside the formal learning of the course," Rachel explains.

Try it yourself!

This type of treasure hunt can only be successful if all your learners have access to the technology to create and undertake it. You can run into problems if they are sharing phones or devices, so you need to ensure that you plan effectively around this issue. 

However, Rachel concludes: "Because the students knew other learners would need their information to complete the task, they were invested in the quality of their output which resulted in some amazing finished pieces and an enjoyable learning experience for my class."

Visit Rachel's blog for more exciting ideas and resources for creative teaching.