miércoles, 9 de noviembre de 2011

Sadako and her 1,000 paper cranes (For 4th Year of Secondary Education)

Teaching Sequence:

The students have already seen the content of the IIWW in History. It is part of the Curriculum Design. It will be taken as background knowledge for this teaching sequence.

Pre-Task:
Taking into consideration that there are 4 rows of benches in this classroom arrangement, the teacher will ask one of the two students who sit at the front of each row to read out loud a short piece of information extracted from The Usborne First Encyclopedia of History (By Fiona Chandler).  The first student will read about the 2nd World War beginnings and enemies, the second will read about Pearl Harbor, the third, about the Holocaust and the fourth, about the Atom bomb.
The idea is that when the representative of one row is reading, the students in the other 3 rows have to write down the key words of each paragraph. Then, in pairs, the students will have to decide on the most significant terms to create a word cloud with “Wordle”. When they finish, they will see their same row neighbour’s cloud to compare it to their own cloud and to give them their opinion on the choice of words. 

Core Task:
The teacher tells the students they are going to watch a video from YouTube that shows the true story of a girl named Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing.

Try to answer these questions by taking down notes while watching. Be ready to discuss them afterwards.
1)      How old was she when the atom bomb was dropped? As she grew, What were her interests or dreams?
2)      How old was she when the doctors discovered her illness? What disease did she have? What had caused it?
3)      What Japanese saying inspired her and gave her hope? Is it simply a local tradition or does it have a broader implication?
Follow up:
1)      After watching, solve this puzzle…
(The word INTERCULTURALITY will be given in the crosswords as it is crucial)

2)      Let’s think: Write your conclusion including at least four of the words from the crosswords and three of the ones you have used in the word cloud done with Wordle.
3)      Let’s feel: Imagine you are Sadako. While you are hospitalized you need to express your feelings through a HAIKU, a typical Japanese poem. It is made up of three lines. The first and the third ones comprise five syllables and the one in the middle has seven syllables. It is a simple but deep poem dealing with everyday situations and human psychology through the use of vocabulary connected to the seasons.

Extra information:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
This is the true story a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She had leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese saying that one who created a thousand origami cranes would then be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died shortly after. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. They also built a statue of Sadako holding a giant golden origami crane in Hiroshima Peace Park.
Now every year on Obon Day, which is a holiday in Japan to remember the departed spirits of one's ancestors, thousands of people leave paper cranes near the statue. On the statue there is a plaque: "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth."
Adapted from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadako_Sasaki

Challenge accepted!

What values can help us against these human “defects” or “problems”?
1-      DISCRIMINATION
2-      LAZINESS
3-      WAR
4-      HATRED
5-      INDIVIDUALISM
6-      UNFAIRNESS
7-      LIE
8-      IGNORANCE
Choose one of the defects/problems above and invent a situation which reflects it, as well as the contribution made by the corresponding value. Write a script and act it out. Film it to be shown later on in the other courses as an awareness raising campaign.

jueves, 27 de octubre de 2011

Teaching Sequence for "Living Values"

Pre task: The teacher distributes comic strips by Schulz and Glasbergen for the students to discuss and recognize values and lack of values in them. After activating key concepts and providing the sts with the necessary vocabulary, the poem is read.

Core task: The students read (as they volunteer) a stanza each and deal with the following questions:
  1. Pay attention to the way it is structured. The author employs the resource of "repetition". How many times does he repeat each value? Why do you think so?
  2. Do you think the order in which he places them has any importance with respect to his priorities in life?
  3. The register of the poem is formal. However, he uses some very informal expressions. Which are they? Why do you believe he does so?
Follow up: Now it is your turn to write! Don't worry if it doesn't rhyme! You could follow this pattern: 2, 3, 4, 3, 2. The figures represent the number of times each value should be repeated, and the value in the middle should be the one you consider essential in your life.

"Living Values" by Raymond A. Fernando (2002)

PEACE which makes the world a safe and happy place
PEACE that unites people of any race

RESPECT that shows consideration for one another
RESPECT in which we put into practice the saying,
“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”

LOVE in which it is better to give than to receive
LOVE valued as sacred and to our spouses, we should not deceive
LOVE in which in a couple bonded in marriage
Must go together like a horse and carriage

TOLERANCE which finds us accepting failure
TOLERANCE which allows us to venture into the unknown without fear
TOLERANCE for each others religion, race, language or culture

HAPPINESS is seeing a child being born
HAPPINESS is when the negative feelings and thoughts in our lives are gone
HAPPINESS is waking up in the morning to welcome a brand new day
HAPPINESS is when we kneel down as a family and pray

RESPONSIBILITY is ensuring that our children become decent members of society
RESPONSIBILITY is nurturing our children to show respect and filial piety
RESPONSIBILITY is fulfilling our everyday tasks
RESPONSIBILITY is making sure that healthy relations continue to last

COOPERATION that enables co-workers to work as a team
COOPERATION that enables to fulfill our dreams

HONESTY in which temptation does not get the better of us
HONESTY in which your integrity must come first

HUMILITY in victory, in success
HUMILITY even though you may be the best

SIMPLICITY in the little things we say and do
SIMPLICITY that allows us to be understandable and true

FREEDOM that facilitates free expression and thought
FREEDOM through diplomacy, rather than violence, is better sought

UNITY that bonds all mankind
UNITY that we must all work towards and never decline

12 living values that we must all know
12 living values to inculcate in our children as we watch them grow
12 living values that will make the world a better place to live in
12 living values, it’s cool!
Wouldn’t you make it the” In-Thing”?

Sincerely,

Raymond Anthony Fernando
.copyrightraymondfernando2002 

You can find this poem and others at:
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewPoetry.asp?id=31730