The Power of Peace is a lesson plan designed to allow students to explore the topic of peace, learn about peaceful activists and determine ways to incorporate peace into their school environment and the world around them.
During this lesson, the students will complete a warm-up describing pictures that detail both peaceful and non-peaceful situations and then work on defining peace. Afterwards, the students will work in groups researching peaceful activists in order to create a poster that will be presented to their classmates. The students will then create their own definition of peace and work to link their learning to creating and promoting peace in their classroom and school.
This is not a focus of this resource.
The Power of Peace is well planned and useful resource for the classroom teacher who may be looking for activities to reach a group of students who are having difficulties with social interactions. It could also be used for a teacher who is interested in teaching his/her class about heroes or perseverance. Another possibility would be for the resource to be used in the Grade 6 Social Studies classroom in order to study World Issues content.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Very Good | Students explore the idea of peace and research peaceful activists. They use that information to define peace and put their thoughts into action. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Good | Depending on the peaceful activist that is studied, the students get to explore these issues and the activist's approach to making a difference. |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Good | |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Very Good | The students learn about peace and then incorporate ways to bring peace to their classroom and school. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Very Good | Students are asked to reflect on how they can promote peace in school and in the world around them. Students work on their own definition of peace. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Very Good | |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Poor/Not considered | This is not a focus for this resource. |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Good | Students are asked to reflect on how they can promote peace in school and in the world around them. |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Very Good | |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Very Good | Students work toward developing their own definition of peace. |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Satisfactory | This lesson would mostly be directed toward Social Studies classroom. |
Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Satisfactory | |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Very Good | Throughout the resource, there are suggestions that are made for the teacher on alternative activities and methods to differentiate the lesson for all students. |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Poor/Not considered | This is not a focus of this resource. |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | Students work in groups of two, three or four and present their research to the class. Students share their knowledge of the values ​​or actions of their activist. |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Poor/Not considered | Unfortunately there are no assessment suggestions included in the lesson plan. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Satisfactory | |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Very Good | The biographies of actual peaceful activist provide the students with a picture of what can be accomplished and the perseverance that is necessary. |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Satisfactory | |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |