Peace On Earth
Teacher Notes

The picture under each activity title links you to the student page that explains each activity.

Peace Tree

Fro younger students, the 'steps' part of the this activity could be omitted.

For older students an emphasis for this activity could be to think about steps towards a goal. What needs to be done / be present first before taking the next step. Ask the students, how will they know that peace has been obtained, what is the ultimate goal? (The star at the top of the tree.)

You could use a colour code for decorations to show each step or arrange the decorations on the tree with the first step near the bottom of the tree and working up with each step.

This activity could become a group / team challenge.

Make a class tree from paper to display your peace decorations on.

Sing a Song of Peace

Selecting a simple tune can be the key to success with this activity. Ask for suggestions from your students.

As a starting point you may decide to write the chorus to the song as a whole class. A key message or piece of information could be decided on for each verse. Keep it simple. Individuals, pairs or small groups could be responsible for contributing a verse each.

Depending on the complexity of the tune, the students could play percussion (tuned or untuned) instruments to accompany the song. (The band!)

Movement could be added (for the chorus or whole song) to complete the performance!

Peaceful Wishes Card

This can be a great class activity. Each student contributes an idea and a picture. These are then cut and pasted to create a class card. The card is copied, coloured and then distributed to families and people associated with the class.

Check out a sample card from Miss L's class.

Why not make an electronic 'card', using Hyperstudio or Kidpix or PowerPoint or another multimedia programme. Each student or pair of students could work at creating one slide. If the slide is thoroughly planned before going to the computer - this can save time. This could be a good way of utilizing one computer in your class throughout the day while other activities are going on.

Pass on Peace

This idea can be treated like the 'Secret Santa' concept - where names are put in a hat, everyone pulls out a name and you do your good deed to the person that you picked at random.

A practical challenge to add could be that the students are not allowed to spend any money in the process of 'passing on peace'.

An example of a good idea:
During a special person week at school one year my 'secret admirer' painted up a 'Parking Reserved for ... between 1/2/99 and 7/2/99' sign and put it by the best car park in the school. I was thrilled!

Peaceful Team Challenges

Spend time coming up with a deserving recipient of your class challenge.

Once the class has identified the different parts of the challenge, they could 'apply' for the 'part' that they would prefer to be involved in. Here a lesson about promoting one's strengths, much like a job application, could be taught.

Teams may need some guidance on exactly what is required for them to complete their part of the challenge. A useful organisation technique is to write a bulleted task description / list on the front of a large envelope (or manilla folder stapled down the short sides, or maybe a box ...). The team can then keep all their planning papers etc. inside the envelope and mark off their progress as they go.

Why Promote Peace

This could be a way to review current events that your class may have studied during the year.

Students could work in pairs or alone to research and summarise the key points / issues about an event. The research may be in the form of talking to people at home about the event.

The class could choose one event to respond to. Brainstorm what they could do to help this situation. Come up with some criteria to help select one idea. E.g. Which idea would involve the least cost? Which idea could our whole class contribute to? Put the selected idea into action!

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