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» The three lessons in this green section (identified with a triangle on each page) have been developed for younger high school students, aged 11 to 14. However, they can be readily adapted for older or young students – please see the Introduction for further details.
» These sessions include an introduction to: the Commonwealth and its diversity, development issues across the Commonwealth, and democracy around the Commonwealth.
Note - This lesson could be split into two for students to have more time to prepare and discuss: activities 1 and 2 in the first lesson, and activities 3 and 4 in the second lesson.
Lesson aims/key questions
1 » what is the Commonwealth?2 » what do people think of the Commonwealth?3 » what is life like in other Commonwealth countries around the world? what are
some similarities and differences with our own lives?
Learning outcomes and key processes
Students will be able to:a » Recognise a number of member states of the Commonwealthb » Briefly outline the historical roots of the modern Commonwealth and its current activitiesc » explain what is meant by ‘diversity’d » list three ways in which Commonwealth countries are diversee » Consider ways in which their lives are similar and different to young people living
in other Commonwealth countries f » express an opinion on the role of the Commonwealth Key processes: Critical thinking; discussion and debate; communicating ideas; listening to others; critically assessing your own view and others’ viewpoints; expressing an opinion; working with others to solve problems; empathising with others; listening to others.
Summary of activities and links to learning outcomes
activity 1 (starter): Guess Who? (Powerpoint presentation) a »
activity 2: What do you think of the Commonwealth? (matching activity) b » f »
activity 3: Commonwealth letters (letter reading and writing activity) c » d » e »
activity 4 (plenary): Stand on the line: the Commonwealth and diversity (values continuum activity)
c » f »
Assessment opportunities
» the matching task in activity 2 can be marked by the teacher or fellow students» the letters written as part of activity 3 could be teacher or peer-assessed» Students’ explanations of their positions in activity 4 (plenary) could be informally
assessed. For a less active plenary with greater opportunity for individual assessment, students could be asked to give written explanations of their opinion on each statement.
Differentiation » activity 2 contains an extension activity for students who complete the matching task quickly » activity 3: the letters from Pakistan and Singapore are more accessible and those
from tanzania and trinidad and tobago are more challenging.» activity 4: teachers can support and challenge students through their questioning
as part of the Stand on the line activity, for example asking students requiring challenge to give their opinion relating to more complex statements.
Homework or extension tasks
you could ask students to:» write a report describing their viewpoint on one (or each) of the statements in
activity 4 (plenary). Students should explain the reasons behind their opinion. » identify a Commonwealth county with which they are not familiar and carry out
research to find out more. a good starting point is the Commonwealth Secretariat website: www.thecommonwealth.org/s/YearbookHomePage/152099/map
Students could identify facts including: 1 » name of capital city, 2 » languages (official and local), 3 » life expectancy, 4 » land area, 5 » two facts of their choice » they could also complete a creative writing activity in which they use their research
about the culture, economy, history and society of the country they have chosen to write a short story or poem from the perspective of someone living in that country. Discuss with students the dangers of stereotyping, to ensure that they do not start to think that what they have found in their research represents the viewpoints of all the people in the country concerned.
Show the ‘guess who’ Powerpoint (1r1), pausing between slides.
ask students to identify the countries and then guess the connection between them using the hints. each answer is on the next slide but you can take these out if students might see the answers too early. if you wanted this task to be a little more competitive you could divide the class into teams and score them on correct answers. if no students are able to identify the countries you could play ‘hangman’ on the board and see which team is able to guess the country names first once letters of the alphabet start appearing.
once you have gone through the countries and identified the Commonwealth connection, ask students what they think the Commonwealth is. using the last slide on the powerpoint, briefly explain that it is a group of 54 countries from around the world that work together.
» explain that they will find out more about the history and activities of the Commonwealth in the next activity.
» Activity 2: What do you think of the Commonwealth?
Distribute the worksheet ‘what do you think of the Commonwealth?’ (1r2) to students. explain that young people living in different Commonwealth countries have given their opinions on what they think is good, and sometimes less good, about the Commonwealth. Students need to match each young person to the country they come from. they can do this by matching up the first and second part of each young person’s opinion.
Students who finish quickly should be encouraged to complete the section at the bottom of the worksheet by giving their own opinion on the Commonwealth. the correct matches can be found in the ‘what do you think of the Commonwealth answer sheet’ (1r3).
if you have time, mark the answers as a class (for example, each student reading out one of the opinions and students swap sheets to check the answers).
Discuss with the class what they already knew about the Commonwealth, and what they have learnt today. which of the young people did they most agree with? why? is there anything about the Commonwealth they would like to know more about?
1r1
10-15m
15-30m
1r31r2
» Suggested time allowance for activities
Commonwealth SCHOOL RESOURCES » Lesson 1
Resources needed » activity 1 (starter): Guess Who’ Powerpoint (1r1)» activity 2: ‘What do you think of the Commonwealth’ worksheet (1r2) (one for each
student or pair); ‘What do you think of the Commonwealth answer sheet’ (1r3) (one for the teacher)
» activity 3: ‘Commonwealth Letters’ (1r4) (one each or per pair – teacher either chooses one or two of the country letters for the class or distributes all four letters between different students and pairs in the class); Blank World Maps (1r5) (a coloured-in world map is also included in this resource showing all the Commonwealth countries)
» activity 4: ‘Stand on the line – the Commonwealth and Diversity’ (1r6) (one copy for the teacher)
introduce students to the term ‘diversity’ (differences or variations between people in communities and societies) and briefly discuss what this means in their own lives.
give out the Commonwealth letters (1r4) to students along with a blank world map (1r5). the letters are based on real letters written by young people in Commonwealth countries, detailing what their lives are like. ask students to mark or shade in on the blank world map the country the letter is from. then ask them to read the letter and reply to it. Remind students that their replies should try to answer all the questions asked in the letter and they could ask some more questions. their letters could be three or four paragraphs long, with around three to seven sentences in each paragraph.
if students finish early they could answer another letter (out of the four original letters); and they could even swap letters with their classmates and pretend to be the original letter-writer in order to answer their classmates’ letters.
» if you have time, ask students to feed back on the most interesting or surprising fact they have found out. Discuss with the class the similarities and differences students noted between their lives and the lives of the letter-writers. emphasise that these narratives are not representative of all the people in that country, just as the students’ lives will be different from those of their peers and those of others around their country or region.
» Activity 4 (plenary): Stand on the line – the Commonwealth and Diversity
move furniture so that you have a large space in which students can stand and move around.
explain to students that there is a line running across the room from ‘Strongly agree’ at one end, to ‘Strongly disagree’ at the other (if possible put up signs saying ‘Strongly agree’ and ‘Strongly disagree’ on opposite walls).
Read out one of the statements on the sheet ‘Stand on the line – the Commonwealth and Diversity’ (1r6). ask students to move to a point on the imaginary line that best represents their opinion on the statement.
once students have stopped moving, you could ask one or more of them to explain why they have chosen their position. give students a chance to change their minds and move along the line if they are convinced by other students’ ideas.
Repeat the activity for as many of the statements as you have time for, each time asking different students to explain their opinions. talk to students about the flexibility of their opinions – even if they form an opinion today, with more information, dialogue and changing circumstances it is fine to change opinion and this is an important part of being an astute, open-minded individual. 1r6
What do you think of the Commonwealth? » Resource 1r2
I love the name ‘Commonwealth’. In old fashioned English ‘Commonwealth’ meant
well-being for everyone. I like the idea that the
Commonwealth was set up to work towards the good of all the countries who are its members.
I like the idea that the 54 nations that are part of the Commonwealth have all agreed to work together to promote ideas such as diversity,
development and democracy and to
discuss issues such as education, health and climate change that
affect the whole world.
I think being part of the Commonwealth is amazing, because
you are part of a huge family, including lots of different people,
places and cultures. I think thisdiversity is really exciting!
The Commonwealth is spread out over every continent and ocean in
the world. There are big
countries such as India and Canada and small ones such as the
Maldives and Tonga. In Papua New Guinea alone 820 different
languages are spoken!
I think the history of the Commonwealth is really interesting. 300 years ago, the British Empire
spread across the world. This meant that Britain ruled over many
different countries. As these countries gained their independence from
Britain many of them still had close ties to it so the Commonwealth was
formed. After World War Two it was agreed that countries could be
part of the Commonwealth without being ruled by the British King orQueen. The Queen is still the Head
of the Commonwealth though.I don’t feel comfortable about the
history of the Commonwealth – I am not sure it is right for one country to
rule over another like the British Empire did over its colonies. But I
do think it is good that the Commonwealth has moved on from
that time, and now
some countries, such as Mozambique and Rwanda, have joined the Commonwealth even
though they do not have historical links to the British Empire.
We can all work together now to make the future better for everyone.
Young people from some of the 54 nations that are part of the Commonwealth have shared what they think about the Commonwealth. Your task is to match up the first and last part of what they have said, by drawing a line between the two parts.
What do you think of the Commonwealth? » Resource 1r2
» What do you think of the Commonwealth? ...continued
I am not sure how quickly the Commonwealth can get things done. All decisions have to be reached by
consensus which means all the member nations have to agree on
an action before it can be taken. For example, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings
(CHOGMs), when leaders
I think it is good that these days there are so many ways for young
people to get involved with the Commonwealth. For example, the
Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) has been running the
Commonwealth Essay Competition every year for over 100 years. It’s a
way to really get your voice meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, every decision has to be reached by consensus, so it could take ages for decisions to get made. On the other hand, it is good that every member state is
able to have their say!
The Commonwealth organises some really important events. For
example, the Commonwealth Games are held once every four
years. There are groups ofCommonwealth Youth Leaders
who attend conferences and events on global issues. Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second
Monday of March every
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGMs),
which are held once every two years. The Royal Commonwealth
Society (RCS) is an education charity that helps to encourage
international
I think it is interesting that there are lots of different organisations that
work to support the Commonwealth. For example, The Commonwealth Secretariat is the organisation in
charge of planning the
speak out without fear. The Commonwealth Foundation encourages ordinary people to
do just this.
heard on global issues that are important to you. The RCS also run
the Vision Awards and the Photographic Awards which give prizes for the best short films and
photographs sent in by young people around a different
Commonwealth theme each year.
ReSouRCe 1r2Page 2 oF 2 1r2
14
It is important that people know their rights and are able to
year. The Commonwealth Foundation also runs the ‘Commonwealth
People’s Forum’, which is a meeting held once every two years that
brings together hundreds of groups from Commonwealth countries to
talk about key issues facing people around the Commonwealth.
Now you’ve read lots of other viewpoints on the Commonwealth, you will have started to form your own viewpoint. » What does the Commonwealth do? » What do you think of the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...……
I think…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..................................
» Stand on the line: the Commonwealth and Diversity
The statements below can be used as part of Activity 4 (plenary) Stand on the Line.
You may choose to use all the statements, to select those which are most appropriate to your class, or to use statements of your own.
today is the first time i have ever heard of the Commonwealth.
i think the Commonwealth should do more to advertise what it does.
i can name 3 member nations of the Commonwealth.
i can explain what ‘diversity’ means.
it is a good thing that there is so much diversity across the Commonwealth.
i would like to be a Commonwealth youth leader some day.
there are more similarities between people around the Commonwealth than differences.
i can explain how the Commonwealth first began.
i think the Queen should remain head of the Commonwealth.
it is good that my country is part of the Commonwealth.
i can explain what the Commonwealth Secretariat does.
the Commonwealth should focus more on what is the same about us rather than on our diversity (what is different)
i would like to take part in activities for young people related to the Commonwealth – such as the Royal Commonwealth Society’s competitions in film, photography and creative writing.
i think we should celebrate Commonwealth Day at school.