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LESSON FOCUS: The role of the Commonwealth
Key stage KS4 (year 10) Key concepts 1c Key processes 2.2b Range
and content 3m Curriculum opportunities 4a, 4b, 4c & 4h
PLTS: Team workers & effective participants FUNCTIONAL
SKILLS: Literacy – paragraph sequencing
RESOURCES:
* Resource B needs cutting and laminating in advance*
Resource A - Images Resource B - Dominoes Resource C - Team
challenge Resource D – Team
challenge answers Resource E – Dominoes
answers Resource F – Advertising
brief Blu-Tack
OBJECTIVES:
I will explore what the Commonwealth is. I will discuss my
opinions about the
Commonwealth with my class. OUTCOMES:
I can name the four key Commonwealth principles.
I can name the Head of the Commonwealth and the Secretary
General.
Overview With so much talk of the EU, do your Year 10s
understand what the Commonwealth is? This fun-packed introduction
to the Commonwealth features a class domino activity, a team race
and the chance to create an advert for the 2014 Commonwealth
Games.
Keywords Britain, British Empire, Commonwealth, Commonwealth
Games, education, equality, friendly, global, independence,
poverty, principle, Queen, Secretariat, Secretary General, World
War One and World War Two
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Introduction (5 minutes) Share lesson objective and
outcomes.
Starter (10 minutes) Resources: A Instructions: Put students
into small groups. Distribute images (resource A). Explain that
‘the Commonwealth’ connects all the images. Invite students to
comment on what the Commonwealth is and the relevance of the
images. Provide a brief overview of the history of the British
Empire and the development of
the modern Commonwealth (refer to recommended web links below
for the latest updates).
Main (25 minutes) Resources: B, C, D & E Instructions:
Activity 1 (15 minutes)
Give each student one domino (resource B). Explain that each
domino forms part of an explanation of the Commonwealth.
Ask the student with the ‘start’ card to stand, read it out and
stick it on the wall.
Ask any student who thinks his/her domino is next to stand, read
it out and stick it on the wall underneath the ‘start’ card.
Continue until everyone is standing. (Resource E gives the
answers.)
Invite comments about what the students learnt from this
task.
Example of good response: o ‘I thought that the Queen went to
the Commonwealth Games for fun. I didn’t
realise that it’s because she’s Head of the Commonwealth!’
Activity 2 (10 minutes)
Split the class into small groups.
Ask each group to answer the questions on resource C as quickly
as possible. Offer resource E to struggling teams.
Announce the winner (the quickest team to get all the answers
correct). The answers are on resource D.
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Plenary (20 minutes) Resources:
A–F
Instructions:
Distribute resource F. Refer students to the instructions - ask
them to create an advert for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Invite a few students to share their work with the class, with
reference to following questions:
1. How does your advert show that the Commonwealth Games is
about more than sport?
2. Which of the four key Commonwealth principles seems the most
important? Justify.
3. Some people feel uncomfortable about the Commonwealth because
of the negative aspects of the British Empire. How does your poster
give the Commonwealth a positive slant?
4. Which organisations would be appropriate sponsors for future
Commonwealth Games, given its aims and principles?
Attainment
Level 1 I can ask questions about the Commonwealth. Level 2 I
can give an opinion about the Commonwealth.
Level 3 I can acknowledge other students’ viewpoints about the
Commonwealth.
Level 4 I can make informed contributions to discussions about
the Commonwealth.
Level 5 I can describe situations in which rights and interests
might conflict within the Commonwealth.
Level 6 I can discuss changing identities and communities in the
UK, as relevant to the Commonwealth.
Level 7 I can make reasoned arguments about the positive
features of the Commonwealth Games.
Level 8 I can show a detailed understanding of rights and
responsibilities within another Commonwealth country. Exceptional
performance
I can debate challenging questions about the relationship
between the UK and other Commonwealth countries.
Recommended links www.glasgow2014.com www.thecommonwealth.org
http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/br/British_Empire
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http://encyclopedia.kids.net.au/page/th/The_Commonwealth_of_Nations
www.thecommonwealth.org/news/222027/310310sgsportspeech.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_1790000/newsid_1793900/1793997.stm
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RESOURCE A – Images
1. RULE BRITANNIA
2. FIJI FLAG
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3. AFRICAN PEOPLE EMPLOYED BY BRITISH ARMY DURING BOER WAR
4. BRITISH EMPIRE MAP
5. OLD QUEEN ELIZABETH STAMP
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RESOURCE B – Dominoes
START: The Commonwealth is like a large family of many
nations. It has…
…54 member countries across the world, which…
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…voluntarily work together to ensure that every citizen’s life
is
made better through…
…friendship, education and democracy. This means all
members are treated…
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…equally. There are over 2 billion member citizens of the
Commonwealth, over half of whom are under the age…
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…of 25 years. The Commonwealth is constantly growing, but most
member
nations were once ruled by… …Britain. Therefore, the common
language within the Commonwealth is…
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…English. All member nations are now independent from Britain,
but many member countries in
the past had to… …fight for their independence. However, once it
was gained,
many countries decided to work alongside each other as a…
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… ‘Free Commonwealth of Nations’.
The British Queen is the… …Head of the Commonwealth.
This means that she visits… …many member nations around
the world to ensure that…
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…discussions are held between Commonwealth leaders, and that the
Commonwealth maintains its values. She also attends sporting
events such as the… …Commonwealth Games, which
are held…
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…every four years and are known as the ‘friendly games’
(because
athletes…
…compete against each other individually, rather than as
countries). Sport…
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…is a great way of encouraging unity, which is important to
the
Commonwealth. The next Commonwealth Games
will be held… …in Glasgow in 2014. The most
recent games were held in…
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…New Delhi, India. The person responsible for the
Commonwealth is called…
…the Secretary General. The current Secretary General is
Kamalesh Sharma. He ensures…
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…that all member countries’
governments work together to meet the Commonwealth’s main goals
and programmes. Some of
the programmes involve…
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...supporting democracy at election time, equality for women,
reducing poverty, developing education, and
supporting equality and human… …rights for all. If you break
the
rules of the Commonwealth, your member country can be…
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…suspended or expelled from the Commonwealth. The Fiji
islands
have been suspended since… …2009 because the military
overthrew the Government, which the Commonwealth felt to be
unfair because…
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…this action goes against the principles of democracy. The
Commonwealth celebrates its
work once every…
…year on the second Monday of March, on ‘Commonwealth Day’…
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On Commonwealth Day, the Queen broadcasts a message to all
member countries. All their
flags fly from Marlborough House in London (the home of the
Commonwealth Secretariat, which…
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…is responsible for ensuring that everything in the
Commonwealth
runs smoothly and that…
…everyone co-operates with each other to make the
Commonwealth
effective). FINISH
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RESOURCE C – Team challenge
1. How many nations and citizens are members of the
Commonwealth?
2. Which THREE things does the Commonwealth stand for?
3. Most member nations of the Commonwealth were once ruled by
which country?
4. Give TWO examples of the programmes the Commonwealth works on
to help all its member citizens.
5. What happens on Commonwealth Day?
6. Where will the Commonwealth Games be held in 2014?
7. The Commonwealth Games are known as the friendly games.
Why?
8. Who is the Head of the Commonwealth, and what
responsibilities does she have?
9. Who is the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and what are
his responsibilities?
10. Why was Fiji suspended from the Commonwealth in 2009?
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RESOURCE D – Team challenge answers
1. How many nations and citizens are members of the
Commonwealth?
54 nations (2 billion citizens)
2. Which THREE things does the Commonwealth stand for?
Friendship, education and democracy 3. Most member nations of
the Commonwealth
were once ruled by which country?
Britain 4. Give TWO examples of the programmes the
Commonwealth
works on to help all its member citizens.
Human Rights, support during election time, equality for women,
eradicating poverty and educational development 5. What happens on
Commonwealth Day?
The Queen broadcasts a message to all member countries and all
member
flags fly from Marlborough House in London (the home of the
Commonwealth Secretariat).
6. Where will the Commonwealth Games be held in 2014?
Glasgow (Scotland) 7. The Commonwealth Games are known as the
friendly games.
Why?
Athletes compete as individuals rather than as countries. 8. Who
is the Head of the Commonwealth, and what
responsibilities does she have?
Queen Elizabeth. She holds discussions with Commonwealth
leaders, so that the Commonwealth maintains its values. She also
conducts state visits to
member countries and attends the Commonwealth Games. 9. Who is
the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and
what are his responsibilities?
Kamalesh Sharman. He ensures that all member countries’
governments work together to meet the Commonwealth’s
main goals and programmes.
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10. Why was Fiji suspended from the Commonwealth in 2009?
The military overthrew the civilian Government, which goes
against the Commonwealth’s principles of democracy.
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Resource E – Dominoes answers
START: The Commonwealth is like a large family of many nations.
It has… …54 member countries across the world, which…
…voluntarily work together to ensure that every citizen’s life
is made better through… …friendship, education and democracy. This
means all members are treated…
…equally. There are over 2 billion member citizens of the
Commonwealth, over half of whom are under the age… …of 25 years.
The Commonwealth is constantly growing, but most member nations
were once ruled by…
…Britain. Therefore, the common language within the Commonwealth
is… …English. All member nations are now independent from Britain,
but many member countries in the past had to…
…fight for their independence. However, once it was gained, many
countries decided to work alongside each other as a…
… ‘Free Commonwealth of Nations’. The British Queen is the…
…Head of the Commonwealth. This means that she visits… …many member
nations around the world to ensure that…
…discussions are held between Commonwealth leaders, and that the
Commonwealth maintains its values. She also attends sporting events
such as the…
…Commonwealth Games, which are held… …every four years and are
known as the ‘friendly games’ (because athletes… …compete against
each other individually, rather than as countries). Sport…
… is a great way of encouraging unity, which is important to the
Commonwealth. The next Commonwealth Games will be held…
…in Glasgow in 2014. The most recent games were held in… …New
Delhi, India. The person responsible for the Commonwealth is
called…
…the Secretary General. The current Secretary General is
Kamalesh Sharma. He ensures… …that all member countries’
governments work together to meet the Commonwealth’s main goals and
programmes.
Some of the programmes involve…
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...supporting democracy at election time, equality for women,
reducing poverty, developing education, and supporting equality and
human…
…rights for all. If you break the rules of the Commonwealth,
your member country can be… …suspended or expelled from the
Commonwealth. The Fiji islands have been suspended since…
…2009 because the military overthrew the government, which the
Commonwealth felt to be unfair because… …this action goes against
the principles of democracy. The Commonwealth celebrates its work
once every…
…year on the second Monday of March, on ‘Commonwealth Day’… On
Commonwealth Day, the Queen broadcasts a message to all member
countries. All their flags fly from
Marlborough House in London (the home of the Commonwealth
Secretariat, which… …is responsible for ensuring that everything in
the Commonwealth runs smoothly and that…
everyone co-operates with each other to make the Commonwealth
effective). FINISH
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RESOURCE F – Advertising brief
Create an advert to promote the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in
2014 Include:
where the Commonwealth Games will be held why they are held
(think about the key principles below)
three or more key points about the history/role of the
Commonwealth.
1. democratic and honest government
2. equality for women
3. access to education for all
4. eradication of poverty
Key Facts This will be the 20th Commonwealth Games The Games
will be held between 23 July and 3 August 2014
Seventeen sports will be played over the 11-day competition
4,500 athletes will compete in over 30 events Each Commonwealth
Games take nine years to plan
THE FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES OF THE COMMONWEALTH
Sports include: aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling,
gymnastics, hockey, judo, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, shooting,
squash, table tennis, triathlon, weightlifting and wrestling.