ACTIVITY: PEACE ROCKS

A simple but powerful way to spread a positive message of peace. This

activity is inspired by ‘Peace Rocks’ whose goal is to spread 1 million
peace rocks around the world. In your classroom setting, students can
paint their own and create a peaceful garden or similar area.

ACTIVITY: PEACE COLORING

Purpose: Toincrease students awareness of skills
needed to live peacefully in society. These skills
include listening to each other, problem-solving,
cooperating, mediating problems, decision-
making, and communication. Students will
recognize and explore aspects of peace both at
home and throughout the world. Peace must
begin in ones own backyard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULjYN5Y4oY

Objective

 To express or represent a feeling or value in a poem

Materials

 Pens, pencils and paper

Activities

1) Share an example of a haiku, rhyming poem, and of free verse. Examples:

2) Explain the structure of

 a haiku: 5-7-5 syllables, reference to seasons, nature

 a rhyming poem: line ends rhyme
 free verse: no rhyme, rhythm required, but thoughts should seek to be personal.

3) Brainstorm words or phrases as a class that are associated with "peace". Write words on a large
chart for class to see result of collective brainstorming.

4) Create a class poem using the words from the list. Model the process of arranging the words in a
sentence or phrases until it "feels good". Emphasize ideas, concepts, and phrases. Sometimes, the
creative process is encouraged more when the teacher does not allow complete sentences.

5) Each student personally selects poetic form to record Peace Poem and writes poem down.

6) optional: Teacher makes editing changes to each student's poem - spelling, word usage, etc.

7) Student writes in own handwriting his/her final piece. A lesson from writing a haiku or poem in
general is: It's not so much how many words one writes; it's the feeling conveyed to the readers and
listeners. If a child is unable to write in his/her own handwriting, he/she may dictate his/her poem and
sign it. We have had a 3-year-old child dictate her lines to her 6-year-old sister.

8) optional: You may repeat this process using other poetic forms, such as cinquain (2-4-6-8-2
syllables), tanka (5-7-5-7-7 syllables).

9) optional: submit peace poem to the World's Biggest Hug for Peace (email us)

Evaluation/Assessment

 Each individual can evaluate the process of participating in the activity and view other
poems on the website.

Extension Activity

 Write 'peace' with synonyms and antonyms on paper and draw what the related or
opposite theme looks like with pen, pencil, pastels or paints. Ask students to provide their own
synonyms and antonyms and write them on the board.

DRAWING PEACE

Objective

 To express or represent the students feelings of peace in a drawing. Creating Peace Art.

Activities

 Participants write the theme on paper and draw what Peace looks like with pen, pencil,
pastels or paints. Alternatively, use a drawing program on computer.

Materials

 Drawing program, or paper and drawing supplies, and a scanner

Evaluation/Assessment

 Each individual can evaluate the process of participating in the activity and comment on
other works on display at the 'World's Biggest Hug for Peace'

World at Peace
Overview
Invite students to brainstorm the basic rights of people everywhere, explore in basic terms the United
Nation's Declaration of Human Rights and UNICEF's Committee on the Rights of the Child, and then
use international photography galleries as part of a multimedia creative writing assignment imagining
a world at peace.
Grade Level: Elementary
Estimated Time: Three one-hour sessions

Materials:

 Internet
 PowerPoint, HyperStudio, or other multimedia
software program (optional)
 Art supplies

Procedure:

1. What rights should be "universal" and apply to

people in all nations?

2. Begin by asking students about the basic rights of

children. "Kids everywhere deserve..." might be a good
way to start. To prompt discussion, you may want to
visit the online bulletin board at the PBS "Not For
Ourselves Alone" Web site, where children submitted
ideas for a Kid's Bill of Rights. How important are these
ideas? Do they apply to kids everywhere?
3. See what international organizations like the United Nations and UNICEF have to say about this
subject. (You may want to provide a brief introduction to the two organizations to help students
contextualize this information.) Visit the UN's Human Rights in Action interactive exhibit. There,
students may access a multimedia display built around the UN's Declaration of Human Rights. (Note:
in addition to "plain language" versions of each article in the Declaration, this exhibit offers activity
ideas built around each article, so this may be expanded into a longer curricular unit if you wish.)
UNICEF's Committee on the Rights of the Child site offers useful information that you may
paraphrase for younger children.

4. Call to the class's attention those statements related to safety, security, and world peace. How
important do these ideas seem in the UN and UNICEF declarations? How often were they mentioned
in class discussion? What do students think--is life in a peaceful neighborhood a "right" that we should
try to ensure for every person?

5. Ask students to imagine what a world at peace might be like. To help them imagine this, have them
visit the United Nations "Pictures of Peace" exhibit. There, students will see drawings by other kids
from around the world and a collaborative poem created by children from 38 countries in 1997.

6. Use online photography galleries (or have students create their own artwork) as part of an original
multimedia composition about world peace. Each student (or groups of students) should write a poem
or short essay about the world at peace and choose artwork that complements their writings. An
online photography gallery you might visit is the United Nations Staff Photography
Gallery http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/gallery/staffphoto/thumbs.asp

7. Use multimedia software like PowerPoint or HyperStudio to create student compositions, or create
paper-based artwork to display at home or at school.

Optional: send the artwork to The World's Biggest Hug for Peace and see other works on display

8. Finally, discuss why people commit acts of violence like the ones that occurred on September 11,
2001. What might make individuals, groups, or nations commit such violent acts? To have a World At
Peace, how can we prevent conflict--at home, at school, in our communities, and around the world?
Brainstorm ideas to share with families and local officials.