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Lesson plan: Letter writing
From the Children's rights online resource
Resources:
You will need:
Introduction and whole-class activity:
Read the quotation by Liam O'Neill
to the class. Ask the pupils whether or not they agree with Liam.
Have they ever been in a situation where they have felt afraid to
speak the truth? Ask them who they think has the power to make things
better or worse for children in other parts of the world. How could
pupils influence those who have the power to make changes?
Discuss letter writing as a useful tool in persuading organisations
or individuals with power to change the way they do things. Organisations
such as Amnesty International encourage people to write to others
who are imprisoned in order to give them support. Organisations
such as UNICEF support children's education all over the world.
You may want the children to follow the same format, writing to
a specified person or group on one particular point, or you may
wish to give a variety of options from which the pupils can choose.
It may be possible for some of the class to write letters to find
out more information about Children's Rights, while others write
directly to world leaders persuading them to change the way children
are treated. A writing frame may help the pupils to write persuasively
and to back up their points of view with examples. Formal letter
writing may need to be revised, and the teacher could also model
the writing of a formal letter.
Plenary:
The pupils should have decided who they are going to write to and
be very clear on the expected outcomes of their letter writing.
This could be shared with the class.
This activity will take more than one session. Responses to the
pupils' letters can lead to a greater involvement with particular
charities or organisations. The pupils may be encouraged continue
to explore these areas and share them over the following few weeks.
There are also a number of very good websites which some of the
pupils could investigate.
From the Children's rights online resource
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