APPENDIX XXVIII

Global Connections: Using Literature as a Springboard

Curriculum Outcomes Addressed:

3.2.1  appreciate elements of global citizenship:

·  recognize how their actions might affect people elsewhere in the world and how the actions of others might affect them (C, GC)

·  respect the equality of all human beings (C, GC, I)

3.2.2  explore the concept of global citizenship by reflecting upon the following questions for inquiry:

·  How are the rights, responsibilities and roles of citizens in communities around the world the same or different than those of Canadian citizens? (C, GC)

·  In what ways can individuals and groups contribute to positive change in the world? (C, GC, PADM)

·  How do international organizations support communities in need throughout the world (e.g., UNICEF, Red Cross, Development and Peace)? (C, GC)

·  What are examples of international organizations formed by individuals (e.g., Free the Children, Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders))? (C, GC)

·  What are examples of international organizations formed by nations (e.g., UN)? (C, GC, PADM)

Some Children’s Literature to Use to Support the Global Connections Strand:

·  Cooney, Barbara. Miss Rumphius, 1994, 0140505393. This is a book about what one person does to “make the world more beautiful.” Great Aunt Alice has lived a full life, but it is her twilight years, when she plants flowers throughout the countryside where she lives, that she finds most fulfilling. Cooney’s paintings for the book certainly do their bit to “make the world more beautiful.” A book to be read and re-read.

·  D’Adamo, Francesco. Iqbal. 2001, 1416903291. The true story of a young boy who is chained to a loom in a carpet factory, making carpets that sell for huge amounts of money and earning nothing himself. Iqbal rebels against the system and works to end the abuse. A great book to start discussion in your classroom about child workers and slavery. This is the story that inspired Craig Kielberger.

·  Kellogg, Steven. Johnny Appleseed. 1988, 0688064183. A lively revisiting of the American legend about John Chapman who traveled the frontier in the 1700’s casting good cheer as he went along.

·  Kielberger, Craig (with Kevin Major), Free the Children. 1998, 0771045921. When he was twelve, a Canadian boy, Craig Kiellberger, began an organization called Free the Children to work towards the abolition of child labour. He traveled through Southeast Asia to see children at work and to campaign against the practice. He tells a moving story that encourages all of us, and especially young people, to become involved in stopping the exploitation of children. Written for older children, but it tells an important story. Read parts aloud.

·  Kielburger, Marc and Craig. Take Action! A Guide to Active Citizenship. 2002, 0-7715-8031-2, Gage. From the kid who made it happen, how to get involved in an important issue and make a difference.

·  Life Like Mine: How Children Live Around the World, 2002, 0-7894-8859-0, Dorling Kindersley. This is a large format book with many large, bright photographs on every page to illustrate the lives of children from 17 different countries around the world. The photographs show children in a variety of community activities, and the text further explores the cultural diversity. The contents of the book are organized under four broad areas that pertain to children's needs - Survival, Development, Protection, Participation. Published in association with the United Nations Children's Fund. An excellent resource.

·  Ludy, Mark. The Flower Man: A Wordless Picture Book. 2005, 0966427645. What happens when the flower man steps into a colourless world?

·  Muth, Jon J. The Three Questions, 2002, 0439199964. Based upon the Three Questions, by Leo Tolstoy, the author has simplified and adapted it for younger audiences. His Zen simplicity and watercolour illustrations combine to make the readers ponder while the author's notes fill in the blanks for older readers. Compassion and living in the moment are the theme for a young boy's search for answers he eventually finds within himself.

·  Shores, Erika L. Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Pioneer. 2005, 0736837469. An introduction to the life of Rosa Parks, who helped start the civil rights movement in the US by not giving up her seat on the bus.

·  Smith, David J. If The World Were A Village, 2002, 1550747797. An eye-opening exploration of the "global village." What would happen if we imagined the whole population of the world as a village of just 100 people? In this book we discover the nationalities, languages, ages, religions, food, and educational and living conditions of these villagers. Striking illustrations, notes for teachers and explanations of sources make this book an invaluable classroom resource for global education.

·  White, Linda Arms. I Could Do That. 2005, 0-374-33527-3. I could do that! says six-year-old Esther Morris as she watches her mother making tea for their large family. Start her own business at the age of nineteen? Why, she could do that, too! But one thing Esther and other women could not do was vote. Get the vote for Wyoming women? Become the first woman in the United States to hold public office? "It's time I did that!" Here is the biography of a woman who was clearly ahead of her time.

·  Williams, Mary. Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. 2005, 1584302321. Eight-year-old Garang, orphaned by civil war in Sudan, finds the strength to help lead other boys as they walk hundreds of miles seeking safety in Ethiopia, then Kenya, and finally in the United States.

Students will be able to:

·  Identify international issues pertaining to universal human rights

·  Show empathy with various world conditions pertaining to children

·  Recognize that individuals can make a difference, in fact it is usually individuals that really make the big differences

·  Draw conclusions about global connections and responsibilities

·  Predict possible future initiatives

·  Consider personal or community actions that might make a difference

·  Relate global issues to current events

·  Ask questions and investigate ways they might help make a small difference somewhere in the World

Reading and Using Literature:

Read If The World Were A Village. Select various parts of this book to share with students, having them consider the implications of various conditions, such as not having clean water, or not having enough food, or not having electricity. Have them imagine what their lives might be like under such conditions. For example, “If we didn’t have clean water, my family would have to boil the water all the time. It might taste bad. If we couldn’t boil the water, I might often get sick, and I might die if I got very sick.”

Students might work on a table such as the following:

Because we have / Because we don’t have
Electricity… / Electricity…
Clean, safe water… / Clean, safe water…
Adequate food… / Adequate food…

Read Miss Rumphius. Read this lovely story aloud, gathering the students closely around you so they can see the pictures. Ask questions about the story to enhance student understanding.

Examples:

·  What three things did Miss Rumphius do?

(She traveled faraway, she lived by the sea, she made the world more beautiful)

·  How old is Miss Rumphius in the beginning? At the end of the story?

(A child, then a very old lady)

·  This story shows her trip through life. What kind of story might we call it?

(Journey, Life cycle)

·  In what way is the end like the beginning?

(There is a little girl thinking about her life which is all ahead of her.)

·  What goal or desire is the same for each of the three generations (Grandfather, Miss Rumphius, the narrator) depicted?

(The desire to grow up to make the world more beautiful)

·  How does Miss Rumphius make the world more beautiful?

(She plants beautiful lupines everywhere.)

·  What might you do to make the world more beautiful?

Compare Stories:

Students would enjoy comparing Miss Rumphius with Johnny Appleseed. (There are many versions of Johnny Appleseed.)

Read I Could Do That. List the changes that Esther Morris achieved because of her willingness to tackle issues that needed attention. Ask if students know of any other individuals that have made a difference in the world. Other stories about individuals that made big differences that the students would enjoy:

·  Rumford, James. Sequoyah

·  Silverman, Erica. Sholom's Treasure: How Sholom Aleichem Became a Writer

·  Koscielniak, Bruce. Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press

·  Rappaport, Doreen. Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

·  Biographies and stories about people such as Mother Teresa, Terry Fox, Ruby Bridges, Ghandi

Read Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Have students

·  Tell the story in their own words.

·  Locate the countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya on a map of Africa. Note their proximity to Tunisia.

·  Describe the differences made by Tom in the lives of the boys.

Describe to students the author’s initiative to establish the Lost Boys Foundation and check its website at: http://thelbf.org/

Bring in Current Events:

Have students talk about the three recent, huge natural disasters that have captured world attention and required massive aid.

·  The December tsunami in Southeast Asia

·  Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans

·  The October earthquake in Pakistan

Ask students to tell about any initiatives they know about that have been undertaken to help the victims of these disasters. Identify agencies that have sent help.

Read aloud the novel Iqbal.

Have students discuss the events in the story and make sure they know that this is a true story. Help them understand the motivations behind child labour. At the end of the story, Iqbal is murdered. Help students understand who could have done such a thing and why. Have students discuss the rights of children, and how these rights were taken from the children in the story. List the rights that the children were denied. Compare this story with the story of the Lost Boys. A T-table or a Venn diagram might be used for this.

Talk to the students about the UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UNICEF web site contains information about the convention, its history and role, and what people can do to help: http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm. Some UNICEF initiatives you might want to discuss with students:

·  In Kiev (Ukraine), a project to transform the state child care system is pushing for a shift in policy that will support foster family care for orphaned children instead of institutionalizing them. The UNICEF-supported project has trained potential foster families and has successfully convinced public officials and other decision makers to draft new national legislation on foster care.

·  In Pakistan, as part of an initiative to combat child labour, UNICEF has forged new partnerships with the public and private sectors, the International Labour Organization, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Save the Children Alliance and other NGOs.

·  In Tunisia, changes were made to child-related legislation even before ratification of the Convention (30 January 1992). Education laws were passed in 1991, for example, mandating education for all 6-to-16-year-olds, and penalizing parents who don't send their children to school.

·  Ukraine is finalizing a new Children's Act that will be their first legal instrument to protect children's rights.

·  Malnutrition in children in Tunisia has been reduced by over 60% in the last 10 years.

·  In areas of India where child labour is particularly intensive, UNICEF helps to set up alternative learning centres in order to help make parents and communities see value in sending their children to school rather than to work.

Encourage the students to ask questions and investigate ways they might help make a small difference in the World.

Other Relevant Websites:

Free the Children: http://www.freethechildren.org/index.php

Free The Children is the largest network of children helping children through education in the world. Through this organization's unique youth-driven approach, more than one million young people have been involved in innovative programs in more than 45 countries. Founded by international child rights activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children has an established track record of success, with three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and partnerships with the United Nations and Oprah's Angel Network.

Iqbal Masih: http://www.childrensworld.org/engiqbal/index.asp

Iqbal Masih was a bonded-debt-slave in Pakistan and one of 250 million working children in the world. Today, he is a symbol throughout the world for the fight against child labour. In the year 2000, the first The World's Children's Prize, was awarded posthumously to Iqbal. Visit this site for Iqbal’s story, pictures, video clips, success stories, and much more. This site is accessible and readable by grade 3 level students.

Use Take Action! A Guide to Active Citizenship:

An activity that students might like to undertake is fund-raising in order to give a donation to an organization dedicated to helping children. This book contains many suggestions for social issues that students could tackle. Check out page 69 for “Top to Crazy Fundraisers Guaranteed to Work.” There is also another list of “101 Fundraisers” on pg. 70. There are many ideas, strategies, sample letters, gems of advice, and more in this excellent, must-have resource.

Some issues concerning children in Peru, Tunisia, Ukraine and India:

Peru:

·  Many children work in slavery conditions the brick-making industry, which can involve children as young as eight

·  Many children are beggars

·  Many children do not have access to adequate health care

·  Children are very vulnerable and unprotected due to the country’s extreme poverty

Ukraine:

·  Poverty, which is widespread, leads to abandoned babies

·  Children in residential institutions are desperately vulnerable to abuse

·  Many low-income children have poor nutrition and no access to primary health care

·  About 68 per cent of the population consumes non-iodized salt, leading to widespread iodine-deficiency disorders