Key Stages 2 and3 – English/geography case study 6: Stories from Haiti

Activity summary / Global learning opportunities / Curriculum links
This unit uses the resource ‘Stories fromHaiti’ for Key Stage 2 or Key Stage 3 produced by Oxfam and NATE, focused on the earthquake of January 2010.
Both Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 resources include detailed lesson and activity plans, activity sheets and teachers’ notes. Some of the suggestions below for development may help to:
●deal with issues of poverty and development
●compare the social justice and charitable dimensions of development assistance. / GLP-E themes:
●developing countries
●interdependence
●enquiry and critical thinking / English
This resource gives pupils opportunities to develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills through exploring stories linked to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, including:
●reading, analysing and interpreting a wide variety of texts, including poetry and personal stories
●exploring ideas, developing vocabulary and participating in presentations, structured discussion and role play
●writing clearly and accurately for a range of audiences and purposes. / Geography
Key Stage 2
Locational knowledge: use maps tofocus on… North and South America.
Physical geography: earthquakes
Skills: use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied.
Key Stage 3
Locational knowledge: extend their knowledge of the world’s countries
Physical geography: plate tectonics
Human geography: international development
Skills: build on their knowledge ofglobes, maps and atlases, apply this knowledge in the classroom, and use GIS to view, analyse and interpret places and data.
Development
You could develop further work in geography, including by:
●developing pupils’ spatial skills, locational knowledge and understanding of Haiti, using Google Earth to investigate the places mentioned in the slides/stories/information text, e.g. identifying the location of displaced persons camps. Pupils could use the Google Earth historical image slider to compare a locality such as Carrefour Feuilles in 2009 and 2010.
●using images from the slides in the resource used for the working wall activity, and locate these around a map or satellite image of Port-au-Prince
●using Google Earth to find different types of landscape, such as camps, earthquake-damaged (e.g. at Pacot) or less damaged areas (e.g. at Babiole). Older pupils might identify and compare wealthy in contrast to poorer neighbourhoods, or rural in contrast to urban landscapes.
●developing geographical understanding of the distribution, causes and impact of earthquakes, and people’s responses, using additional sources such as CBBC’s webpage,National Geographic’s earthquake 101 video, the USGeological Surveymap of today’s earthquakes. Older pupils might investigate this BBC earthquake animation or US Geological Survey poster of Haiti earthquakes, or perhaps compare the Haiti event with a more recent earthquake using this BBCsite.
●extending the range of images used, for example using the US Geological Survey Haiti Photo-gallery, part of its Earthquakes for Kids site
●comparing how people rebuilt their lives after the earthquake and the role of aid agencies in development, using the more detailed stories on the Haiti Case Studies DERC site.
You could develop further work in history, including by:
●investigating Haiti’s rebellion from slavery and struggle for independence, perhaps using these US resources designed for Black History Month.
You could develop work in religious education (RE), including:
●focusing on charity in contrast to social justice, perhaps investigating the work of NGOs through country programmes (e.g. Oxfam’s), or linking with REKey Stage 2 Resource 1:Can Christian Aid and Islamic Relief change the world?, or RE Key Stage 3 Resource 2: Are British people using their charity spending wisely?.
Critical thinking opportunities include:
●asking and responding to a range of questions, as part of an investigation
●explaining, reasoning and thinking about evidence, for example the sources of information, including the Oxfam material
●looking for hidden meanings or perspectives, for example from groups unrepresented in a discussion or issue
●expressing a point of view, and understanding that people have different points of view.

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