The right to an education is a right most people in North America take for granted. Compulsory
education has been the norm for many generations. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for many developing
countries. Many children, especially girls, face insurmountable barriers when it comes to attending school.
In this issue........
Universal Primary Education
Girls' Education in India
www.un.org/works/goingon/india/lessonplan_girlseducation.html#Resources
This lesson is part of a series of lessons from the United Nations. It deals with "why, how, and in what conditions
girls are denied access to primary education."
The five sections of the plan lead students through a range of activities from responding to questions about their
own situations to examining the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, to speculating about what could be done to
provide girls with greater access to school. The lesson draws to a close by examining the work of non-profit organizations
working with students in developing countries. Unfortunately, unless schools have access to the documentary film What's
Going On, they will not be able to use all parts of this lesson. Please Note: The video is only a small part of this
lesson; the lesson can be used without it.
This lesson would be suitable for students in Social Studies 11, Unit 1: Human Rights, or in Social Studies 11, Unit 4:
Wealth and Poverty.
Curriculum Links and Objectives
Exploring the Progress in Achieved Education
for All Children
www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/classroom/lp_bts3.html
This lesson plan is from Wide Angle, a program from the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the United States. It examines
issues related to "international education." The lesson is well laid out and all required video links are included.
Students begin by examining information from the World Conference on Education for All held in 1990 in Thailand. With the
issues discussed at this conference as background material, students will then look closely at students who are receiving
primary education as a result of this initiative. While examining both the conference and the videos, students are to respond
to a series of questions found on the Student Response Sheet which can be found by clicking the "Preparation" button at the
top of the page.
The lesson concludes with two different culminating activities as well as a series of extensions and community connections.
This lesson would be suitable for students in Social Studies 11, Unit 1: Human Rights.
Curriculum Links and Objectives
Send My Friend To School
www.sendmyfriend.org/teachers/lesson_plans/
This site is part of the organized effort by the Global Campaign for Education in the U.K. to bring pressure on governments
to meet the Millennium Development Goal target of achieving universal primary education. The site contains information about
their current campaign along with a series of lesson plans for students in various grades. For the most part, the lessons are
not much more than a 10-15 minute activities that do not require much preparation.
There are, however, some lessons that are more extensive. For example, Line Up for Human Rights, the Human Rights Bingo,
What's the Fuss About Education, Spot the Difference, and The Mystery of Juliet's Heartache could be used in middle level
classrooms. These lessons should be used as a springboard to further discussions background information for which can be
found by clicking the "Background" button on the site. They could also be used as a group task where assigned students become
familiar with particular lessons which they then "teach" to the others in the class.
Please note: The site is a bit "flaky" and links frequently do not work as they should. Other times they will work perfectly.
Persistence is the key at this site.
These lessons could be used with Social Studies 7, Unit 3: Power, Social Studies 6, Unit 4: Interdependence or Social
Studies 8, Unit 4: Interdependence.
Curriculum Links & Objectives
Teach Your Children Well: Examining the Connection Between Education and Power
www.pbs.org/wnet/wideangle/classroom/2lp2c.html
This is another lesson from the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in the United States. It examines the education
system in both Japan and India.
The lesson plan is very well organized with a good introduction, well written comparisons between Japan and India,
links to more information and images, and a student response sheet (located at the top of the lesson plan, under the
heading "Preparation").
Following the comparisons of educational systems, students are then asked to research on how these systems affect
other aspects of life in the countries. The culminating activity asks students to speculate on the correlation between
education and power. The lesson is very extensive and teachers may which to "pick and choose" the sections they will
use. One suggestion may be to use the introduction as suggested and then to have students draw comparisons between the
educational systems of Japan, India, and Canada. Additional stories and articles would be needed to add Canada to the
mix.
This lesson would be suitable for use in the Educational Patterns section of Social Studies 8, Unit 1: Culture
or Social Studies 7, Unit 3: Power.
Curriculum Links & Objectives
Missing Out on an Education
www.ungei.org/infobycountry/files/SaveChildren_GCE_Lessonplans.pdf
This lesson is from Save the Children in the U.K. It starts by asking students to identify what they would be
doing if they were not in school, had never been in school, or what they would be doing in ten years. Following
that, background information on students in the developing world and the situation with schools is given. The
lesson then moves into case studies and asks students to identify the benefits of an education and to then write
a letter to the editor of their local newspaper and/or to construct a pamphlet outlining education's benefits.
This lesson would be best used in Social Studies 6, Unit 4: Interdependence or Social Studies 8, Unit 4:
Interdependence.
Note: Remember that this lesson is from the U.K. and British terminology is used. For example, construction
paper may be used instead of "sugar paper."
Curriculum Objectives
Evaluation Links
Saskatchewan teachers have been provided support resources for student assessment and evaluation from the provincial ministry of education,
Saskatchewan Learning. Specifically, teachers have been provided with the document Student Evaluation: a Teacher Handbook, in print format.
Chapter 4 on specific student assessment techniques contains a variety of ready-made rubrics, rating scales, checklists, portfolio set-ups
and templates that could be adapted to each task developed in your classroom. This resource is available on-line at:
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/evergreen/policy/studeval/chap4001.html.
The simple templates outlined on this Saskatchewan Learning site, will help you tailor your assessment to match any activity and ensure that
your objectives are being met.
Another source of easily adaptable evaluation material is Discovery School located at
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html.
The site has both subject specific evaluation tools and
evaluation instruments for process oriented tasks. You
will also find rubric builders, portfolio evaluation instruments, graphic
organizer evaluation strategies, etc. all
at this site.
Another rubric generator can be found at
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/. And, for a discussion on the value of using rubrics in
the middle grades, teachers may want to go to http://www.middleweb.com/rubricsHG.html.
