International Day of Peace Classroom Materials

The Center for Cooperative Principals have created a useful education resource packet for the upcoming International Day of Peace on September 21, 2015. Something I found helpful for those of us who are a little newer to peace education, was the detailed discussion about creating a culture of peace and educating toward that. It is one thing to have personal convictions about peace, and quite another to know how to talk about it in a educative manner. Following that great info are various activity suggestions for various aged students, many of which would be easily adapted for a language classroom, and a plethora of useful links for help in creating a culture of peace in the classroom. Take note that this resource does not include any discussion of religious responses to the need for peace, so those of us who at liberty to do so could add in this angle into our lessons to make the picture more complete.

In addition to this great resource, check out the following links for more ideas of activities and resources to use with your students:

• A Day After Peace, the full documentary about Jeremy Gilley, the actor /filmmaker and found of Peace One Day, who was a big part of the movement to promote International Day of Peace, or the shortened version of the documentary. The film is a little “entertain-y,” with quite a bit of focus on Jeremy Gilley himself. as well as celebrity and corporate endorsers of the day, but an interesting look nonetheless at the realities of the struggle for creating a space for peace in more than an individual-to-individual scale and also raises important questions about the ethical questions that come into play when trying to get as many people on board a global movement as possible, as well as the time and effort commitment involved.
• Sign up for free peace education resources provided by Peace One Day, available in the 6 official languages of the United Nations (English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Mandarin, French). Resources are available, as well as projects to join in with, like Friend Our World, connecting classrooms through online friendship building games.
• Poetry for Peace contest sponsored by the United Nation.
• A page with links to other resources, including some lesson plans for grades 3-12
• A complete intermediate/advanced ELL lesson on the general idea of Peace, touching on listening, reading, writing, and speaking, complete with homework suggestions.