In one of my articles we considered the fact that the levels of General Knowledge for Primary aged children were pretty poor!
So now I am going to ask the question :-
“Do the children in your class know what is happening in the world around them?”
Yes, we can assume that they may pick up little bits of information such as their favourite football team scores or the fact that a celebrity has changed their hair colour – but beyond such trivia ( I assume these are trivia for you!) they have little or no comprehension about world or National events.
Children inhabit their own level of the world where importance and concentration is placed on entirely different areas of focus to those of adults – and this is quite right, we would not wish it any other way. However should the unexplained glimpses that they get of passing events and happenings be simply that – a passing view and then forgotten?
Perhaps it is the case that children don’t have any understanding of world events simply because no-one takes the time to explain these happenings in a simple and easily understood way. I am not saying that children should have everything explained to them, but certainly the major events that they hear and see should, perhaps, be given more relevance.
If you asked the children in your class about anything that has recently happened and for their opinion and thoughts – what sort of answers would you get? In fact would you get any answers at all apart from “I saw some pictures on the news”…”it was on my dads newspaper.”
It was from this nil base that I decided with my class (Y4) to set aside a 20 minute session each week to look at what was happening in the world and to discuss what it meant and what we thought – if the time ran over slightly then I let it – and you know; many times it did!
It didn’t take a lot of planning and it was easy to “teach” although teach is probably the wrong word.
I bought a newspaper every day to read in the staffroom at lunchtime (staff horoscopes were always a highlight!) simply noting what were the main headlines and kept the Newspapers that we could use in our weekly session.
But is always had to be the major events from either around the world or here in the UK – I wanted to draw the children’s attention to events that they would see on the news or hear about through other means. In this way they had an insight (albeit simplified) and would feel some form of understanding and ownership of the facts.
Can we justify the time spent doing this?
Instantly I can say yes – not only from an informative and empowering point of view for the children but from an educational aspect the features of carrying out something like this are enormous – you can make your own list but here’s a few starters…
- Speaking and listening
- Formulating a point of view
- Discussion
- Empathy
- Respecting others opinion
- Literacy work on Reported events and headlines etc etc
The list is virtually never ending and all contained in a short 20 – 30 minute session.
So what did we do?
I can’t say that we pushed back the frontiers of education! I kept things very simple. There was to be no written work; it was just review and discussion.
- The children were allowed to change places so long as it didn’t affect our session (chatting / behaviour etc) and it was also ok if they wanted to sit on the desks …in other words we formed a closer group with a relaxed seating arrangement.
- If your class is a younger age group or you have the room in an older age class then you could sit in a group on the floor.
- Guided by me we looked at the headlines from that week and I gave a brief sentence as to what it was about.
- We then decided to look in more detail at one or two of them (again guided by me) – asking first what everyone thought it was about and then reading a little of the article in the paper.
- I only ever used newspapers – even when it was possible to see things on the screen / internet. I think just the fact of seeing and handling the paper gave it a greater reality than could be gained from the class screen (which of course is used every day for almost everything)
- However possibly the best online site if you wished to use one would be CBBC Newsround http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround
The key to all of this is in YOUR selection of which articles to choose for your class and age group and also your interpretation of the facts when you present the article. It is critical how you present the facts to the children in order to get the initial understanding which ALLOWS the children to start to express their opinion and feelings about that article and news.
As the teacher you then need to skilfully use your questioning techniques to guide the conversation and discussions which will build as both the understanding of the topic and the childs’ confidence increase. Remember there are no wrong answers in this only our opinions.
One or two main headlines are enough for each session and only you can judge things as to how the discussions are going. To finish I would also throw in an amusing story or an aaaahhhh story (often about animals!)
If you’ve never given this any thought then it certainly is worth considering – it takes a few weeks for the children to get the hang of things and I always asked them to news spot for headlines when the TV is on. You will be surprised how many comments you get from Parents about things their children have said or even asked to watch the news!
So give it a try – it covers so many educational areas, is a fantastic activity to share with the children in a relaxed atmosphere and is great fun at the same time.