[LM_NET] HIT: New take on disasters unit (Yr 5/6)

[Barbara Braxton <barbara.288@BIGPOND.COM>]

Thank you for all your excellent suggestions - I knew this was the right
group to tap into for some fresh ideas.  

 

This seems to be a popular topic so I have copied the suggestions below for
all to share. Where ideas were similar, I have combined these.  I've sent it
in html to maintain the formatting so I hope it doesn't become gobbledygook.
If it does, let me know and I'll paste it into Word and send you an
attachment.

 

Before I decide just which I will do, I need to consult with the teacher to
determine what her intended outcomes are so we are working in harmony on
both process and product.

 

Barbara

 

1.    a gov't official making a public service announcement

2.    a first person narrative about it--from the point of view of the
disaster?  Ex:  "I was born when the continental plates at longitude ____
and latitude ___ shifted, and hot magma burst out of the old quiet volcano
know as_______.  I poured out for _____destroying_______ for ____days and
nights." or  "Like other tornadoes, I came about quickly during a spring
storm in (place) on (date).  I destroyed everything in my path including
________ for a distance of _____."

3.    Present their info in a graphic organizer-

4.    Create a class  wiki

5.    Use photos and text in a program like photostory to tell the story of
the disaster form a human onlooker who was spared its destruction.

6.    Write a newscast that tells about it and podcast or video it.

7.    Write a song or a poem about it.  

8.    Send out a Twitter stream (in sections of 140 characters only) of what
was happening as if they were a victim of the disaster.

9.    Student decides on the disaster, then reports on it from the point of
view of an object or other life form.  Example - a tree in the path of lava
flow or ash fall from a volcano.  "Tree" describes setting before event,
maybe hears rumbling (still going with volcano), feels some bumps, noise of
eruption, heat, etc

10. Be scientists and predict where the next one will occur, due to the
facts?

11. Have half the class think of it from the victim/survivor's point of
view, and half from the rescue community/scientific community.  Maybe have a
timeline, and give them what is happening around them, and then figure out
the causes and consequences

12. Take a 'Decisions, Decisions' approach where everyone needs some common
background information.  Then they have a role to assume in a disaster and
make their case for their fair share of the resources available.  Maybe
arranging for services for evacuees, dealing with wildlife and pets
affected, saving/repairing infrastructure, etc.  Wrap up with some kind of
evaluation.

13. Prepare a power point as if they are the teacher teaching a class to
their peers about a natural disaster

14. What about looking at it from the standpoint of a questions of essential
need?  So you might ask, "what do people need to survive"  then ask "how
does this disaster change the status quo and how do you think they will
act/react?"

15. Try introducing topic through personal disaster/advice column style.
Break students into groups of 3 and I suggest you give them a personal
disaster "letter" from a "reader" that they need to reply to with helpful
advice.  Left on their own, they might get a bit carried away.  Disasters
for 5/6 grades:  "reached into my pocket 3rd hour and discovered my cell
phone I forgot to leave at home...what to do?"    Ask about, I'm sure you'll
find ones more specific to your local.   Give a rubric and require sources
for response, even if only made up.  "As recommended by the principal"...
After this, introduce natural disasters...how they affect natural world,
animals, planet, and people personally.  Have them right an "advice" column
response on how to deal with the situation with real sources.  Again, a
rubric but one more specific & demanding

16. What about writing from the relief worker's perspective?  As a first
time volunteer for the Red Cross or World Health Organization.  You know,
the workers who dish up food and hand out water.

17. How about having them write is in the first person. Or as their pet.
Suggested points ( you can simplify or expand  according to abilities of
grade levels) -What the disaster was -When it occurred -Who they are -Their
family makeup -Their house/apartment before and after -The people (agencies)
who helped them -What has changed in their life  (new house, new city,
people missing from their family, loss of friends,etc)

18. Take a sort of "CSI/forensics" approach to it? The kids could come in
after the disaster, research some of the causes, and the reasons why there
was so much loss of life/property. If you get some that are really advanced,
they could even research ways to prevent disasters of that sort in the
future.

19. What about a time traveller to a N disaster in the past 100 years - the
usual 5 W questions, but also comparing it to a similar (different) in this
C.

20. Students report on a disaster in an imaginary or given location (a
Tsunami striking Sydney, an blizzard blanketing a location in Tasmania)-
they would have to detail how it affected the people and geography of the
area, using what they know about disasters at a higher level

21. Students could write as if they themselves (or their own families) were
the victims of the disaster. They can then  explore what their own reactions
would be and thus have more personal investment in their researching and
writing.

22. Create a  newsletter about being prepared
http://librarianscorner.net/disaster_newsletter.htm 

 

Barbara Braxton

Teacher Librarian

COOMA NSW 2630

barbara.288@bigpond.com

Together, we learn from each other

 


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