Mary Brown Diehl, Elementary teacher, Providence Spring Elementary School
(Unit PDF)
Abstract
In this unit, I provide ways for my students to study different children who experience war, conflict, violence. I guide my students to understand basic needs of all children and what happens if these needs are not met. I help them see ways to understand issues from more than just their own perspective.
My goal is for my children to connect with others enduring strife in the world and to understand that the disagreements and battles have similarities with their own. Even if on a much smaller scale, their own controversies injure and hurt. It is my hope that while my students learn about other children around the world and across history, that they also learn about themselves. With the overarching theme of the similarity of children everywhere, my unit demonstrates that children share common needs and have many common reactions to problems. My students discover how similar their needs and difficulties are to those of children around the world and across history. They connect with the lives and experiences of others, thereby increasing their awareness of others and of themselves. “Why do children fight?” is a question that impacts every child.
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