The lives of refugees are very challenging; in searching for safety, they must leave their belongings behind. Holiday Bag or Get-Away Bag provides an opportunity for elementary students to understand the impact that fleeing from a desperate situation would have on someone's life and to empathize with situations that others find themselves in. Working in small groups, students pack two imaginary suitcases, one for a holiday and the other to get away. Students are asked to share what they have packed and justify their choices. Through classroom discussions, students learn about the difficult decisions which have to be made when packing a suitcase to leave home, not knowing if they will ever return. Classroom discussions introduce students to the importance of birth certificates, school certificates and vaccination cards and the impact on their lives if having to flee tomorrow. As a closing activity, students are given a suitcase template and cut out images from newspapers and magazines to represent their new choices.
The classroom discussions with the students in this lesson need to be handled sensitively and with consideration given to students’ backgrounds and experiences. Teachers will want to make the classroom a ‘safe’ place for the students to share their ideas and even experiences. Some students may want to be excused from certain discussions and this should be respected.
The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Consideration of Alternative Perspectives | Good | Students are encouraged to draw their own conclusions based on the information they receive during the classroom discussions. Students are not influenced to any particular point of view. |
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
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Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions | Satisfactory | The resource focuses its attention on the social justice aspect of the issue. Teacher could address the environmental and economic dimensions during classroom discussions. |
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions: Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.
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Respects Complexity | Satisfactory | Crises and conflicts force people to leave their homes, villages and towns to seek shelter in other areas - often outside their home country. There are many reasons for this: poverty, injustice and discrimination based on disability, gender, ethnic or social background are among the most common reasons. However, wars and prolonged crises and conflicts are also a huge factor. The resource provides a teacher's introduction to the current issues surrounding migration. |
Respects Complexity: The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected. | ||
Acting on Learning | Satisfactory | The resource provides a few suggestions to take action through an extend the learning section. |
Acting on Learning: Learning moves from understanding issues to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community, or for the planet
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Values Education | Good | Students are given the opportunity to justify their choices. |
Values Education: Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values. | ||
Empathy & Respect for Humans | Very Good | This age appropriate lesson plan encourages students to understand the impact that fleeing from a desperate situation would have on someone's life and to empathize with situations that others find themselves in. |
Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.). | ||
Personal Affinity with Earth | Poor/Not considered | Not considered in this resource |
Personal Affinity with Earth: Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.
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Locally-Focused Learning | Good | The refugee issue is a current, global issue. Students participate in an imaginary scenario of having to pack a bag as if they have to flee tomorrow. |
Locally-Focused Learning: Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community.
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Past, Present & Future | Good | The lesson plan introduces students to the current global issue of refugees fleeing their countries while classroom discussions bring up the issue about the impact this would have on their future lives. |
Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future. |
Principle | Rating | Explanation |
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Open-Ended Instruction | Very Good | Different points of view are encouraged, there are no correct answers. |
Open-Ended Instruction
: Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer. | ||
Integrated Learning | Poor/Not considered |
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Integrated Learning: Learning brings together content and skills from more than one subject area
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Inquiry Learning | Satisfactory | The question is teacher directed but students arrive at their own solution. |
Inquiry Learning: Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.
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Differentiated Instruction | Poor/Not considered | |
Differentiated Instruction: Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.
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Experiential Learning | Good | Students participate in a simulation activity based on a current global issue which is designed to reflect a real situation. |
Experiential Learning: Authentic learning experiences are provided
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Cooperative Learning | Satisfactory | Students are given the opportunity to work in groups. |
Cooperative Learning: Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.
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Assessment & Evaluation | Satisfactory | Students understanding of the issue can be determined during classroom discussions. No assessment tools are provided. |
Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc. | ||
Peer Teaching | Poor/Not considered | |
Peer Teaching: Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.
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Case Studies | Good | The teacher's introduction to current migration issues provides relevant data which could be shared with older students. |
Case Studies: Relevant case studies are included. Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore concepts in an authentic context. | ||
Locus of Control | Satisfactory | The resource provides a Taking Action section with links to websites and suggestions to take part in projects. |
Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue. |