REMEMBERING: ACTIVITY ‘B’ (Instructions)
REMEMBERING: ACTIVITY ‘B’ (Instructions)
Remembering B Entire Activity
CURRICULUM LINKS
Citizenship (KS3) / (KS4)
THEMES (Activities ‘A’ and ‘B’)
Remembering conflict
Commemoration and community
The reality and impact of being involved in conflict
Reconciliation, forgiveness, understanding and equality
SKILLS (Activities ‘A’ and ‘B’)
Debating issues
Decision making
Planning an event
GOALS
Activity A
Students will understand the importance of ‘remembering’ to people who were alive during the Second World War, and will be able to identify many different forms of commemoration. The selected extracts will raise awareness of the variety and extent of remembering and will highlight related issues like reconciliation, friendship and community.
Activity B
Students should appreciate the relevance of historical events to our lives today, at home in the UK and internationally. Students may be surprised or inspired by veterans’ messages for young people, and the activity may challenge preconceived ideas about older people.
RESOURCES
For activity ‘B’ you will need to download the following resources (available to download separately or as part of the entire activity):
BACKGROUND:
- Remembering Setting the Scene
- Remembering Who What and How
PART ONE (of Options One and Two):
- Reality of war
- Messages for young people
OPTION ONE (Making a commemorative display)
- Commemoration in pictures
OPTION TWO (Planning a commemorative event)
- Ideas for the future
- Partnership Guidelines for Schools and Young People
DESCRIPTION
In this activity students are encouraged to consider how they would like wartime events to be commemorated, now and in the future. Option One is to create a commemorative wall display for the classroom, school hall or another community venue, using quotes from Second World War veterans about what the war meant for them.
Option Two is to plan a commemorative event to take place in the local community. This could be a theoretical exercise, in which case individual students can design their own plans, or a real event in which case the class should work together to organise the event. Students may like to invite local veterans to participate in or help with the event.
PREPARATION
Print the ‘Reality of war’ and ‘Messages for young people’ documents, and cut them up to separate the quotes, so each quote can be given to a student to read out. It is a good idea to print them on different coloured pieces of paper / card so they don’t become mixed up.
Some of the extracts used in this activity include material of an upsetting nature. It may be necessary to check your school’s SEN register for any students who have suffered bereavement, or students who may be particularly upset by the topic of warfare.
N.B: If you have not carried out ‘Remembering: Activity A’ with the class, print and photocopy ‘Remembering Setting the Scene’ and ‘Remembering Who What and How’ (enough for one per student) for the class to read as background material for the activities that follow.
PART ONE
1. Before you start, introduce the serious themes of the lesson.
2. Hand out the ‘Reality of war’ quotes that you have prepared before the lesson, one to each student (there may not be enough to go around but other students can read further quotes out later on). Ask the students to take it in turns to read out each quote to the class. The purpose of this exercise is to ensure that students understand the magnitude of the topic of commemoration in the light of the worst that can happen in wartime.
3. Lead a brief class discussion about the topics related to commemoration, in the light of what is being remembered and why it is important to continue to remember wartime events. This may be a good opportunity to bring in issues such as conflict resolution, peace keeping, international cooperation and what we can do to promote peace as part of community groups within society, and as individuals.
4. Hand out the ‘Messages for young people’ quotes that you have prepared before the lesson, one to each student. Ask students to take it in turns to read out each quote to the class. The quotes are taken from Heroes Return veterans’ questionnaires, from a section specifically asking veterans to write a message for young people today based either on their wartime or commemorative visit experiences.
5. When all of the quotes have been read out, ask the class if they are surprised, inspired or encouraged by what any of the veterans say. Lead a brief discussion about the quotes, encouraging students to express their own opinions and reactions before going on to the activities in one of the following two options.
OPTION ONE - Making a commemorative display
Using the ‘Messages for young people’, ‘Commemoration in pictures’ and any other materials or resources relating to the themes of commemoration and remembrance, create a wall display for the classroom, school hall or another community setting. This activity could be done in small groups or as a whole class with different groups or individuals working on different aspects of the display. The final design should reflect the messages that the students think are most important from their own exploration of the themes. Alternatively, students could also use the ‘Reality of war’ quotes to create two complimentary displays, one about the negative impacts of conflict and one about reflection, memory, learning from life, and the healing affects of time.
OPTION TWO - Planning a commemorative event
Plan a commemorative event, activity or project to take place at school or in the local community. This activity can be carried out as a whole class, or if it is to be a theoretical exercise only, in groups or as individuals. If the class is working together to plan an event, ask the students to identify the different tasks that they think need organising, and form a committee or planning group to oversee the work. Use the ‘Ideas for the future’ document to inspire your students. It contains observations from Second World War veterans about how commemoration could be carried out differently in the future.
The event might be a ‘one-off’ or a new annual occurrence, and could take any form including intergenerational learning activities, traditional Remembrance-style commemorations or a creative, innovative event. If veterans are to be involved, guidance on working with veterans can be found in Partnership Guidelines for Schools and Young People.
ACTVITY EXTENSION
Try to establish your commemorative event as an annual activity with student participation. Make links with local veterans of the Second World War or subsequent conflicts, as part of your Citizenship activities. Carry out intergenerational activities such as interviewing veterans about their wartime experiences, and build these into a permanent record such as a book, or school or community archive. Ask your local museum, library or archive to advise on and participate in your project.
SUMMARY
There are many different ways to commemorate wartime events
Conflict has a long-term affect on people’s lives, for better or worse
People learn from experience and can pass those lessons on to others
Young people have an important role in the future of commemoration
Local communities are an important setting for commemorative events
Other website resources
Battle of Arnhem commemorative website
http://www.arnhem1944.com
Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
http://www.cwgc.org
Normandie Memoire - Normandy’s 60th anniversary D-Day commemorations website (English version available)
http://www.normandiememoire.com
The Royal British Legion website
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk
Veterans Affairs Canada website
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca
