In the maths activities for the anniversary of Comic Relief you will have introduced the children to the idea of how money is allocated to different causes. In these English activities you’ll get the children to think in more depth about where money should be allocated and get them to decide based on different reasons where they would allocate funds.
Activity One – Persuasive writing
In this activity, the children will find out more about the different problems faced by children across the world and what is being done to help them. They’ll then use the information they have found to decide for themselves where the money raised by Comic Relief should be spent and write a persuasive letter to the charity organisers referring to their research in doing so.
Year 4 to Year 6
LO: To be able to find and evaluate information for accuracy and relevance
To be able to write persuasively referring to information they have found
Talking Point: If you’ve ordered a Red Nose Day pack from www.rednoseday.com you’ll find that the information details some of the causes that are helped by the money you raise. Talk to the children about the case studies included and discuss the value of contributing to alleviate the suffering in those cases. Look at the website for more examples.
Activity: Ask the children to find out for themselves why other children suffer unnecessarily in different countries of the world. If they haven’t already done the maths activities then you may need to direct them towards:
• child labour, especially for clothing
• child soldiers
• orphans
• children who suffer from HIV/AIDS because of their parents
• homelessness
• famine
Ask them to report their findings back to the class and to decide on a cause that touches them. Ask them then to do further research on their chosen topic and collect images and statistics on the way. Finally, they should write a letter to Comic Relief persuading them to direct funds towards the need they’ve identified, referring to information they’ve found out.
Activity Two:
Years 5 and 6
LO: To use aspects of different media to persuade
To produce and narrate a presentation in PowerPoint
Talking Point: Get the children to watch one or two of the Comic Relief or Children in Need videos where celebrities present on location from places where children suffer. A good one is Simon Cowell’s report from Africa found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkggK8DWpYo Ask them to look out for the language used in the video, including body language, the images and any incidental material such as music and statistics. Afterwards ask them to tell you whether they found the video persuasive and for what reason.
Now ask the children to use the images and statistics they’ve collected to produce a persuasive PowerPoint presentation. Once they’re happy with the presentation itself, get them to narrate it using similar styles and tone to those used by the celebrities in the Comic Relief and Children in Need videos. If you have time and the facilities, you could use video for the exercise.
Again, on Red Nose Day, the children’s work could be put on a continuous loop for parents to watch.
