Campaigning from the classroom: Change It!
By Tom Keene, KS2 teacher at Fairfield Community School
“Having tried other projects from A Tale Unfolds and knowing how effective they are, I was naturally very keen to try one of their newer resources #ChangeIt. This unit of work, supported by Change.Org, is based around writing a persuasive letter and creating an online campaign over the course of 10 lessons in order to promote support to help resolve a world issue.
Having already had children mention their fascination with David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II, as well as their sadness in seeing the sheer amount of plastic pollution on the ocean, meant that choosing the #strawssuck campaign as our project focus was a no-brainer for my Year 4 class.
From the moment they were introduced to Lucy Gavaghan’s successful petition to Tesco, the whole class were engaged having been empowered with the notion that despite their age, they could effect a change to make the world a better place. One of the many positives of using the resources from A Tale Unfolds is that there is always a true audience. This means that children become naturally inspired to write; in particular those children who have previously been more reticent and had not enjoyed ‘traditional literacy’.
Whilst some teachers may restrain from using technology in the classroom, (perhaps due to feeling it will be onerous or the perception that it requires a wealth of technical ability) it is clear that it helps to have a positive impact in terms of ensuring progress in children’s writing. The filming required for the project is minimal yet incredibly effective in both conveying the children’s written work and message while providing yet another reason to write.
Come the end of our project, the children had produced a wonderful group online campaign, individual persuasive letters and a class video; all of which they felt incredibly proud of. But perhaps most important of all, the children had become more socially conscious and aware that they can and will make a difference to their world.
I can only imagine how empowered they felt when their letters and campaign petitions and videos were completed. But, from the smiles on their faces and the quality of discussion we had along the way, I do know that they are capable of producing great writing on a difficult issue which they have now taken to heart.”
Tom Keene is a Year 4 teacher from Fairfield Community Primary School in Leicester. Find out more about the Key Stage 2 project, Change It, at www.ataleunfolds.co.uk
