Primary

Rachel's story is a non-fiction first person text describing the difficulties of life without access to clean safe water. The activity involves summarising the content of the passage or text, identifying the most important elements and rewording them in a limited number of words (NLS Y4 Term 3). Through the activity children can realise the importance of access to safe clean water and appreciate that many in the world do not have such access. This can encourage empathy towards others and a sense of indignation at social inequality and injustice.

This activity focuses around an imaginary discussion between a tobacco plantation manager and a mother in Tanzania. The children use the text to summarise fairly the competing views and write a balanced report on a controversial issue (NLS Y6 Term 2). Through the activity children can develop an understanding of the causes and effects of social injustice and the impact international trade in commodities may have on producer countries.

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, the text: an imaginary conversation between a tobacco manager and a mother and detailed teachers' activity notes including a suggested discussion genre framework for writing.

'Akasuwa's story' features a non-fiction first person text containing some details about the life of a cocoa farmer in Ghana. The activity involves summarising in writing the content of the passage and identifying the main point it is making (NLS Y3 Term 3). Through the activity children can make a link between the chocolate they eat and cocoa growers in developing countries. They can also begin to understand how purchase choices can impact upon communities in other parts of the world and that Fair trade products can contribute to a better deal for third world producers.

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, 'Akasuwas's story' - the non fiction text and detailed teachers' activity notes.

Two activities based around short quotes about Fairtrade. The first activity involves sentence level work where the quotes are investigated in terms of word order: to examine to what extent words can be changed or deleted whilst still retaining meaning (NLS Y5 Term 1). The second activity involves drafting and writing a letter demonstrating support for Fairtrade (NLS Y5 Term 3). Through the activity the children can learn about the benefits of Fairtrade to Third World producers and how to take positive actions which help ensure greater social justice.

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, the series of quotes on which the activities are based and detailed teachers' activity notes.

This activity alerts children to the exaggerated claims often made in car advertisements. They have an opportunity to evaluate adverts for their impact, appeal and honesty (NLS Year 4 Term 3). They are then asked to write a one-minute radio advertisement for Friends of the Earth putting across the other side of the story on cars.

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, pupils' information sheet to help in writing a radio advert and detailed teachers' activity notes.

The Changing City is a text which explores the changes that have taken place in Cairo during the lifetime of Rabbab's grandmother. The text particularly focuses on the impact changes in transport have had on the city. Using the text to fillet relevant information (NLS Year 5 Term 3) children are able to use it as a basis for examining the consequences of and solutions to traffic and transport problems in their own local community. The activity links strongly with the Year 5 Geography unit on whether the High Street should be closed to traffic.

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, The Changing City - the non-fiction text and detailed teachers' activity notes

Download: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, Divine advert and comments and claims made by the Day Chocolate Company (producers of Divine) and detailed teachers' activity notes including questions to pose and suggested responses.

A poem entitled 'I was hungry' is used to analyse how messages, moods, feelings and attitudes are conveyed in poetry (NLS Y6 Term 2). A suggested follow up writing activity is also suggested where children write a poem of similar structure, language patterns and literacy devices to convey a message about a global, social or environmental issue. The activity can encourage children to think critically about the causes and effects of inequality and social injustice.

Download, Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, the poem 'I was hungry' detailed teachers' activity notes including questions to raise in analysing the poem.

Children critically evaluate a news article by a BBC journalist reporting the ban on polythene bags in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The text is evaluated for the construction of arguments and persuasive examples (NLS Y6). Children are then asked to construct effective arguments for such a ban in the UK. They use these arguments to design a leaflet that tries to persuade people to support such a ban and use alternatives to polythene bags. They are also asked to consider who would object to such a ban and why and develop counter arguments that could be used against such objectors.

Download includes: Literacy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, non-fiction news story text: The great poly-bag ban, children's writing task instructions and detailed teachers' activity notes.

An investigation of infant mortality rates in different countries is used as a basis for applying the multiplication and division of numbers by 10 or 100 to a real life context. The activity also involves decimal numbers created through division by ten and rounding up to the nearest whole number (NNS Year 6). Through this activity children can learn of the huge differences in infant mortality rates between Northern and Southern countries and the significance of access, or lack of it, to safe clean water in these differences.

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, suggested children's work sheet and detailed teacher's activity notes.

The activity applies the three times table to solving a real life problem (NNS Y3). The children are asked to consider how they would divide the money raised from the sale of a 12 piece chocolate bar between three groups involved in the making and trading of the bar: the cocoa growers, the chocolate factory and the retailer. The activity can help children identify unfairness in the trading system and understand how little Third world producers receive for their work.

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, suggested children's worksheet, suggestions of how to simplify or extend the activity and detailed teacher's activity notes.

The Trade Game, which has been effectively used in many guises, is here adapted to investigate the perimeter and area of rectangles (NNS Y5). The activity clearly demonstrates the injustice of trading relationships and the inequality between rich and poor countries; the game encourages group work skills and co-operation.

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, detailed teacher's activity notes, full rules for the Trade Game and list of required resources.

Children are asked to design a questionnaire to obtain information on how they and their colleagues travel to school, the problems they encounter travelling to school and whether they travel to school they way they want to. This provides an opportunity for children to learn about the dangers and problems associated with our car-dominated society. The activity enables children to apply their numeracy skills and knowledge through solving a problem by collecting, organising, representing and interpreting data (NNS Y4).

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, children's questionnaire planner worksheet and detailed teachers' activity notes.

Children have an opportunity to extract and interpret real life data presented in the form of pie charts (NNS Year 6). The data from a real London primary school compare how children would like to travel to school with how they actually do travel to school. This raises issues for discussion such as the health benefits of walking and cycling but the dangers faced by children who do so and the contribution of transport to local and global pollution and environmental problems. Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, pie chart data for children to interpret together with pupil's question sheet and detailed teachers' activity notes.

The activity enables children to consolidate and apply calculations to problem solving in a real life context by examining the stages involved in the growing and transporting of bananas (NNS Y4). The activity enables children to understand the different processes and people involved in providing a common food and to begin to appreciate the inequality and injustice of the current world trading system.

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, suggested children's worksheet and detailed teacher's activity notes.

Download: Numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, suggested children's worksheet and idea for extension activity and detailed teacher's activity notes.

Children explore the quantity and type of waste created in their classroom over a week which can lead to the development of a Waste Reduction Action Plan. The activity enables children to apply handling data skills of collecting, organising, representing and interpreting data in tables, charts and graphs to real life meaningful contexts (NNS Y4). Applications that can make a real difference to the future environmental performance of the school and benefit the wider environment.

Download includes: numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, children's worksheet and detailed teachers' activity notes.

This activity compares the make up our dustbins over the last 70 years and how this has changed due to technological advances and increasing levels of consumer income. Children compare the percentages of different materials that created rubbish in the 1930's, 1960's and 1990's and explore reasons for the changes between the three periods. They interpret data from a chart and calculate simple percentages (NNS Y5). The activity should help children understand the changing nature of problems created by waste and explore how current problems can be lessened through reduction, reusing and recycling.

Download: numeracy learning objectives, global citizenship learning objectives, children's worksheet and detailed teachers' activity notes.