The twenty-one lesson plans available here have been developed by certified educators with expertise in global issues and pedagogy, and will comprehensively help classrooms investigate the issue of war-affected children and Canada's role in making a difference. Lessons apply to a range of subject areas and together cover a variety of learning styles and teaching techniques. Each lesson includes all that a teacher needs to plan a good learning experience for youth; most also make use of the wonderful resources in the rest of this project. These are not simplistic 40 minute worksheets, but full activity ideas for helping young people come to a deep understanding of these issues.

01: Get Loud in the Morning! In this activity students hear a brief text noting the morning events of a typical teenager and then hear and see on a map the many ways we are all connected to the rest of the globe. » View this lesson plan

02: All Tied Up: Issues and Projects This activity uses the creation of actual webs by students to illustrate not only the interconnections between the North and South in terms of products and labour, but also in terms of people working for change – in this case War Child Canada’s international projects. » View this lesson plan

03: Shrink the World? This activity will enhance students’ understanding of globalization and increased global connections. A visual representation of all the global connections will be created on a large map of the world. » View this lesson plan

04: The Poet’s Voice Students will work with two poems from war-torn areas (the Congo and Afghanistan) to understand issues affecting these regions more deeply and in different ways, and will create their own artistic response to the issues to be posted on the No War Zone website. » View this lesson plan

05: Media Coverage This activity uses actual examples from the media and some helpful terminology to help students decode what we read and see. » View this lesson plan

06: War Affected Children Starting in small groups, students will create a potentially wall-sized web of effects of war on children including looking at direct and indirect effects as well as interconnections. » View this lesson plan

07: Child Soldiers This activity uses role-play to help students understand the varied reasons why children end up being soldiers in the world’s wars. » View this lesson plan

08: HIV/AIDS: Understanding the Numbers Students will research statistics about HIV/AIDS in a particular country, represent the data graphically, draw conclusions, and represent their findings on a one-page fact sheet. » View this lesson plan

09: The Long Walk Home: Uganda’s Night Commuters This activity uses a language arts approach to help students understand the situation of young children in Uganda ‘commuting’ to the city centres at night for protection from warlords. » View this lesson plan

10: Coltan This activity helps students understand the importance of the mineral coltan in our lives by having them conduct in-depth research and then create the plan for an Awareness Campaign. » View this lesson plan

11: Conflict Diamonds This activity uses the theme of advertising, which is so central to selling diamonds and their image, to be the authentic demonstration of the students’ research into conflict diamonds and their wide-reaching effects. » View this lesson plan

12: When Do We Intervene in Genocide? This activity will ask students to consider when they as individuals or the international community should intervene in situations of injustice. Through learning the stages of genocide, students will consider ways to prevent genocide. They will research a situation of conflict and write a letter to the government and media arguing for our need to intervene or not. » View this lesson plan

13: The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Children in Africa This activity uses Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to help students understand the impacts of HIV/AIDS on children in Africa and the role that Canadian organisations play in mitigating the effects. » View this lesson plan

14: Afghanistan and Islam This activity contrasts a common view of fundamentalist Islam – especially the Taliban regime – with a more balanced view of Islam and gives students a chance to learn more about the War Child Canada project in Afghanistan. » View this lesson plan

15: Peacekeeper or Peacemaker? This activity uses the web quest approach of directing student internet research to introduce and address the concepts of peacekeeping and peacemaking. This will prepare students for a parliamentary debate simulation on Canada’s future role and responsibilities in international conflicts. » View this lesson plan

16: Promoting International Human Rights This activity uses role-play and a class presentation to help students understand and evaluate Canada’s Human Security Program and how it promotes international human rights. » View this lesson plan

17: Canada and the Millennium Development Goals This activity uses a jig-saw to help students understand the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to create an education and awareness campaign poster promoting the goal that they believe Canada should focus on in its foreign policy. » View this lesson plan

18: Pushing For Change This activity gives the students a ‘scaffolded’ chance to think about actions that push for change and to test their comfort level and ability to consider engaging in these actions. » View this lesson plan

19: What is Peace? This activity uses a jigsaw strategy to help students think about peace as more than just the absence of war, and brings in environmental considerations that show the connections with global security. » View this lesson plan

20: Introduction to the ICC In this activity students will learn about the impact of war on children around the world and the importance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to deal with crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. » View this lesson plan

21: Benefits and Challenges of the ICC This activity engages students in a round table discussion/ debate about the International Criminal Court and its benefits and challenges. In small groups students research a country’s perspective on the ICC and negotiate an agreement with other country groups. » View this lesson plan