ny. The English was difficult, but with interpreting and a handout, they were able to understand eve
rything. The fact that I appeared in the video added to their interest.
Next, we asked our students "What would you like to say about peace?" and had them prepare speeches. Some students wrote directly in English, but most wrote their ideas first in Japanese, then translated them into English. We helped them prepare their speeches by circulating around the class, conferencing with students and correcting only global errors.
Next, we asked students to give their speeches in front of the class and videotaped these to add some excitement. The first performances weren't very good, since we didn't make them memorise their talks. So, we decided to have them do the speeches again. This time, we asked them not to look down at their scripts all the time, but to glance at their scripts, then speak looking at the camera. We were surprised and moved when 3 girls voluntaril target=0y sang "We Are the World." It was the first time any of my students had sung voluntarily. A big applause ended the class.
For the final activity, we had a class discussion about the students' speeches and their ideas of peace. We wondered how much they'd understand only by listening to their classmates' speeches, so we prepared handouts of all the speeches and asked students to prepare questions about each one. Sitting in a circle, they asked at least 3 questions after thinking for a few minutes. We taught expressions such as "You said... in your speech, but what do you mean by that?" and "It's true.... but I think...". One girl asked a boy, "You said peace is love, but what do you think love is?" The boy hugged the boy next to him and said "This is love, love is touch." The theme "peace" seemed difficult to discuss, but I was glad they did their best.
Themes such as "peace" might seem difficult for beginner and intermediate English students to deal with, but my students showed great interest, probably because they understood that peace is a most important topic when we communicate with each other, especially with those from foreign countries.
There are some students who get good marks on tests by memorizing the textbook but who aren't eager to express themselves. Other students don't get good marks on tests but express themselves well. One such boy made a spontaneous poetic farewell speech as a representative of his class in our graduation ceremony. I was very proud of him.
The conflict resolution class at Arroyo del Oso Elementary School in New Mexico and the Children's Peace Statue Project enabled us to understand how effective it is to learn through participation, interaction, experience and creation. It also made us understand the importance of learning about the future and peace, since many children feel uneasy about the future and are rarely taught anything about peace in the world.CLICK HERE TO READ SOME OF THE STUDENTS MESSAGES FOR PEACE.
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