One of the goals of Peace Day is to inspire a global ceasefire. The history of this initiative goes back to 1982, when it was established by UN resolution. The International Day of Peace has grown to include millions of people all over the world participating in a variety of events.
Peace Day: Nuclear Disarmament and Non-proliferation
Disarmament and non-proliferation agreements are consistently in the news. Teachers can read more about the issues and the UN initiative, WMD – We Must Disarm.
At the UN website, visitors can see short video competitions, sign a petition, see a global listing of scheduled events, and watch the Secretary-General's message on this critical issue. Teachers can also access the Cyberschoolbus for lesson plans and classroom activities.
Peace Day: Free Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities
The UN Cyberschoolbus has on-line resources that introduces lessons on nuclear weapons, small arms and landmines. Students can even view archived on-line chats with survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
By selecting the classroom toolkit, teachers can choose from a wide variety of lesson plans and materials, developed to engage students. The following materials and exercises are available:
- Classroom Ethics: create a safe environment in the classroom
- Perception Reflection: inquiry into both historical and contemporary documents
- Feelings Barometer: emotional reflection on the subject matter
- Widening Circles: role-playing to understand the opinions of others
- Opinion Continuum: physical activity to help students express opinions and discuss issues
- Open Sentences: listening and speaking pair activity
- Letter to Future: visualization exercise and writing activity
- Microlab: students choose roles and have timed group discussion
- Fishbowl: students have small group discussion within a larger group
- Hummingbird: inspirational story with a lesson of never giving up
- Photo Toolkit: suggested workshops when working with photos
All the activities provide sample questions, discussion topics, and potential extension activities.
Peace Day: International Activities
Sites will be hosting an all-day broadcast on the International Day of Peace. The broadcast will feature messages from the Secretary-General, other UN officials and world leaders. Also available – videos that highlight the important work of the United Nations and Peace Day events around the planet.
The Culture of Peace Initiative will be hosting the 24 hour global newscast on their website, and also has previews of the events.
Peace Day: Global Events Calendar
See what may be happening in the community by searching for calendars of events. Both the International Day of Peace and the Culture of Peace initiative websites provide comprehensive listings of events. Interested participants can find an event, and look up more information about it. There are maps available that show all of the areas of the world that are holding Peace Day events.
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