IDEAS FOR ASSEMBLIES
The material in the Share the World project has been designed for use as assembly material as well as classroom activities. The materials address many of the issues raised by the Framework for PSHE and Citizenship, in particular;
• Developing confidence and responsibility and making the most of their abilities.
• Preparing to play an active role as citizens.
A Share the World Assembly
1. Introduce the topic by showing the poster. Invite children to identify animals in the poster and say something about them.
Ask the questions,
What does Share the World mean to you?
What does Everyone Matters mean?
2. The story. Choose one of the stories to read out to the assembly. There are a number of questions and activities with each story that you can use to encourage participation.
3. A ‘true or false’ activity is given below to encourage participation and to emphasise that animals have many special qualities. Animals are also capable of showing the same emotions and feelings as humans.
4. Introduce the “Golden Rule” and consider how it should be used to develop good relationships between humans, and between humans and animals.
5. The assembly can be concluded by reading one of the three poems on pages 8-9 and giving a short time for reflection.
6. Music to accompany the assembly could be “Carnival of the Animals” or another suitable piece with an animal theme.
True or False
Do you agree or disagree with each statement below, or are you not sure?
• Whales can communicate over huge distances. A whale in Antarctica can hear the call of a whale in Alaska.
• Crows in the south of France have a different accent from the crows in the north.
• Deer have been known to guide other deer who have gone blind.
• Prairie dogs use ‘kisses’ to identify members of their community.
• Some birds use mud and plants to set and heal broken limbs.
• Dolphins have been known to protect shipwrecked sailors from drowning.
• Elephants can paint or draw using twigs.
• Orang-utans use large leaves as umbrellas.
• The male emperor penguin guards and incubates the female’s eggs for two months without food in the Antarctic cold.
• Polar bears put their paws over their black noses to hide them when stalking seals.
• A jack rabbit can leap 15 feet in a single jump.
• The average tuna fish swims one million miles in its lifetime – equivalent to forty times around the world.
• A rhino horn is made up of compacted hair.
• The largest blue whale known was 34 metres long.
• A racing pigeon can fly at over 100mph.
• The lake sturgeon can live for up to 150 years.
All the above statements are true!
Children can be invited to imagine how incredible each animal’s activities are.
Children can make up their own true or false questions as an assembly follow-up activity. The questions could be displayed on a notice board for all to see and respond to in another assembly.
Or, a new Amazing Fact for the Day could be announced in each assembly.