overview for 2nd unit of inquiry - a note for parents

Unit Title: Peace Please
Trans-disciplinary Theme: Sharing the Planet
(An inquiry into communities and the relationships within and between them and peace and conflict resolution)
Central Idea: ‘Conflicts occur among people and there are effective ways to resolve them peacefully’
Lines of Inquiry:
· What peace is
· What conflict is
· Finding peaceful solutions to conflicts
Sample questions which will drive these inquiries:
What is a conflict and what is peace?
How can we identify and express our feelings?
What do we mean by good communication?
Sample activities:
* talk about our feelings
* look at things from different points of view
* act out different ways of solving problems
Duration of unit: 7 weeks
Summative Assessments: 
· Draw or paint a picture to illustrate your idea of peace
· Work together to act out a classroom conflict situation
· Choose your own way of showing you understand how to resolve a conflict peacefully
Trans-disciplinary skills to be emphasised:
Social skills will include co-operating in a group or with a partner, sharing and taking turns
Research skills will involve becoming aware of details
Thinking skills will include using new vocabulary and remembering what has been learnt
Communication skills will involve sharing ideas
Self-management skills will involve looking at codes of behaviour 
Elements of student profile/attitudes to be emphasised:
Being both open-minded and principled as well as becoming more empathetic and co-operative
Example of cross-curricular link:
Classifying members of a structured set using positive and negative attributes in maths