Year 8 Home Learning Project

Child Soldiers – Project Africa

Name:................................Year Group:......................Teacher:...........................Due Date:..........................

Levels 3-5

Home Learning Project

Year 8

Project Africa

Name:

Class:

Digital Studies Teacher:

Teacher’s Comment (WWW):

Level for writing:

To improve (EBI):

Level for reading:

Project Africa

This home learning project is about charities in Africa who are trying to help children who become child soldiers.

Start looking in newspapers, on the internet or watch the news to find out information about child soldiers in Africa.

How to complete this bookletYou should complete each activity in order to build up your skills and knowledge. Altogether the assignments should take about six hours to complete.

If you do not have access to a computer at home, remember you can use the homework club at JHNCC, the library in your breaks or the Digital Studies rooms if they are available.

Remember, you must always ask your teacher and your parents if you need help or want something to be explained differently.

Read the following article taken from: 20 mins http://www.faze.ca/issue06/child_soldiers.html

More than 300,000 child soldiers are fighting in armed conflicts worldwide. 

According to one commander in Africa, "children make good fighters because they're young and want to show off. They think it's all a game, so they're fearless."

Many come from disrupted family backgrounds, poor families or live in war zones themselves. 

Seen to be cheap and widely available, child soldiers often get little or no training before fighting.

Most common are child soldiers in Africa and Asia, but across the globe it is a growing problem.

Girls are often recruited as there is a shortage of male recruits in countries at war.

And with the development of smaller, lighter weapons, children are able to easily use deadly arms. 

One child soldier said, "My first role was to carry a torch for grown-up rebels. Later I was shown how to use hand grenades. Within a month or so, I was carrying an AK-47 rifle."

When in the army, children are often treated badly and punished harshly for mistakes.

Not all child soldiers are forced to kill, yet the horrors they suffer will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives. One woman recruited at the age of 11 said, "They beat all the people there, they killed them all, nearly 10 people... like dogs they killed them...they made us drink the blood of people…"

Besides the risk of death or injury, child soldiers suffer in the military. Younger children collapse from tiredness, hunger and illness.

Reading Skills: Key Word Definitions Task

1) Using a dictionary, research the meaning of the key words for this topic.

40 mins

Key Word Definition

disrupted

rebels

military

conflict

recruited

Reading Skills: Understanding the writer’s viewpoint and language choices. (AF5 and AF6)

2) Now you have read the online article, answer the questions in the boxes provided.KEY WORDS to use to help you: fighting, cheap, shortage, punished, illness, hunger, death.

1 hour

How did the article make you feel? Use your emotions to describe what you have read. Pick one piece of information from the text to help explain your answer.

Emotions: sad upset scared confusedangry

The article makes me feel _____________ because...

Find one sentence (or parts of sentences) in the text you have read that describe the backgrounds of the children who become child soldiers.

Backgrounds = what the children’s lives were like before they became soldiers.

Example = Many of the children “came straight from school” into the military.

In the text, it says that...

This shows that...

Look at the image in the article. Describe what you see.

I can see...

How do these three things make the reader feel? Can you explain why?Use the emotions listed below to help you.

1. Over 300,000 child soldiers

This makes the reader feel ___________ because...

2. Cheap, expendable

This makes the reader feel ___________ because...

3. Girls are recruited as soldiers

This makes the reader feel ___________ because...

How do you think you could help these children?

Digital Literacy

2) Research the following website and answer the following questions.

To find the website, type in www.warchild.org.uk into your internet browser.

1 hour

www.warchild.org.uk

What does this charity do?

Explain at least one way they help children.

What sort of images (pictures) are used?

How much money do these charities get from donations?

Digital Studies: Planning (AF1)

3) Read the introduction to becoming a child soldier on the next page.

Continue the story as if you are the child whose life is about to change.

Before you write it you must plan the following:

45 mins

Notes

4) 1 hour

What you see

What you hear

What you smell

What you feel

You're lying in your bed and slowly drift off to sleep. Suddenly, you are awakened by violent screams. You are frozen with fear. The door of your room bursts open and before you know it you have been picked up by strange men in uniform and are being dragged out of your house and thrown into a truck with twenty other teenagers your age. It is still dark outside and difficult to see exactly what is going on. But you already know what's happening.

You are about to become a 'child soldier'.

Your answer must be at least 300 words and must include adjectives, simple, complex and compound sentences.

It should also use punctuation for effect. For example, use exclamation marks to show feeling, horror etc.

Write up your story on the computer. Use Microsoft Word for this Use this space for any additional planning. You should use the paragraphs provided to help you structure your writing.

Paragraph 1: You have been taken away from your family.- Do you know where you are going?

- Will you see your family again?

- How long will the journey take?

Paragraph 2: Describe your surroundings.- You are in the back of a truck. What is it like? Is it dirty? Noisy?

- Are there other children with you? How are they feeling?

- What are the soldiers like? Are they scary, or perhaps angry?

Paragraph 3: Describe your journey.- What do you see? Can you hear anything?

- Are you travelling for a long time?

Paragraph 4: You arrive at your new home; an army camp.

- Where do you eat and sleep?

- Is it comfortable, or are you missing home?

- What kind of things do you have to do? Perhaps you have army training, or are punished for a mistake.

Paragraph 5: As you fall asleep, you dream of home.

- How does your new life in the army compare to your old life?

- Do you miss your family? Do you wish you could go home?

Digital Studies: AF1 (Planning, Developing and Evaluating) Level Ladder

Level Success Criteria3 You can demonstrate that you can:

Plan how you will use ICT to complete a task

Explain whether you think your idea has worked well or not

Use ICT to make changes to your work, to improve it

Describe how you use ICT at school and how it is used outside school

4 You can demonstrate that you can: Plan ways to use ICT to bring together

information from different places or in different formats

Explain how successful your work has been

Explain how and why the use of ICT varies in and out of school

5 You can demonstrate that you can: Use a range of ICT tools and techniques to

organise solutions to a problem

Judge how successful your work has been in achieving your goal, and identify ways in which you could improve it

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using ICT both inside and outside school

6) Now upload your piece of creative writing to your own blog and explain what you have done on your blog.

1 hour

Log onto your blog at www.wordpress.com

Once you’re happy with your HLP, complete the self-assessment below.

After you’ve done it, you might want a parent or adult to have a look – they may think you’ve done better than you think you have or inspire you to redraft.

Self-Assessment: How have I done?

Give yourself a tick if you think you’ve shown the following writing skills. If you’ve tried – but aren’t sure you’ve mastered it – put a question mark in the box and if you haven’t done it put a cross.

Have I… √? XUsed commas and full stops accuratelyUsed speech marks (“ “) and colons (:) and semi-colons (;)Used varied and interesting words to describeDeveloped ideasUsed simple and compound sentencesUsed complex sentencesUsed connectives, such as meanwhile, although,Used paragraphs which link togetherGiven a clear view pointUsed my imaginationUsed words which suit my audienceSpelt the most commonly used words correctlySpelt most words correctly, including more unusual choicesUsed colour and pictures to appeal to my reader

WRITING Pupil name _____________________________ English Class ________________ Date AF6 – write accurately, using correct sentences and punctuation

AF3 – organise and present texts effectively

AF2 – Produce texts suitable for your purpose and audience

Level 5

You use a full range of punctuation correctly most of the timeYou use punctuation within sentences correctly and structure your sentences carefully

Your ideas are structured clearly Your closing paragraph refers back to your opening paragraphYou link your paragraphs clearly

You clearly write to inform, explain and describe, using appropriate devicesYou use the right style and keep your reader interested

Level 4

You use full stops and capitals accuratelyYou use question marks and exclamation marks correctly a use commas in lists and sometimes within a sentenceYou use speech marks accurately

Your ideas for your magazine are presented clearlyYou usually put your ideas in a logical order

You usually use the correct features of a front coverYou use colour and images to appeal to your readerYou mostly use the right style for your reader

Level 3

I can write straightforward sentences with full stops, capital letters, question marks and exclamation marks.Sometimes I can use speech marks and commas accurately.

I try to organise ideas by putting related points next to each other.I usually write openings and closings.I try to put ideas in an order but I need to work on organising them.

I can generally establish the purpose of my writing. Some of the main features of the type of writing I am working on are shown in my writing. I try to use an appropriate style depending on the type of writing I am doing.

Look at the writing grid above. Tick what you think you have done really well. What level do you think you have achieved for your child soldier piece of writing?

My level is _________________________________________________________________________________________________.

I need to improve on _________________________________________________________________________________________

STAR