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BACKGROUND ACTIVITIES:
Activity One
The purpose of this activity is to provide background
information on Queen Elizabeth II and the British monarchy.
1. Divide the class into small groups, and ask the students
to visit the official Web site of the British Monarchy
at http://www.royal.gov.uk/. The students can learn more
in the "Factfiles" and the "ABC of the Monarchy" pages
within the "Children" section (see link at the bottom
of the homepage).
2. Tell the students to collect 10-15 facts from "The Monarchy
Today," "The Royal Family," "History of the Monarchy,"
and "The Queen's Golden Jubilee" sections of the Web site.
3. Record the facts on a large piece of chart paper. Display
the chart where the students can see it during class activities.
STEPS:
Activity One
The purpose of this activity is for the students to research
the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and create a timeline.
1. The students can begin their research at the History
Channel Web site (http://www.historychannel.com/).
Ask them to type in the term "Elizabeth II" in the search
box and then, on the Results page, to scroll down to the
"Related Speeches" section. The students can click on
the "Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury: Presides
Over Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation" link to listen to
a short excerpt from and read a summary about the coronation.
2. Separate the students into five groups and assign each
group one of the following time periods:
- 1952-1961
- 1962-1971
- 1972-1981
- 1982-1991
- 1992-2002
3. Ask the students to research the events crucial to
the reign of Queen Elizabeth II that occurred during their
assigned time periods and encourage them to use a variety
of sources. These sites are a good place to begin their
Internet research:
The Official Web Site of the British Monarchy
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page150.asp
The "Queen's Golden Jubilee" section of the site contains
the history of the Queen's reign presented in 10-year
increments.
GoldenJubilee.info
http://www.goldenjubilee.info/StaticPage.jsp?StaticPageId=42
The Golden Jubilee.info Web site looks at the events that
mark the Queen's reign and juxtaposes them with world
events.
BBCi: History: British Timeline
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/history/pg.pl?engtexts=postwwi&title1=england&englinks
=postwwi&template=single&default=england&site=timeline&contents1=england&
The BBCi Web site contains a post-World War II timeline.
4. Each section of the students' timeline should include
the following:
- the time period
- a brief overview of the time period
- the challenges Queen Elizabeth II faced during the
time period
- Queen Elizabeth II's accomplishments during the
time period
- key world events that marked the time period, perhaps
examples of what was happening in the realm of music,
art, architecture, literature, fashion, or sports
5. Have each group present their work to the class. Connect
the segments and display the timeline on the classroom
wall.
Activity Two
The purpose of this activity is for the students to create
a classroom celebration to commemorate Queen Elizabeth
II's Golden Jubilee.
1. Discuss the fact that Her Majesty The Queen and all
of Britain are celebrating the 50th anniversary of her
ascension to the throne. Tell the students that they are
going to throw their own classroom party for the Queen.
2. Print the "Explanation of Activities" (Activity Two) from the Organizers
for Students section of this lesson and pass it out
to the students.
3. Post the following activity choices and ask each of the students
to sign up for one:
- music
- art
- Remember When "The Personal Side"
- Remember When "The News"
- games
- tea
- testimonials
Explanation
of Activities:
Music
For this activity the students will research British musicians
and create a "Century of British Music" program to be
played during the celebration. The selections should include
classical and popular music, along with a written description
of each composer or performer, as well as the reason a
particular piece of music was chosen. The students who
pick this might need to conduct additional research
on music at their local library in order to complete the
assignment.
Art
For this activity the students will design decorations
for the party. These could be in the form of posters,
invitations, a birthday card, etc. The artwork should
relate in some way to the British monarchy. The following
sites may be helpful for this activity:
The Queen's Golden Jubilee: Souvenirs, Emblems and Flags
http://www.goldenjubilee.gov.uk/Souvenirs_and_Emblems/Menu.htm
The British Museum
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/
Victoria and Albert Museum
http://www.vam.ac.uk/
Museum of London
http://www.museum-london.org.uk/
National Gallery
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
Remember When "The Personal Side"
In this activity the students will listen to oral histories
on the BBCi Web site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/multimedia_zone/audio_video/audio/oralhist_index.shtml).
The site contains an extensive collection of audio memories
on a wide range of topics, but the students should remember
to select a story that takes place during the reign of
Queen Elizabeth II (1952-present). They will choose
several stories to share, memorize them, and tell the
stories to the class pretending to be the individual whose
story they've selected.
Remember When "The News"
In this activity the students will listen to highlights
from speeches and reports of historic 20th-century events
on the BBCi Web site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/multimedia_zone/audio_video/audio/report_index.shtml).
They will pick events from the post-1951 years
and create a "Remember When" newscast. The students have
the option of taping the program and playing it or performing it live during the party.
Games
This group will create a game that will test the students'
knowledge of Queen Elizabeth II and the British monarchy.
The game will be played during the celebration.
Tea
The students in this group will provide afternoon tea
for the party. They should also provide the class
with a written description of the history of tea and afternoon
tea in Britain. The following sites contain information
and recipes:
BBCi: Food in Focus: A Taste for Tea
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/foodinfocus/news_tea.shtml
Morbit Outlook: Nonfiction Articles: High Tea Recipes
http://www.morbidoutlook.com/nonfiction/articles/2001_05_hightearecipes.html
Comfort Cooking: Tea Party Recipes
http://www.comfortcooking.com/teaparty.html#Ok
Waitrose.com: Tea
http://www.waitrose.com/frontend/index_third.asp?menuid=999
Tea Thyme's Tea Parlor: Tea Thyme Sampler Newsletter
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/9715/TeaSampler5.html
(Note to Teachers: You
may need to enlist the help of an adult or two for this
activity.)
Testimonials
In this activity the students will pretend to be a person
with whom the Queen Elizabeth II would have come in contact
during her 50 years on the throne. They will give
a brief testimonial based on this meeting. The Web sites
from Activity One could be one source of information for
this activity.
EXTENSION ACTIVITIES:
Activity One
Conduct Internet research to find Web sites about kids
in Great Britain. These sites provide information about
online pen pals and international classroom exchanges.
Kidlink
http://www.kidlink.org/
Teaching.com: Intercultural Email Classroom Connections
(IECC)
http://www.iecc.org/
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