FamiliesFinal primary school cycle (10-12 year olds)

Program School to School

ActivitiesActivity 1 The sTory of our fAmily

length:One session of 1h.

objectives: • To explore the history of our families, and relate it to our socio-cultural context.• Compare our traditions with those of families in India.

Necessary material: Flipchart paper, crayons or markers. Before the session, the teacher will ask the students to bring some pictures of their family, including: photos of their father and mother when they were young, pictures of them before they got marriage, of their wedding day (if any), their younger grandparents etc. It is also advisable to talk to your relatives and ask them about how live has evolved and changed since they had children, grandchildren etc..

Development of the activity:Each student will prepare a brief summary of the history of their family, starting with their grandparents, and focusing in particular on the life of their father and mother to date:

• Where did they live and when did they leave their parents’ house?• Where they studying or working when they met?• How did they meet?• If married, how, when, etc. Did they follow any traditions?• When did they move in together?• When did they decide to have children?• Who else lives with them (i.e. grandparents, aunts, uncles etc..)?

With all this information and the photographs we brought, we will create a booklet or leaflet in which we will write how our family was created.

Keep the last fifteen minutes of the session to share what we have written with the rest of the class, and to compare the Spanish traditions with those we’ve seen in this module:

• Is there the more freedom in some countries than in others?• What could have happened if marriages in our families had been arranged?

FamiliesFinal primary school cycle (10-12 year olds)

Program School to School

ActivitiesActivity 2 WhAT Do you WANT To be WheN you groW up?

length:One session of 1h.

objectives: • To reflect on the roles of men and women in our society, and learn not to promote stereotypes.• To analyze the evolution of three generations of women in Spanish society.

Necessary material: Paper or cardboard sheets, crayons or markers.

Development of the activity:Start by making a list of all the professions we can think of. We will discuss each profession and if they are usually carried out by men, women or both. Some of them might have been performed exclusively by men in the past, but more and more women are performing them now.

Then we will draw a small family tree, starting with our grandparents. To do this, we will draw a diagram similar to the this, with as many pictures as needed to represent all of our family:

In each section we will write the name and profession of our relatives. What differences do you observe? Let’s look especially at the women in our families. What professions did they have? We can raise two different questions:

• To the girls: do you see yourself as your grandmothers?• To the boys: do you think your friends, sisters or cousins are the same as your grandmothers?

This reflection will lead us to ask the question: what do we want to be when we grow up? The answer will also be written in the diagram, and we’ll discuss the outcome with the rest of the class:

• Are there professions reserved for boys? And for girls?• How many girls have chosen professions “male dominated” and why?• How many boys have chosen professions “female dominated” and why?

FamiliesFinal primary school cycle (10-12 year olds)

Program School to School

ActivitiesActivity 3 bAckWArD TAles

length:One session of 1h.

objectives: • To identify stereotypes in popular narratives (tales, movies, television, etc..).• To develop alternative versions of these stories that do not promote stereotypes.

Necessary material: Paper or cardboard sheets, crayons or markers.

Development of the activity:We will divide the class into groups of three or four students. Each of them will think of a traditional story, a TV series or a movie in which there is some stereotypical character: a princess, a prince, a warrior, a witch, etc.. For more contemporary narratives, we can reflect on the stereotypical roles of the main cha-racters, and make a list of the features that are normally associated with each one of them (i.e. brave, shy, funny, strong, weak, etc..).

Then each group will create an alternative version of the story, changing the gender of all the characters. The changes may lead to any modification of the details or the story as students consider appropriate with the new version.

With the result, we will create a poster with the characters and the changes in the story.

Once finished, each group will share their alternative versions with the rest of the class, and will reflect on the results:

• Which version do you like better: the original or the new one?• How would you rate the use of stereotypes in the stories? To what extent do you think they in-

fluence or condition us?• Can you think of more examples of stereotypical roles?

FamiliesFinal primary school cycle (10-12 year olds)

Program School to School

ActivitiesActivity 4 mArch 8Th: iNTerNATioNAl WomeN’s DAy

length:One session of 1h.

objectives: • To understand the reasons for celebrating the International Day of Working Women.• To prepare material for the celebration of the day at school, analyzing women whose life and career

have contributed to the fight for women rights.

Necessary material: Paper or cardboard sheets, crayons or markers. Before the session, the teacher will ask the students to investigate the figure of a woman who has had special relevance for departing from the role that had been assigned to her and carrying out activities or professions traditionally reserved for men: scientists, writers, feminists, politicians, etc.

Development of the activity:March 8th is International Day of Working Women. Let’s start by asking ourselves the following ques-tions:

• Why is it necessary to have a day like this?• How many women do you know that do not work outside the house, and have never done so?

Why do you think that is? Did they have the same opportunities as the men in their families (i.e. brothers, cousins, etc..)? Did they have access to the same education? Did they have the same responsibilities?

• Do you think that’s changing now?

Then, with the class divided into groups of three or four students, we will create several posters with the material that we brought from home, with details of the lives of chosen women. We will group students who have chosen the same figures, or with similar professions. Try to reflect: what did they do? Why? What problems or obstacles did they have to face? What fate did they have? Etc. The posters can be illustrated with drawings or photographs that can be found online.

Once we put together all the work, we will start the discussion: do we still have some of the social diffi-culties or obstacles these women faced? Why? What can we do to overcome them?