This lesson uses the story of Rip Van Winkle to explore how things change and how people change as time passes. The children are encouraged to think about what will change over a 60-year time period and to imagine what life will be like for them as older people.
The overall aim of the theme Nuair a bheidh mé aosta is to enable the children to:
The objectives of this lesson are to enable the child to:
For Activity 1 in this lesson, you will need a copy of the story of Rip Van Winkle to read to the class.
| Lesson plan | Story Role-play Circle work Role-play |
Rip van Winkle After the long sleep When I am 64 Going away for the weekend |
| Online activities | Pop-up
facts Cloze procedure Cloze procedure Cloze procedure Project Write sentences Imagine and draw |
We
are all growing older Getting older Who is older? When I am 64 When I am 64 When I am 64 The world when I am older |
Read the story of Rip Van Winkle. Discuss the story with the class. The following questions may be helpful:
Divide the children into groups and allocate roles from the story. Allow the groups to take turns to role-play the story, focusing on what happened after Rip awoke from his long sleep.
Encourage the children to think about and express the emotions that would be experienced by someone who had missed twenty years of life.
If possible, help children to form a circle, so that everyone can see everyone else. Ask the children to close their eyes for a moment and try to imagine what they will look like and what they will do every day when they are 64. Then, allow each child to finish the sentence: "When I'm 64, I'll... " Depending on your class, you may need to start with your own example, such as "When I'm 64, I'll still come to school every day, just as I do now."
Summarise what kind of predictions the children made - do they expect to be working or retired? In good health or in poor health? Living alone or living with family, or living with other older people? Active and involved in sport or leisure activities, or having a passive lifestyle? Do they expect to be happy and enjoy life when they are 64, or do they think that they will not have much control over their lives then?
Based on the answers, ask the children what they can do now to prepare for the kind of lifestyle they would like to have at 64. Answers may include:
Explain that the basis of this role-play is a weekend trip to somewhere 100 miles away in Ireland, when the children are 64, that is, in 57/58 years' time. Ask the children to think about how things will be at that time in the future:
Encourage the children to include these points in the role-play. The role-play should include things that will be the same, for example:
The role-play should also highlight what is likely to have changed, for example:
Elicit the point that even though our physical environment will be different and that physiologically we will look and feel different, we will still be motivated by the same feelings and needs: the need for friendship, love and social contact, the need to feel that we are contributing in some way to society, the desire for independence, both physical and financial.
This lesson provides opportunities for many cross-curricular activities and links directly to the curriculum for primary schools as follows:
| SPHE | Myself | Growing and changing |
| Drama | Drama to explore feelings, knowledge and ideas | Exploring
and making drama |
The key questions for this lesson include: