This lesson uses a story from Japan to help the children to explore their own attitude to older people and to begin to realise what ageism means. The lesson also looks at the role of older people as mentors or teachers and at the contribution of older people to their community.
The overall aim for the theme Mise agus tusa is to enable the child to:
The objectives of this lesson are to enable the child to:
For Activity 1 in this lesson, you will need to print a copy of the story An tSeanbhean Chríonna. For Activity 3 in this lesson, the children will need drawing materials. For Activity 4 in this lesson, you will have to choose suitable visitors and talk to the visitors to prepare for the visit. The children should also prepare some questions to ask the older people.
| Lesson plan | Scéal Word game Draw a picture Discussion Classroom visitor |
An tSeanbhean Chríonna Older people are... An tSeanbhean Chríonna Older people as mentors A public health nurse and an active older person on daily life for older people |
| Online activities | Pop-up facts | Attitudes to older people |
Worksheet Worksheet Art |
Age is no barrier Joe goes hillwalking Design a Go for Life poster |
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Project Art Creative writing |
Older people in Japan Collage of older people The diary of the Wise Old Woman |
Léigh an An tSeanbhean Chríonna don rang.
In the land where the wise old woman lived, the king didn't want any old people because he thought that they had nothing to contribute. But at the end of the story, he realised that he needed the wisdom and experience of older people. Discuss the story with the class.
Following on from the Wise Old Woman story, encourage the children to talk about their own attitude to and image of older people. Use a word game - starting with the letter A, each child in turn must suggest a word that describes older people. For example, amusing, boring, confused, dears, endearing, fat, gaga... etc. Record all the words on the blackboard. When the list is complete, discuss the words with the children, considering which words apply to many older people and which just apply to a few individuals.
For words that indicate a negative attitude to older people, tease out with the children why they have this attitude - in many cases, it might be because they have never thought about it. For example, if boring is suggested, elicit from the children why they think this and then ask them to describe happy times they have spent with their grandparents or older people. Ask them to talk about interesting things that older people they know do. Ask them whether they talk much to older people - consider using an Online activity from First and Second Class, called Things I like to do... and what about you? (see Things to do, Activity 1 in Who is old?).
Draw two pictures of the wise old woman:
Discuss learning as a life-long process with the children:
Develop the conversation to show that as you continue to grow older, you continue to learn and that all that knowledge is building up inside you. So, older people have built up a lot of knowledge in their heads.
Write the word mentor on the board and explain that, in general, a mentor is a wise and trusted counsellor or teacher, an influential senior sponsor or supporter. (In The Odyssey, Mentor was a friend of Odysseus entrusted with the education of Odysseus' son Telemachus.)
Share the following information with your class, perhaps basing it around some local voluntary group that the children might be familiar with, for example, a group that looks after homeless people in your area:
The National Social Service Board (NSSB) is an organisation that, among other things, helps voluntary groups to organise and run their group properly. The NSSB runs a mentoring service - this means that a voluntary group can ask the NSSB for help to organise some part of their group, for example, help to manage their money properly. The NSSB arranges that someone who is an expert, for example in managing money, works with the voluntary group and advises on how to manage the group correctly. The NSSB often uses retired people as mentors.
There is no charge for the service, but mentors receive payment to cover expenses, for example, the cost of travelling to meet the voluntary group.
Ask the children to think of someone they know who fits the description of a mentor and to tell the class about him or her. Ask the children to think of someone they know who could come into the classroom and teach the class about something interesting.
Invite the local public health nurse and an active older person to visit the class.
Ask the public health nurse to talk about her work with dependent older people living at home. Ask the class to prepare a list of questions before she arrives. You could ask her to talk about the types of problems that older people have, but to also stress the positive aspect of older people living in the community rather than living in a nursing home.
Ask the active older person to give an alternative view of life for older people, in one of the following ways:
The objective of this activity is to expose the children to the reality of life for older people - remind them that only 1 in 20 older people in Ireland live in long-stay homes or hospitals and that out of every 5 older people, living in the community, only 1 needs some care. You could explain this message by pretending that 5 children in the class are older people and pointing out that 4 of them lead busy, active lives.
This lesson provides opportunities for many cross-curricular activities and links directly to the curriculum for primary schools as follows:
| SPHE | Myself and the wider world | Developing citizenship |
| English | Emotional and imaginative development through language | Reading Writing |
The key questions for this lesson include: