A Global Peace Poem
Project
Summary
This project took place among thirty-eight classrooms around the globe. The project
was coordinated by Debbie Ogg Vought, a teacher at Mt. Gravatt High School in Brisbane,
Australia, who was involved in telecommunications at the United Nations Pavilion at World
Expo '88 in Brisbane. The message of the United Nations was that the future of the world
is everyone's responsibility, not just that of governments, leaders, or superpowers.
Towards the progress of creating a better world, the UN Pavilion in cooperation with
students from Mt. Gravatt High proposed the global peace poem for the children of the
world.
Project Procedure
With a combination of computer links and more conventional modes of communication,
a global poem started at a remote school in Tasmania and from there moved around the
planet ultimately reaching Alaska. As each school added its two lines, the poem was passed
on for other contributions. As the pieces of the poem came into the UN Pavilion, they were
projected on a telecommunications display. The completed poem was read at the UN Pavilion
on October 23, 1988 and the participating schools received copies of the poem in its
entirety. Both Lincoln and Jefferson Junior High, in Oceanside, CA, participated in this
historic poem.
Suggested Grade Level and Audience
K through adult
Estimated Time Required
4-8 weeks
Student Learning Objectives
- To communicate thoughts, feelings, attitudes with others
Writing Prompt
Engineered by Debbie Ogg Vought
Mt. Gravatt High School, Brisbane, Australia
Description
Using a variety of telecommunications networks, distant
classrooms from countries around the globe are assigned lines of a global peace poem. Each
site writes its contribution without prior knowledge of what comes before or after their
part. All pieces of the poem are collected, compiled, printed and distributed to all
participants.
Sequence of the Poem
Part I: Lines 1-24
Theme: "Our Dreams of a Better World"
Part II: Lines 25-58
Theme: "The Reality of the World We Live"
Part III: Lines 59-80
Theme: "The Future We Want to Create"
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