As closure, ask the students to identify some things that people can do to prevent violence in the future. Have them list five things that they personally will do to try to prevent violence in their community. The students can either draw or write down their prevention strategies. Display the work or compile the work in a book to share with others in the school.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students are evaluated on participation and completion of list assignment.

Have students list the character traits that the people listed have exhibited that make them positive people. Discuss these traits and have students draw a picture of a person displaying one of the positive character traits.
As closure, have students set a goal for improving their own character. Ask them to focus on a particular character trait when setting their goal.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students are evaluated by participation in group discussions and completion of drawings and goal statement.

Possible character traits to discuss:

Respect: showing high regard for self, others, and property. Respectful people are courteous, polite, tolerant, accepting, and appreciative.
Responsibility: being accountable for your own behavior and choices. Responsible people are accountable, pursue excellence, and exercise self- control.
Trustworthiness: being honest and reliable in carrying out commitments, duties, and obligations. Trustworthy people are committed to honesty, reliability, loyalty, and integrity.
Caring: showing concern for the well being of others. Caring people are compassionate, empathetic, and considerate.
Fairness: demonstrating impartial, unbiased, and equitable treatment of others. Fair people are open-minded, impartial, equitable, and just.
Citizenship: being an informed, responsible, and caring member of your community. Citizenship is being a good neighbor and member of the community and protecting the environment.

Have students discuss what the "output" of peace is from the organizations and institutions they have listed. For example, the output of peace from the court is that they resolve disputes about responsibility and other community concerns. Also, Congress is a "peace machine" whose output of peace is making public policy to reduce confusion and conflict in our society.

Have students describe what the visual representation of some of the "peace machines" listed would be, such as a courthouse, the state capitol building, the flag, police car, or book of laws. Discuss with students the roles and variety of the people involved in making these "peace machines" work. Some examples might include health care workers, sanitation workers, judges, policeman, fireman, city councilman, teachers, and school board members. Finally, discuss ways that students are a part of some of the "peace machines" listed.

Divide the students into small groups. Have them research some of their ideas of "peace machines", and as a group plan a "peace machine" of their own. The "peace machine" should be a visual representation of a peace-oriented place or process. Students should be encouraged to use different types of media in constructing their "peace machine". Explain to students that their final product should include the visual representation that they have constructed and a written report on their "peace machine" including explanation of the output of their peace machines.

When students have completed their "peace machines", have them present them to their class and other classes. Another idea is to have an exhibit of the "peace machines" with the written reports.

As closure, ask students what the "output" of the class as a peace machine might be and discuss the responses.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on their participation in the discussions, the completion and accuracy of their written reports, the completion of the constructed "peace machine", and their oral presentation. Since this is a small group activity, all members of the group should receive the same evaluation result.

Possible materials to have available for peace machine construction:

Hope Bear

Immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, people from all over the world felt a need to show their concern and their outrage at what had taken place. Many came to the site and left personal belongings on the chain-link fence that surrounded the site. Many sent their remembrances through the mail. Among those items were numerous teddy bears. They symbolized America's hope that we would never forget what happened. They symbolized America's hope that we would continue to learn from what happened.

We began to call these teddy bears our "Hope Bears."

These bears have been catalogued and cared for by the Oklahoma City National Memorial Archives staff. They are now available to spend a month with a school as part of the 168 Pennies Campaign.

Hope Bear Journal Activity

Discuss with students some of the basic needs that we, as humans, have to live happy and productive lives. Include in the discussion the need for a sense of belonging, the need to love and be loved, the need to share and cooperate with others, the need for power and achievement, the need for accomplishment, recognition and respect, the need for freedom, the need to feel safe, and the need for fun. Have students talk about how these needs are met by people. Discuss what others can do to help people have their needs met. Ask students how peace and conflict resolution relate to meeting the basic needs of humans. Relate to students that the ability to express and resolve conflicts is central to a peaceful community. Explain that even though conflict is a daily part of life, non-violent conflict resolution may be achieved in various ways.

Have students list alternatives to violence as a means of resolving conflict. Write their responses on the chalkboard or on chart paper.

Read aloud Sneetches by Dr. Suess to the class. On a sheet of butcher paper, write:

Conflict Negotiation

Limited Resources Different Values

Resolution Diversity

I felt

Have a selection of pictures or articles that depict or describe conflict resolution on the butcher paper. Have students identify the key elements from the Sneetches story under the headings listed on the butcher paper. Discuss the additional items on the paper. Post the paper on the wall to serve as a resource for students.

Introduce "Hope Bear" to the class. Explain that someone, possibly another student, sent Hope Bear to Oklahoma City after the Murrah Federal Building bombing in April of 1995.

Explain that the bear is going to spend one month with the class to find out about conflict in their community and what measures are taken to resolve the conflict. Tell the students they are going to write journal entries to Hope Bear each day explaining conflicts in their daily lives, the resolutions to these conflicts, and the way the students feel before, during, and after the conflict. Explain that the journals will go home with Hope Bear to the Oklahoma City National Memorial.

****Younger students can draw pictures as journal entries.****

You might invite parents, community members, and others to the class to hear some of the journal readings if the students are comfortable with that activity.

After a month of writing and sharing, the journals and Hope Bear should be mailed to the Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation at P.O. Box 323, Oklahoma City, OK 73101. Each bear and journal will be preserved and placed in the National Memorial Archives for possible future exhibitions in the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center.

As closure, ask students what they learned from the experience with Hope Bear. Ask them to list ways that they can continue to build skills in conflict resolution. Have the class write a mission statement about resolving conflict.

If the class or the school decides to participate in the 168 Pennies Campaign, Hope Bear can be involved in the fund raising activities.

Assessment/Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on their participation in group discussions and the completeness of their journals. The journals can serve as a writing portfolio for evaluation.

Ask students to brainstorm some past events, good or bad, that should never be forgotten. List the responses on the board or on chart paper. Then have students explain why those events should never be forgotten. Ask students what the criteria should be for deciding whether or not an event should be remembered. Have the students discuss these issues in small groups and then report the results of their discussions back to the class.

Ask students what are some of the things we do to remember the events that they listed. This will lead to a discussion of memorials, monuments, paintings, music, essays, and such. List the responses on the chalkboard or chart paper.

Tell students they are going to create a memorial in their small groups. Explain that they are to research some events they think need to be remembered and create a memorial for one of those events. The students should use books, encyclopedias, the Internet and other resources for the research. They should research some of the existing memorials to discover why they were created. Students will then write an essay about the event for which they will create a memorial. The essay should include why the event should be remembered. Then, students will create the memorials in their small groups.

When students have completed their essays and memorials, they can share with the class and others in the community.

As closure, explain the 168 Pennies Campaign. Discuss similarities and differences between the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the memorials they have chosen to create. Ask students brainstorm ways to raise money for the campaign.

Assessment/Evaluation: Students will be assessed on their participation in group discussions and research, the completeness and quality of their essays and on their participation in the creation of the memorials.

Possible Lesson Vocabulary

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