Empower Students to Participate in the Fair Trade Movement

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Empower Students to Participate in the Fair Trade Movement

Curriculum and Community Action Links:

Fair Trade Uniforms
Fair Trade School Uniform Project School Curriculum (PDF 1.1 MB)
Our current curriculum is designed for elementary age children in parochial schools. We are in the process of developing a more comprehensive curriculum packet for elementary school-age children in public, private and parochial schools. The packet will be an entire unit based on fair trade, global economic inequality and responsible consumption. Check back soon for news on our curriculum progress.

Education for Justice
www.educationforjustice.org
With membership, this site provides resources and materials for teachers, social action directors, parish members, campus ministers and others in leadership roles to use with their groups/classes in order to deepen their understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and social justice. To go directly to index of resources: Education for Justice Project: Index of Resources (PDF 0.5 MB).

Scholastic
teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/child_labor/
Social science and literacy curriculum supplements, such as news articles, teach students about the realities of children around the world, who are without the protection of fair trade laws. Other resources include online activities, such as a scavenger hunt, as well as, reproducible lesson plans and lesson “helpers.” Scholastic is a global children's publishing, education and media company.

United for a Fair Economy - Teaching Economics as if People Mattered
www.teachingeconomics.org
Online and downloadable lesson plans, free of charge, to teach high school economics in the context of economic justice. Developed by a long-time social studies teacher, this curriculum meets the National Council on Economics Education (NCEE) standards.

Reach and Teach Education for Change
www.reachandteach.com/store/
Creates and distributes a wide variety of innovative social justice themed products, for purchase, focused on civil rights, economic justice, global issues, and non-violence. Products are for students of all ages.

Global Exchange - Fair Trade in the Classroom
www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/fairtradeintheclassroom.html
Fair trade coffee and chocolate curriculum is free of charge, and helps students to expand spelling, reasoning and social science skills while exposing them to the world outside the classroom. Includes materials to help children write to chocolate and coffee companies, an opportunity for students to enter a fair trade poster contest, as well as, “take action” guidelines for students, schools, and communities. Their Children’s Education Campaign (www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/chocolatekids.html) lists ways that students can take action and promote fair trade. The website also provides examples of what other teachers have done to support fair trade in their classrooms (www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/chocolateschoolspage.html). Another useful tool is their Global Economy 101 (www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/econ101) which explores some of the critical issues pertaining to corporate globalization.

United Students for Fair Trade
www.usft.org
Fun way for students to take action on campuses. Empowerment bananas are fair trade bananas! (www.usft.org/index.php?p=/ActionCenter/ )

Fair Trade Foundation
www.fairtrade.org.uk/resources.htm
Fair Trade in your School (PDF 0.2 MB)
A free resource, from the UK, that aims to enable teachers to introduce and develop the concept of fair trade in the classroom in a range of curriculum areas. Downloadable lessons and products for purchase available.

PAPAPAA - Teach About Fair Trade and Cocoa
www.papapaa.org
Fun and interactive, website from the UK full of lessons on Fair Trade, cocoa, shopping and Ghana - for both primary and secondary levels. Created by Dubble (www.dubble.co.uk/story/), - a Fairtrade chocolate bar for young people, Comic Relief— an organization set up by comedians and uses comedy and laughter to get serious messages across great teaching and learning resources for ages 3-14 in the UK, and Day Chocolate (www.divinechocolate.com) a Fairtrade company that also makes Divine chocolates.

Sports Relief
www.sportrelief.com/schools/teach/
Developed for use in the UK, this teaching and learning resource for ages 3-14 aids in developing empathy, bringing complex issues to life and for stimulating learning, reflection and act. A great source of ideas for educators trying to bring fair trade curriculum into US classrooms.

Oxfam - Cool Planet
www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/
Oxfam campaigns against global trade inequalities. Cool Planet is primarily intended for teachers in England, Scotland and Wales and their students. These lesson plans will help you explore global trade and make its complexities accessible to primary school pupils. Includes a scheme of work and activity sheets. The teacher resources (www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/teachers/fairtrade_resources/index.htm) link offers information and activities that teachers can use to help their students understand trade issues. Also gives ideas on how students can take action for change.

Global Gang - Fair Trade
www.globalgang.org.uk/planetteacher/fairtrade/
A fun and interactive website from the UK to bring global issues into the classroom. Fair trade is explored through classroom activities and lesson plans. A teaching supplement, Chocolate Can be Good for You ((PDF 0.1 MB)), uses the stories of children from Ghana and Brazil who work on cocoa plantations to illustrate the principles of fair trade, and can be easily applied in US classrooms. Sponsored by Christian Aid, an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, that works with needy communities irrespective of religion or race.

International Studies Schools Association
www.du.edu/issa
A national network of K-12 schools, administered by University of Denver’s Center for Teaching International Relations (CTIR), dedicated to improving students’ understanding of the world. Offers a wealth of resources, including for purchase (www.du.edu/issa/curriculumUnits.html) and free ready-to use (www.du.edu/issa/lessonPlans.html) publications and pre-packaged lesson plans, as well as, free ready-to-use lesson plans. Some resources relevant to fair trade include, the Globalization 101 lesson, and The Global Marketplace (www.du.edu/worldaffairschallenge/).

Journeys in Film
www.journeysinfilm.org
Combines foreign film with curricula for US middle school students to promote international education, cultural understanding, media literacy, and basic core subject skills among middle-school students in the US. Films cover topics such as basic human needs and child labor issues, which provide a good foundation for, or supplement to, fair trade curriculum.

Heifer
www.heifered.org
Free curricula publications are available as part of a Read to Feed campaign, part of the organization’s mission to end world hunger. Examples include Get IT—Global Education to Improve Tomorrow (www.heifered.org/getit/curriculum/default1.asp) a national standards-based curriculum for 6th-8th grade students focusing on consumer choices and how a person's everyday decisions can affect other people and environments around the world. Another useful curriculum, entitled Lessons from A Village Called Earth (www.readtofeed.org/for_teachers_leaders_and_parents/curriculum_guide_3rd_4th/default.asp), is standards-based curricula for 3rd-6th grade educators. An economics lesson plan specifically addresses the economic principles behind fair trade.

Catholic Agency for Overseas Development - CAFOD
www.cafod.org.uk/resources/secondary_schools/fairtrade
Innovative lesson plans created for UK schools, but a great starting point for any educator interested in bringing fair trade into the classroom in a fun, yet academically rigorous way.

Linking International Trade Education (LITE)
www.liteprogram.net/news.htm
An initiative in the K-12 educational community designed to enhance student knowledge of the global economy and to provide teachers with technology resources and curriculum applications needed to enrich their students' learning. Some teacher resources, like curriculum modules http://www.liteprogram.net/resources.htm#curriculum such as Fair Trade for All are available by request.

Educators for Social Responsibility
www.esrnational.org/home.htm
Offers general ideas and resources to promote social responsibility and provide a base for teaching fair trade principles.

Catholic Relief Services
Fair Trade and Catholic School Teaching
(PDF 0.9 MB)
This resource explores the connections between Fair Trade and core principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and explains how you are helping to make the economy work for everyone when you participate in the CRS Fair Trade Program. Downloadable resources (www.crsfairtrade.org/what_is/dload_resc.cfm) are available to help introduce the Fair Trade concept and the CRS Fair Trade Program to others in your school and community. One highlight is a very informative video on coffee on fair trade that could be used in classrooms.