THINK & DO SESSION 1 - GETTING ACQUAINTED

DURATION:
1,5 - 2 hours

LESSON CONTENT:
1. Introduction of Move and the theme of the project
2. Getting acquainted (students and children)
3. Getting to know more about the student life
4. Dialogue with the children’s about their neighbourhood
5. Preparing the exploration of the neighbourhood (e.g. which groups live in the
neighbourhood)

INTRODUCING MOVE
• Clearly explain the goal of the Move-project. Children need a focus point to work
towards (see the text below for an example).

“Stichting Move connects students like us with children like you, so we can get to know each
other better, and together we will come up with a plan to improve the neighbourhood. During
the next few months we will visit you six times to think of a plan together that will make the
neighbourhood nicer. We will create a great project together!

• Use the timeline you find on the student page. There’s a Dutch and an English one.
You can see the English one below too. Decide which one will be best to use for the
children. By making the course of the project visual for the children, they better
understand the duration of the project. You can start every session with the timeline,
and also end the session with the timeline (to reflect to the next session).

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GETTING ACQUAINTED

• Present yourselves to the children

• Get to know the children, try to learn their names as well, this makes children feel
heard.
• The best way to do this is by playing interactive (name-)games. TIP: check the ‘Move
book of games’ on the student page for ideas how to get better acquainted or ask
your PC.

GETTING TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE STUDENT LIFE

• Present the student life to the children and stimulate them to ask questions. You can
tell that you are going to organize a trip to the university/sports club/society together,
to show them your life.

DIALOGUE ABOUT THE CHILDREN’S NEIGHBOURHOOD

• Talk with the children about their neighbourhood. This is best in (small) groups so
that every child has the chance to share her/his opinion.
• Let the children tell you what they think about their neighbourhood and what is there
to find. What are their favourite spots? What do and don’t they like about the
neighbourhood? Further down you can find some examples of questions.
• It is important that, during the exploration of the neighbourhood (think & do session
2), the children walk around with an open mind. In this session it is important to not
yet think about concrete ideas yet.

PREPARING THE EXPLORATION OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

During the next session you will be exploring the neighbourhood with the children. It is
important they think in advance about what they want to investigate.

• Start with the theme of the project (starting point) and chart what the children think
about when dealing with this theme (e.g. by creating a mind map). Divide the children
in groups and think about:
- What they want to investigate.
- Which groups are living in the neighbourhood (e.g. kids, elderly, people from
different cultures).
- Which questions they can ask the residents

It is important the children will come up with more specific questions for more specific
groups they might want to involve in the project later on. Good questions and a clear focus
point will help the kids figure out the right information (see the hand-out on the student page
for example questions).

• Divide tasks for the exploration of the neighbourhood. Possible tasks are:
Task Description
Observer Observes important spots and places in the area
Journalist Writes down the observations and answers of the residents
Timekeeper Watches the time and ensures everyone is back at school on time
(could work together with the route determiner)
Route determiner Determines the route and ensures that the group does not stray or runs
around like a headless chicken

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TIP: in groups of 5, it is easy to have two observers, in groups of 6 it is best to have two
observers and two journalists.

EXAMPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

General questions

- What is there to see in the neighbourhood?

- What stands out when you walk in the streets?
- Where can we go during the exploration of the neighbourhood?
- Where do you like to come?
- Where don’t you like to come?
- What kind/groups of people live in this neighbourhood?

Sport & Health (Sport & Gezondheid)

- Where can people do sports?
- Which associations in the neighbourhood organize (sportive) activities?
- Are there (enough) spots around where residents can get healthy food?

Art & Culture (Kunst & Cultuur)

- Which cultures are there in the neighbourhood?

- What are the nicest spots around?
- Are there certain areas that aren’t nice?

People & Contact (Ontmoeting & Contact)

- Where do you go to meet people from the neighbourhood?

- Do you talk to neighbours or other residents?
- What kind of people/groups live in the neighbourhood?

Nature & Environment (Natuur & Milieu)

- Is the neighbourhood clean?

- Is there (enough) green?
- Is there trash-separation in your neighbourhood/house?

Safety & Freedom (Veiligheid & Vrijheid)

- Do people feel safe in the neighbourhood?

- Are people in the neighbourhood happy?
- Can people be themselves (e.g. sense of freedom)?

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TIPS TO INTEGRATE CULTURE AND LANGUAGE

• Instead of 1.5 hours, make this session 2 hours so you’ll have more time to go in
depth about different cultures, languages and background of students. Also, this way
the children will have more time to get used to the idea of speaking English which
might be ‘scary’ at the beginning. Take your time to create a safe surrounding.
• Tell the children about how the school system works in your home countries.
• Talk about the language barrier. Make sure the children know it is OK if they struggle
and they can always ask the students to slow down, or let someone translate it.
Encourage them to try to speak English and make sure no one laughs at each other.
• Play some language games (let the International students speak Dutch and the
children speak English for example).

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