Peace Day Lesson Plans
and Activities for September 21

Teaching Resources and Fun Activities for Peace Day

Welcome my Peace Day Lesson Plans web page for teachers.

The International Day of Peace, also known as World Peace Day, is celebrated on September 21. This day is dedicated to peace, or specifically to the absence of war. It is observed by many nations, political groups, and military groups.

The first year this holiday was celebrated was 1981. To recognize the beginning of this day, the "Peace Bell" is rung at UN Headquarters. The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents.

On this Peace Day lesson plans page, you will find teaching resources for creative writing that include poems, group projects, stationery sets, and decorations for your elementary classroom bulletin board displays.

NOTE: Since many teachers use PEACE as a theme at other times of the year, each set below contains two sets of teaching resources.

The first set contains the words "Peace Day" and "September 21" printed on them.

The second set is a generic set that just contains "Peace" printed on the worksheets, templates, and banners. This set of teaching resources is designed to be used anytime during the school year.

Peace Day Poems:
Acrostic Poems Written Inside Globe Templates

Are you looking for a generic set of PEACE
teaching resources that can be used any time of the year?

There are two sets of teaching resources in these poetry lesson plans:

1. The first set contains the words "Peace Day" and the date "September 21" on the templates and banner. The banner above is an example from this set.
2. The second set is a generic peace teaching resource that can be used any time of the year. The banner below is an example from this set.

Peace Day Lesson Plans: Peace Day is celebrated around the world on September 21. This day is a perfect opportunity to have your students write a poem that contains a theme about world peace.

This is a P.E.A.C.E. Day acrostic poem creative writing assignment that is set inside a globe template. Students lightly color the background of the continents and oceans in their globes, and then use a dark pen to write their acrostic poems on the lines.

After students have cut out the globe templates along the thick borders, they will have unique globe shaped poetry projects.

These Peace Day globes will make a colorful bulletin board display in your classroom that will highlight this important date which is recognized around the world.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans includes:

• first draft printable worksheets
• black and white globe templates and printable worksheets
• globe templates and printable worksheets in 6 different colors
• matching 5 page bulletin board display banner
• 6 globe bulletin board accent pieces

Everything that you need to complete this Peace Day poetry assignment with your students is included in this set of teaching resources. All that you will need is scissors, coloring pencils, and pens.

For creative writing assignments, I believe that it is important for students to go through the steps of the writing process.

For this reason, my students never begin writing their peace poems on their final draft globe templates, instead they write on first draft worksheets. Then, students edit and revise their poems on their own, with a partner, or in individual writing conferences with me.

After students have edited and revised the first drafts of their poems, you should give them their final draft globe templates.

The Peace Day globe template measures 9 inches in length and 7 inches in width.

For their final drafts, students lightly color the continents and oceans using color pencils. Then, using a dark ink pen, students write their Peace Day poems on the lines.

These globe templates have thick border lines, so it is easy for students to cut out their globe poetry templates themselves.

By using these unique globe templates, you will be able to create a dynamic poetry bulletin board display that highlights Peace Day in your classroom.

As I am introducing this poetry assignment to my students, I like to begin by sharing my Peace Day poem with my students.

At the front of my classroom, I display an example of what the final draft globe templates look like.

I have found that when I give my students fun templates to write on, they tend to use their best effort, and they are more careful to not make careless errors.

Besides the rainbow and red templates shown above, there are yellow, orange, green, and blue globe templates in this set of Peace Day lesson plans.

You can choose to print out multiple copies of the colorful globe templates and give them to your students to write their poems on instead of the black and white globe templates.

If you choose to use the color globe templates with your students, your finished classroom bulletin board display of your students' Peace Day poems will be a bright array of rainbow colors.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans includes two bulletin board display banners. Visual examples of these banners are found at at the beginning of the description for this set of teaching resources.

If you have access to a laminating machine, you can laminate your banner so that it is durable and you can use it year after year for your classroom bulletin board displays of these Peace Day poems.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans also includes 6 globe bulletin board accent pieces (shown below) to help you decorate your classroom bulletin board display.

By using the 5 page bulletin board display banner and the globe accent pieces, your colorful Peace Day poetry bulletin board display will be sure to capture everyone's attention!

Fun Puzzles For Your Classroom For Peace Day:

Peace Day Doves:
Creative Writing Templates

Peace Day Dove Templates: Doves are the universal symbol of peace so I have designed creative writing templates that are shaped like doves for this unique peace project.

After students have cut out their dove's body and the wing templates along the thick borders and glued the two templates together, they will have unique dove shaped creative writing projects.

These peace doves will make an dynamic bulletin board display in your elementary school classroom that will will capture everyone's eye.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans includes:

• first draft printable worksheets
• black and white dove templates facing both left and right
• dove templates in 8 different colors facing both left and right
• matching 5 page bulletin board display banner (shown above)
• 4 dove bulletin board accent pieces facing both left and right

Everything that you need to complete these dove creative writing activities with your students is included in this set of teaching resources. All that you will need is scissors, coloring pencils, and pens.

For creative writing assignments, I believe that it is important for students to go through the steps of the writing process.

For this reason, my students never begin writing on their final draft dove templates, instead they write on first draft worksheets. Then, students edit and revise their work on their own, with a partner, or in individual writing conferences with me.

I have not written a writing topic on these dove templates because I wanted teachers to be able to choose their own creative writing topics for their students.

Below are some ideas for Peace Day
creative writing prompts and topics:

• My wish for peace.
• What the word "peace" means to me.
• Who is a peaceful person that you know?
• Who is a peaceful person that you admire?
• Why has world peace been hard to achieve?
• Why is it important to have a Peace Day?
• What needs to happen for world peace to occur?
• How can children promote peace in the world?
• If you had to grade the world on its peacefulness, how would it score?
• What can you do to help keep peace in your school and your classroom?

After your students have edited and revised their first drafts, you should give them their final draft dove templates.

The assembled dove project measures 9 inches in length and 9 inches in width.

These dove templates have thick border lines, so it is easy for students to cut out their two templates themselves and then glue them together.

In order to give your finished bulletin board display more variety, I have designed dove templates facing both left and right.

By using these unique left and right dove templates, you will be able to create a dynamic bulletin board display that highlights Peace Day in your classroom.

The dove templates below contain the word "Peace" written on them instead of "Peace Day," so they can be used for general peace projects that are not for Peace Day and September 21.

Below are examples of the body and wing templates assembled together. The assembled dove project measures 9 inches x 9 inches.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans includes 8 different colors of dove templates.
Below are examples of the rainbow, blue, and pink dove templates.

There are also yellow, orange, green, red, and purple dove templates included in this set of Peace Day teaching resources, but they are not shown below. 8 color dove templates that only have the word "Peace" written on them are also included in this set.

This set of Peace Day lesson plans also includes two different bulletin board display banners which are shown at the beginning of this resource's description.

In addition, this set of Peace Day teaching resources includes 4 dove bulletin board accent pieces (shown below) to help you decorate your classroom bulletin board display.

By using the 5 page bulletin board display banner and the dove accent pieces, your colorful Peace Day creative writing bulletin board display will be sure to capture everyone's attention!

Peace Day Group Project:
Large Peace Letters Creative Writing Assignment

Are you looking for a fun idea for a group project for Peace Day?

Do you want to create a Peace Day bulletin board display in your classroom that will capture everyone's attention?

This creative writing assignment is perfect for Peace Day, which is celebrated in countries around the world on September 21. This group project can also be used anytime during the school year when you are teaching a curriculum unit with a peace theme.

Divide your class into groups of five students. Each student in the group will complete one of the five P-E-A-C-E letters.

After students have completed writing their letter templates, tape all of the five letters together to form a banner as shown in the example above. This finished Peace group project measures 28 inches x 9 inches.

Instead of taping the five letters together to form a Peace Banner, you can keep the letters separated and display them in your classroom as shown in the example above.

There are 7 different colors of Peace letter templates
to choose from in this set of teaching resources:

1. black and white

2. rainbow

3. five different colors

4. purple

5. sky blue

6. yellow and orange

7. desert rust

I have not written a writing topic or title on these PEACE templates because I wanted teachers to be able to choose their own creative writing topics for their students.

Please see the above dove resource section where I have posted ideas for Peace Day writing prompts and ideas.

Peace Day Letter Writing
Stationery and Matching Banner Set

Do you want to include a letter writing activity in your Peace Day lesson plans?

Prior to Peace Day, I have my students write a letter to the President of our country, or to another world leader, about the topic of peace.

You can also let your students choose the person that they want to write their letters to.

This set of Peace Day teaching resources includes a black and white first draft worksheet and a color final draft worksheet. For the final draft assignments, I have my students cut their worksheets along the thick black borders because the worksheets look better displayed on a bulletin board if this blank space has been cut off.

This "Peace Day" letter writing
stationery set includes the following:

There is a second version of the banner and the worksheets. This set of
teaching resources can be used all year long for a Peace Theme and
they are not specific to Peace Day and the date of September 21.

Peace Day Websites
and Resources For Teachers:

• Visit Wikipedia's International Day of Peace page to learn more about this holiday.
• The International Day of Peace web site has information about planning your own Peace Day and a Peace Day Cease Fire.
• The Peace Corps For Kids is a kid-friendly site about the services of the U.S. Peace Corps
• On The Official Web Site of the Nobel Prize children can read about the outstanding people who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The site includes biographies, lectures, and educational material.
• The Peace Corps For Kids is a kid-friendly site about the services of the U.S. Peace Corps.
• A book that I have read with my students at this time of the year is Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr. This book is set after World War 2 and is about a young Japanese girl who develops leukemia from the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. This book is based on the true story of a Japanese girl named Sadako.

Songs With a Peace Day Theme:

Are you an elementary school teacher that enjoys playing the guitar? Do you play the guitar and sing songs with your students during circle time?

Are you looking for some songs that you can teach your students and sing with them on Peace Day?

On Peace Day, make circle time a memorable experience for your students by singing some songs with them that teach about peace through their lyrics. Below you will find links to learn how to play five different songs that have a "peace theme" in their lyrics.

On Learn Classic Rock Songs (http://www.learn-classic-rock-songs.com) you can find song lyrics and video tutorials that will teach you how to play the following songs:

• This Land is Your Land Lyrics and Video Tutorial
• What a Wonderful World Lyrics and Video Tutorial
• John Lennon Imagine Lyrics and Video Tutorial
• How To Play Blowing In The Wind By Bob Dylan and Video Tutorial
• Cat Stevens Lyrics For Peace Train and Video Tutorial

Are you interested in viewing other
seasonal and holiday teaching resources?