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Version from March 2010 - Power Point presentation of an introduction to Fair Trade in N. America. The New Conscious Consumer file is free to download and view. 39 slides are shown in an 8-minute show, free to open as Read-Only file, size 39 MB. Get a copy of the booklet, or PDF file, to access the password (at the bottom the Table of Contents) to edit and copy the Power Point file. Please attribute proper credit to FTRN and others if you create a new file. Download Power Point file
Mac users and others unable to open the Power Point file can Download a PDF file of the presentation.
Curricula in the US
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Fair Trade Cocoa Curriculum and Online Resource for Educators
Elementary School
Kids love chocolate! Stimulate elementary school students’ hunger for learning with Global Exchange’s Fair Trade cocoa curriculum, a clever multi-dimensional classroom resource that can be adapted into lesson plans satisfying a variety of standards, including social sciences, language arts, and math. The curriculum addresses social justice issues such as the significance of the difference between Fair Trade and market prices for cocoa, as well as modern child slavery in the cocoa fields. Global Exchange also invites you to join Sweet Smarts, its online group of educators dedicated to teaching about Fair Trade!
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Sports-Themed Modules on Fair Trade and Social Justice Advocacy
Grades K-12
Soccer is the most popular game in the world and what better way to capture your classroom’s attention than a game? RESPECT Fair Trade Sports provides school curricula based on using a Fair Trade Certified soccer ball as a tangible teaching tool. As elementary students create their own paper soccer balls, teachers are able to discuss social justice, global solidarity, development and Fair Trade. Meanwhile, the middle and high school curriculum delves deeper into the Fair Trade principles through a variety of questions and activities, and leads your classroom a step further by providing tools and actions students can take to advance Fair Trade in their community and school.
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‘Teaching Modules on Fair Trade and Catholic Social Teaching’
Middle and High School
Catholic Relief Services offers eight modules for middle school and high school classrooms focusing on the connections between Catholic Social Teaching and Fair Trade principles. The focus is on Fair Trade chocolate and relates to CRS efforts to help students “Raise Money Right” through ethical fundraising. Educators can use modules as a complete unit or individually. The modules draw from the work of other organizations as well as the actual experiences of Catholic classrooms. New resources will be posted on CRS’s website throughout the 2007-2008 academic year.
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Middle or High School
A comprehensive lesson and set of interactive online resources about child slavery in the cocoa industry assembled by Pennsylvanian public school teacher James Forrester.
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Grades 4-9
The Equal Exchange curriculum resources help students begin to build a just and sustainable future, and understand the links between our personal actions and life for all on this planet. These curriculum materials have been designed to take your students from passive consumers to active citizens who make a difference in the world. The Equal Exchange curriculum consists of a wide variety of participatory activities, including visual, auditory and inquiry learning. The curriculum consists of four units: “Our Choices Matter”, “Understanding Fair Trade”, “Understanding Cooperatives”, and ” Make a Difference.” Educators may choose one or two lessons, or all four — depending on time available.
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KIDS and FAIR TRADE - A Teacher’s and Parent’s Guide
Grades 3-8
This free Guide contains six lessons for grades 3-5, for which a suggested coloring book is for sale. Lessons Four, Five and Six can be used by grades 6-8 without the coloring book. The coloring book is available in a bilingual version of English and Spanish. The teacher’s guide and coloring book are designed as tools and resources to help children:
- gain an awareness about handmade Maya traditional arts and crafts, their meaning, importance and how they relate to Fair Trade
- understand the meaning of “handmade” as contrasted with “factory made”
- learn how buying Fair Trade items helps the artisan producers to earn a living wage
- learn about the history and principles of Fair Trade
- Heifer International GET IT!®
GET IT! is a curriculum-based global education and service learning program that teaches students and teachers about sustainable solutions to world hunger and poverty. The curriculum engages students as investigative journalists to research, write about, and act on issues surrounding consumer choices and international trade. Students learn how to ask questions, think critically, and communicate what they learn. By writing and circulating stories based on their research, students get hands-on experience in spreading awareness about consumer issues. Curriculum focuses on three products: bananas, flowers, and coffee. One lesson highlights a Fair Trade coffee cooperative in Guatemala.
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Grades K through 12
Introduce students to Fair Trade and help them become educated global citizens! TransFair’s new curriculum is divided into three units for different age groups. Each unit highlights our global interdependence by focusing on three different Fair Trade foods: Chocolate Explorers (K-2), Banana Bonanza (3-6), and Coffee Connections (7-12). Each unit includes lesson plans with ideas for accessible, interactive activities on topics ranging from geography, economics, social studies, history, environmental studies, and marketing. Also includes a comprehensive list of additional resources and recommended links.
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High School and College
The Community Agroecology Network (CAN) and Oxfam America collaborated to publish a new resource for students and teachers at universities and high schools across the US. This multi-purpose handbook engages students in preparation for field internships in CAN’s partner communities in Central America and Mexico, as well as providing enrichment activities, comprehensive references, and follow-up resources. The handbook can also be adapted for use by anyone interested in teaching and learning about Fair Trade coffee, international trade, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and community development.
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Teachers’ Guide and online curriculum includes suggestions for engaging learning activities. Resources were designed to complement the film Banana Split (2002) which gives an excellent overview of the banana’s rise to become one of America’s staple foods and the simultaneous history of banana farmers coming to operate under oppressive conditions. Promotes a model of smallholder banana production as a potential means for international economic development. Mentions Fair Trade Certification - produced in Canada. Order film.
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Pen pal program and Fair Trade advocacy module
Middle and High School
Youth United Across Borders is FTRN’s enhanced penpal program between U.S. students and youth in Fair Trade producing communities. Following several letter exchanges, participants learn about advocacy and write letters to local media, government officials and President Obama, and also create an exhibit about their experiences in this program to display in their home communities. The Program Guide is designed to aid the group leaders that oversee the youth through this program and offer tools and activities to improve the experience for all participants involved.
Resources from the UK
(There are various useful resources available online which have been developed for use in British schools. However, please note that some units of measure and language may be unfamiliar to your students and may require clarification.)
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Upper Elementary, Middle school - Ages 9-11, 11-14
Comprehensive curriculum focuses on Fair Trade cocoa and Ghana, from Divine Chocolate, and highlights Kuapa Kokoo cooperative of cocoa farmers. Photos available online. Free to download. Curriculum is UK-focused.
- Growing Bananas Reading International Solidarity CentreElementary - 3rd grade and up Students grow bananas from scrap paper and discover how difficult life can be for banana growers in the Caribbean – and how Fairtrade can give them a better deal. A whole class trading game with background information including photos of the production process.
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In this set of lesson plans, students examine the role of the consumer, the local, national and global impact of consumer behavior, and explore how consumer power can change the lives of people in other countries. Includes lesson plan: Buy a banana – who’s affected?
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High School French
This lesson plan looks at the way coffee farmers in the lush, mountainous region of Thiotte in the south-east of Haiti are working to get a fair price for their crops. Includes a fact file on Haiti, statistics on the extent of poverty in Haiti and information on community-run coffee cooperatives, which are helping poor coffee farmers secure fairer prices for their crops. Students also learn directly from a person living in Thiotte who relies on coffee for his livelihood.
Online Activities
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From Oxfam GB in the UK, offers other links and role play games. Includes trade game, what’s in your shopping bag, farmer profiles (banana and cocoa), and online interactive learning site.
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Interactive online resource on coffee, focused on Colombia.
Books that can be used in the classroom
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By Ingrid Hess, published February 2010 ~ Ages 3-8 ~ 40 color pages 8×9 inches, softcover book ~ $12.99 retail plus shipping. Wholesale rate available by contacting FTRN.
FTRN says: “A fun educational read and a joy to look at, this book is a rare and engaging Fair Trade resource for kids aged 3-8. Younger children can search for the ladybug on each spread, and listen to or read the fictional story. Older children can also read the nonfiction sections on each spread.”
Summary/review: Stella & Henry are on a mission to find the perfect gift. With help from Aunt Mabel, the two children discover the world of Fair Trade and learn how shopping wisely can improve people’s lives.
“Think Fair Trade First!” explains Fair Trade’s comprehensive approach to business and development with fun, educational content for kids and grown-ups alike. A great find for teachers to explain how their students can make the world a better place.
~ Carmen K. Iezzi, Executive Director, Fair Trade Federation
Buy it from FTRN
Download free Scavenger Hunt Guide to use with this book.
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By FTRN, published 2010 ~ 34 pg. booklet ~ High school & above ~ $3.95 retail. Bulk rate of $2/copy for orders of 10 or more. PDF version also available for $2. Hard and soft copy now includes code to edit and copy the Power Point presentation of booklet highlights!
FTRN says: “A quick read offering a comprehensive overview of the North American Fair Trade movement. The definitive booklet on Fair Trade’s various models, success stories, major names, facts and figures, brief history and key challenges and opportunities.”
Summary/review: This publication will help readers:
- Understand how Fair Trade relationships in over 60 developing countries enhance the quality of life of producers and their communities.
- Interact with a global community taking action to ease inequities wrought by traditional trade structures.
- Navigate the complicated world of organizations, labels and definitions of Fair Trade.
This booklet was supported by the following sponsors:
Jolica ~ Ganesh Himal ~ Ten Thousand Villages USA
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By Marco Hernandez & Kimberly Grimes ~ ages 10 & up, CD for all ages ~ Fundraiser for the Amazon Nut Project ~ Retail Prices: CD set $22 / Book $15 / Book & CD set together $35 plus shipping ~ Wholesale Prices (3 or more copies): CD set $15 / Book $7.50 plus shipping
FTRN says: “A wonderful read and a joy to the ear, this CD set and book supports Amazonian farmers who strive to provide for their families while preserving the ecological balance of the rainforest.”
Summary/review: Features the smooth rhythms of Bossa Nova of the Brazilian coast to the ancient pipes and strings of the high Amazon jungle, plus a CD with sounds of jungle animals recorded at night. The wonderful “children’s” book of the same name teaches us all, young and old, about the rainforest, its riches and its needs. Traveling down the Amazon is a journey we all need to take, in words if not in canoes, to understand the rich diversity of our planet and why it is at risk.
Buy it from FTRN
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By Diane Abad Vergara. Available from Trafford Publishing.
The script and colorful illustrations of this children’s book work together to simplify the concept of international trade and personify those involved around the world from grower to consumer. In the story we discover that the simple yet important concept of ‘playing fair’ is important for children and grown ups alike.
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By Julia Alvarez. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 2002.
A Cafecito Story is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband’s experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds. Available in Bilingual English/Spanish edition with special section on Fair Trade resources.
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