Topic – AFRICA This week we are going to be delving into our new topic, all about the continent, Africa. There are lots of fun activities for you to choose from, including, Geography, Music, Languages andHistory to fully submerge you into the African culture. Below is an overview of these activities, and any resources you need, can be found over the next few pages! Remember to send anything that you make or do to our email address for me to see! Have fun! Geography Use the maps on the following pages to find the continent Africa, and begin to locate some of its countries by filling in the blank map. Where is Africa on the world map? Can you find it? If you had to rank all the continents from smallest to largest, where would Africa come? How many countries has it got? Find where we are on the map to see how far away from Africa we are. As an extra task, you might like to revisit your understanding of reading the map coordinates to write the location of different countries. We call these the longitudinal and lattitudinal coordinates. Can you remember looking at these way back in the Autumn term? You can find some extra information on the worksheet provided! Languages There are many different languages spoken in Africa. This week I thought you might like to have a go at learning some basic phrases from the official language of Ghana, Called ‘Ashanti Twi’. The song for the music activitiy also comes from Ghana this week – can you find Ghana on your map? You can find a larger version of this poster in the resources that follow. Music This week I thought I would introduce you to one of my favourite African songs that originates from Ghana. It’s called ‘Che Che Kooley’ (it can often be spelt in many different ways if you do try and research more about it!). You can find a link to listen to the song on Swallows Learning page on the website, or simply search for the title in YouTube. In the resouces to follow you will see that we will learn the lyrics of the song, then start to think about the pulse and rhythm. History: Let’s look at some key events in Africa’s past. Read the key events of Africa Past of on the reource sheet provided and produce a timeline. You might like to carry Africa out some more research of other key events and add these on too! Once you have done this, start to think about which you think are the most important and why. History: Each week we will look at a famous person of Africa. From researching Important deforestattion last week, I thought it was important to start with people of Wangari Maarthai – an incrediable woman who founded the Green Belt Africa Movement in 1977, which encouraged people to plant trees to help the environment. You can find more information about her on the resource sheet provided. Once you have learnt all about her, create a fact file about her. We will do this each week to create our own booklet about these important people.

Topic – AFRICA: Geography Activity Geography Use the maps on the following pages to find the continent Africa and begin to locate some of its countries by filling in the blank map.

Where is Africa on the world map? Can you find it? If you had to rank all the continents from smallest to largest, where would Africa come? How many countries has it got? Find where we are to see how far away Africa is from us.

As an extra task, you might like to revisit your understanding of reading the map coordintates to write the location of different countries. We call these the longitudinal and lattitudinal coordinates. Can you remember looking at these way back in the Autumn term?

Here is a world map to help you. You will find a map of Africa on the next page.

Use the map of Africa below to help you label the countries on the blank version – don’t forget those capital letters as they are all proper nouns! EXTRA! EXTRA! Can you find what country in Africa I am thinking of? The longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates are: 15° S, 30° E

Use the grid to help you on the map. The longitudinal co-ordinates are North and South (up and down) and the latitudinal coordinates are East and West (right and left).

The answer is: Zambia (although Zimbabwe is very close too!) See if you can write coordinates for other countries in Africa!

Topic – AFRICA: Languages – Ashanti Twi from Ghana

Topic – AFRICA: Music (Che Che Kooley) Che Che Kooley is a traditional folk song from Ghana in Africa. Can you find Ghana on your map? It is also a call and response song. This means one person sings it, then the rest repeat! To listen to the song, simply look on this week’s learning on the Swallow Page Website, or type into YouTube (check with an adult that this is ok first!) Don’t panic if the name of the song looks different – there are many alternative spellings. Below are the lyrics to the song and the translation to English. Does it remind you of any other songs? Sing it a few times and get your family to join in to! You could alternate who calls and who responds!

PULSE Can you tap your foot to the pulse in the song – this is the constant underlying beat. Counting to 4 might help you! Here is an example of the first two lines. Can you complete the chart for the next three lines of the song?

1 2 3 4

Che Che Koo- -ley

1 2 3 4

Che Che Koffee sa

RHYTHM 1 2 3 4 Now can you clap the rhythm of the song? This is the long and short Che Che Koo- -ley notes in the song. An example is shown for the first two lines below. 1 2 3 4 Can you complete for the rest? Notice that ‘koffee’ has to hand Che Che Koffee sa claps. Why do you think that is?

You could start to experiment With using different parts of

Your body or instruments to practice the rhythm. You could bang a drum or a table, stamp your foot – even try and whistle!

Topic – AFRICA: History (Africa’s Past). Read the slides from the PowerPoint and then complete the activities. Activity 1 – Create a timeline of the key events from slide 5 (use the dates to help if are unsure). Activity 2 – Think carefully about which events you think are the most important and why. You can find the worksheets for this on the following page.

Topic – AFRICA: Famous People History: Each week we will look at a famous person of Africa. From researching Important deforestattion last week, I thought it was important to start with people of Wangari Maarthai – an incrediable woman who founded the Green Belt Africa Movement in 1977, which encourages people to plant trees to help the environment. You can find more information about her on the resource sheet provided. Once you have learnt all about her, create a fact file about her. Include important information such as: name, when she was born, where she lived, education, achievements/ impact on Africa, family and when she died.

Wangari Maathai Biography Environmental Activist (1940–2011)

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan political and environmental activist and her country's assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife.

Early Life and Education Born on , 1940, in , , environmental activist Wangari Maathai grew up in a small village. Her father supported the family working as a tenant farmer. At this time, Kenya was still a British colony. Maathai's family decided to send her to school, which was uncommon for girls to be educated at this time. She started at a local primary school when she was 8 years old.

An excellent student, Maathai was able to continue her education at the Loreto Girls' High School. She won a scholarship in 1960 to go to college in the . Maathai attended Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas, where she earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1964. Two years later, she completed a master's degree in biological sciences at the University of .

Returning to Kenya, Maathai studied veterinary anatomy at the University of . She made history in 1971, becoming the first woman in to earn a doctorate degree. Maathai joined the university's faculty and became the first woman to chair a university department in the region in 1976.

Green Belt Movement Maathai sought to end the devastation of Kenya's forests and lands caused by development and remedy the negative impact that this development had on the country's environment. In 1977, she launched the to reforest her beloved country while helping the nation's women. "Women needed income and they needed resources because theirs were being depleted," Maathai explained to People magazine. "So we decided to solve both problems together."

Proving to be very successful, the movement is responsible for the planting of more than 30 million trees in Kenya and providing roughly 30,000 women with new skills and opportunities. Maathai also challenged the government on its development plans and its handling of the country's land. An outspoken critic of dictator , she was beaten and arrested numerous times. One of her most famous actions was in 1989. Maathai and her organization staged a protest in Nairobi's Uhuru Park to prevent the construction of a skyscraper. Her campaign drew international attention, and the project was eventually dropped. The place in the park where she demonstrated became known as "Freedom Corner."

Internationally Acclaimed Activist Maathai remained a vocal opponent of the Kenyan government until Moi's political party lost control in 2002. After several failed attempts, she finally earned a seat in the country's parliament that same year. Maathai soon was appointed assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife. In 2004, she received a remarkable honour. Maathai was given the 2004 for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace," according to the Nobel Foundation website.

In her Nobel speech, Maathai said that picking her for the renowned peace prize "challenged the world to broaden the understanding of peace: There can be no peace without equitable development; and there can be no development without sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space." She also called for the release of fellow activist in her talk.

Later Years Maathai shared her amazing life story with the world in the 2006 memoir Unbowed. She died on , 2011, at the age of 71 years old. Maathai was survived by her three children: Waweru, Wanjira and Muta.

Former U.S. vice president and fellow environmentalist was among those who offered remembrances of Maathai. "Wangari overcame incredible obstacles to devote her life to service— service to her children, to her constituents, to the women, and indeed all the people of Kenya— and to the world as a whole,'' according to The New York Times. She remains a potent example of how one person can be a force for change. As Maathai once wrote in her memoir, "What people see as fearlessness is really persistence."