Exercise 1: Patriotism and its values

Duration: 45 min

The aims of the exercise: to show students a wide spectrum of values that form a basis for patriotism

Materials: Bristol board, markers in different colours

Methods: brainstorm, mind map, teamwork, discussion

Instruction for teacher

The exercise is composed of three parts: brainstorming, creating mind maps and discussion. The exercise starts with brainstorming, therefore, ask students the following question: What is patriotism for you? In the course of discussion, write down the answers presented by the students on a Bristol. In the next step, divide the students into groups of 3–5, give each group a Bristol and a set of markers in different colours and ask them to create a mind map.

In order to create the mind map, each of the groups should respond to the question: What are the key values of patriotism? The main concept of the mind map is the term: “VALUES OF PATRIOTISM”. The students should write their answers by adding branches to the main concept, starting from the basic ones. While exploring the topic, they may add more branches. If they wish, they may add pictures.

At the final stage, ask all the groups to present the results of their teamwork and discuss them. After that, show them the Bristol presenting the outcomes of the brainstorm (from the first stage of the exercise) and invite them to discuss how would they link values presented on their mind maps to their visions of patriotism.