The stories in the audio files can be used as an educational tool in a variety of ways. 1. Observational questions Listen to the stories in advance then either use the questions in the teachers' worksheets or develop your own questions from the text. Play the audio for the class, ask factual questions, note down the answers on the blackboard, listen again, are the answers correct? Can the class get all the information the second time they listen? 2. Topic discussion Play a selected audio track for the class and discuss the topic of the story, for example in the food section, listen to ‘A Wee Drop of Water’ using the teachers' worksheets ask questions about how the man felt getting the water and why he remembered this incident so well. Now listen to ‘Rations’ in the War section, will this change their opinion about the water story? Can they now understand the man’s reaction to getting water from the well? 3. Compare and contrast Listen to the audio, using the teachers' worksheets get the children to compare the experiences in the stories with their current experiences, e.g. sharing toys, going to work at 14 years old, school days. Now think about the changes in the world since the 1940s imagine how your world will have changed in 60 years. 4. Create and imagine Listen to the audio files or a selection of stories from the files. Using these stories as a starting point, the class can imagine themselves in the situation described and: • Write an entry in a diary recording their experience in work, school, what they had to eat that day, etc. • Write a letter to someone in the story asking them about what has happened in the story; this activity can be extended by swapping the letters and replying to them, responding to the questions in the original letter. • Write a poem about the experiences in one of the stories. • Think about the changes in the world since the 1940s now write about how your world will have changed in 60 years. • Read aloud one of the quotes in the teachers' worksheets, using this as a starting point for a class story, poem or discussion. Now listen to the story told by the older person, how does it compare to the stories imagined by the class? How much information was contained in the one quote? To download the teachers notes related to the audio files click on the link below. The teachers notes include: questions related to the audio files related information to the main areas links to internet sites