Download No Place Like Home resource here - Focus Ireland

Unit 1-final 14/08/2007 17:28 Page 15Read the following story to the children:Lisa’s StoryI remember when I couldn’t wait to get home from school to the warmth andsafety that waited there for me. I loved to walk in the door to the smell of thedinner my Dad was cooking for us and to sink into my favourite chair to read mybook while I waited to eat. After dinner my brother and I always went out toplay soccer in the garden before starting our homework. I loved to sit at thekitchen table doing homework while my Dad did the washing or read thenewspaper so that he could be near if we needed help. I felt happy, safe,comfortable and carefree then. If I had known how much things would change,I would have appreciated my home more and not been so quick to complain whenmy brother spent too long in the bathroom, or when my Mam asked me to go tobed early.After Mam lost her job, we couldn’t afford to keep our house so we came tostay in a private emergency accommodation for homeless families. We couldn’tcarry too much around with us so I could only bring some clothes and myfavourite teddy bear. We left behind our computer games, our CD player, mostof our toys and books and my lovely pink curtains and duvet. There’s no gardenhere for us to play in any more and I have to sit on my bed to do my homeworknow. There are no chairs to relax in but we do sit on our suitcases when we’rechatting at night. I hope we get a new home soon so that I can see my dadeveryday again.• Explore Lisa’s Story with the help of the following questions:- What did Lisa love about her home? Elicit the people, smells, objects, routines, feelings, etc. thatshe associated with home.- How has her life changed since she lost her home?- What does she miss about her home?- What does home mean to the children?- What feelings do they get when they are at home? Do they feel comfortable/relaxed/safe/secure?- How would they feel if they lived like Lisa and her family? What would they miss about home?• Invite the children to write an acrostic poem based on the letters h-o-m-e and to recite their poemfor the rest of the class. Allow the children to draft, redraft and decorate their poems so that theymay be displayed on the classroom walls.Encourage the children to interview their parents/guardians about what homemeant for them when they were growing up. Elicit from them what sorts ofquestions they might ask, ensuring to include the people, sounds, smells, objects,routines, celebrations, games, etc. that their parents may have associated withhome.15