Holding your first Model United Nations Conference can be scary for students.
It requires the ability to think quick on their feet, speak publicly, collaborate with other delegates, and rapidly develop arguments and counter-arguments.
These skills aren’t gained overnight.
Instead, they have to be carefully scaffolded so that students have had a number of chances to acquire them.
Meet the Fruit 🥗 Salad or Zoo 🐅 Animal Conference.
This fun, lighthearted simulation, will help students gain these necessary skills in a mock session.
If you run the fruit salad simulation, center it on a new salad bar opening up at lunch. Each student will represent a different fruit and work together to come to a resolution on how much of each fruit to include.
If you run the zoo animal simulation, pretend that a new zoo is opening up in the area. Each student will represent a different zoo animal and work together on a resolution for where it will be placed, the layout, and how many of each animal to include.
You can run either simulation in the same format as the actual Model United Nations Conference so delegates get familiar with procedures:
- Roll Call
- Set the Agenda
- Run the Debate (Opening Statements, Speaker List, Moderated and Unmoderated Caucuses)
- Create the Draft Resolution
- Vote and Pass the Resolution
Here is an example of a sample draft resolution, to give students an idea of what they will create as a result of the simulation.
And if it helps, here is an overview of Conference Procedure and Protocols.
Have fun! And keep taking courageous steps to make learning real world and relevant for your kids!
Your [co] learning experience designer,
p.s. To access the sample resolution, you first need to be shared on the entire MUN folder I shared earlier, that’s here.
p.s.s. Here is a link to all the posts around the Model United Nations project, and how to discuss the 🇺🇦 Ukraine Invasion with your kids.