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"We think Playland is an excellent way to introduce international concepts..."
Principality of Sealand

 

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This page was last updated on 23rd March 2007
HOW SOME SIMPLE ESL ACTIVITIES BECAME A MICRONATION


Andreas Teacher MP shows how some simple ESL classroom activities led to the foundation of the Kingdom of Playland


Playland Island
Constitution
Identities
Flag
Coat of Arms
Anthem

PLAYLAND ISLAND
Playland Island began as an adaptation of an activity first shown to me by Neil Cooper, Director of CIE Idiomas, in Algeciras, Spain. He began by drawing a random shape on the board:

Neil would then go on to question the class about what the shape was. This elicited all kinds of answers... a cloud, a ghost, a spot, an elephant. He let them keep guessing giving them more and more clues until someone said "it's an island!" He then told them that this island was to be their island and that they needed to tell him about its features (e.g. geographical, flora and fauna, climate etc) and name them. These were then added to the drawing.
Neil's activity went on to survival on a desert island. Playland (as named by Carolina Silva MP) however was populated and was given the typical features of a modern country. See completed map...
 
THE CONSTITUTION

The Playland Constitution was drafted using an adaptation of an activity from Activity Box by Cambridge University Press:

The students of class________________________ promise
1 ___________________________________________________
2 ___________________________________________________
3 ___________________________________________________
4 ___________________________________________________
5 ___________________________________________________

The teacher of class________________________ promises
1 ___________________________________________________
2 ___________________________________________________
3 ___________________________________________________
4 ___________________________________________________
5 ___________________________________________________

Signed...
 
Playlanders were asked to decide what their priorities as citizens of the new nation would be.
See the constitution...
 
IDENTITIES
To protect the identities of Playland citizens (whose average age is 12) I decided it was necessary to give the nationals an alias on naturalisation. This was an adaptation of an activity first shown to me by Jūratė Gabiūnaitė, teacher at Soros International House, in Vilnius, Lithuania. Jūratė asked her class to name:
  1. a fruit
  2. a vegetable
  3. a number between 1 and 200
  4. do you like football?
  5. how many pens have you got?
  6. the first thing you do in the morning after you get up
 
She would then tell her class that each number related to new identities. I.e:
  1. first name
  2. surname
  3. age
  4. marital status
  5. children
  6. job
The class were told that they were at a party and they had to introducing themselves to each other. They had great fun meeting for example, Mr Pineapple Cabbage, who was 76, married, had four children, and worked as a tooth brusher.
 
FLAG
Once the national symbols had been decided the Playlanders decided that the colours were to be orange, blue and white. The Rt Honorable Telmo Micaelo MP was given the below template and asked to design a flag:
 
COAT OF ARMS
Similar to the creation of the flag, The Rt Honorable Smartie Albuquerque was given the below template and asked to create a coat of arms incorporating the national symbols:
 
NATIONAL ANTHEM
I took the lyrics of a popular song and blanked out some of the lines. The Playlanders were then asked to suggest new words to complete the gaps:

Land Down Under
by Men At Work, 1983

Travelling in a _____________
On a _____________ , _____________ full of _____________
I met a strange lady, she made me nervous
She took me in and gave me breakfast
And she said,

"Do you come from the land _____________ ?
Where women _____________ and men _____________ ?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Buying _____________ from a man in _____________
He was six foot four and full of muscles
I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a _____________
And he said,

"I come from the land _____________
Where women _____________ and men _____________
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."

Lying in a _____________ in _____________
With a _____________, and not much to say
I said to the man, "Are you trying to _____________
Because I come from the land of _____________?"
And he said,

"Oh! Do you come from the land of _____________? (oh yeah yeah)
Where women _____________ and men _____________?
Can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover."
 

Reproduction of any of this material without written permission from the Playland Government is prohibited.
© 2006 The Kingdom of Playland, All rights reserved.

 

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