Overview
This class enables students to gain a basic understanding of human rights that they will need to investigate human rights related to water issues. They will learn about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and work with a partner to identify any rights they feel are not being supported in their community and other areas of the world. As a class, they will explore the UDHR articles further by creating their own articles for the Rights of the Teenager.
Grade Level
8th - 12th Grades
Essential questions the lesson will address:
● Do all human beings have the same rights?
● Which human rights are being well addressed in our local community and which are not?
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
● Articulate and compare their classroom definition of human rights with the UN definitions.
● Work with other students to identify articles in the UDHR that they feel are being upheld in their community or are not being upheld.
● Synthesize their knowledge of the UDHR to create their own articles on the Rights of Teenagers.
Common Core State Standards (9th Grade)
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2 (Grades 9-10)
● CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4 (Grades 9-10)
Curriculum Glossary and Key Concepts and Ideas
● Human Rights: Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination
● Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives from different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.
International Document Reference
● The entirety of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Formative Assessment Strategies (What will you be looking for in their work, and how?)
The teacher can make a note of…..
● Individual student participation in whole-class discussions.
● Class-wide discussion around defining ‘human rights’.
● Class-wide discussion in the Rights of the Teenager brainstorm.
Materials for Instructor
● Handouts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
● Water Warriors Glossary Board (Physical or Virtual)
● Whiteboard/Blackboard and chalk/marker
● Sample of a completed Rights of the Teenager document
Materials for Students
● Handouts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
● Imagine Journals
LESSON PLAN
I. Introduction Discussion (10 min.)
Write “human rights” on the whiteboard or blackboard for all students to see. Ask students to share what they know about human rights popcorn style. As students share, write their definitions and ideas on the board in real-time.
Then ask students to look at all the ideas on the board and think of differences when people’s rights are supported and when they are not.
Target answers may include:
● The age of people being affected
● Peoples’ ethnicity or race
● Peoples’ economic class
Ask students if they think all people should be treated with respect, dignity, and equality. Then ask students if they think there are rights for every human being on earth.
II. Defining Human Rights (10 min.)
Use all the ideas on the board to create a class definition for human rights. Remind students there is no pressure for the definition to be right or wrong. Write their agreed-upon definition on the board.
After they have created their own class definition of human rights, share the accepted United Nations definition of human rights.
“The basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.”
Ask students to point out the differences between their definition and the UN definition. Then ask students if their definition is missing anything and if they would like to rewrite their definition of human rights. If so, write their new definition on the board next to their original definition.
Explain that in 1948 the United Nations created The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)—the first document listing the 30 human rights to which everyone is entitled. 193 countries belong to the United Nations. They must agree to the principles of the UDHR before becoming members.
III. Exploration of the UDHR (25 min.)
Step One (10 min.)
Ask students to sit with a partner, and then hand out copies of the UDHR. Ask the students to review the document and to think of any human rights that can be applied specifically to their neighborhood or school. Encourage the students to think about specific rights that apply to those settings that are not listed in the Declaration.
Step Two (15 min.)
After the students have gone through the UDHR with their partners, ask them to share any rights they felt were not included. List these on the classroom board. Ask the students who they think are responsible for upholding human rights.
(Note: If the students do not mention these actors, be sure to bring up: government actors such as presidents, governors, and mayors; people in authority, such as parents and principals of schools; and regular people, such as friends and classmates.)
Then ask them if there were any rights among these ‘new rights’ that are specific to being teenagers. Start a new list on the classroom board with the heading: Rights of the Teenager.
Transfer rights from the ‘new rights’ list to the Rights of the Teenager and encourage students to think of additional rights to add to the Rights of the Teenager.
IV. Closing Discussion (5 min.)
Ask students if their new understanding of the UDHR has affected how they view their own human rights as teenagers. If so, how?
Ask students if their new understanding of the UDHR has changed their view of how the global community views human rights. If so, how?
V. Homework