How Our 7th Graders Study Human Rights
The Human Rights Unit in 7th grade Humanities had students going deep last spring. Through the creation of maps representing the civil, political, social, cultural, and economic rights available in students’ neighborhoods, teachers Brandon and Jeff familiarized their students with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students then chose a work of fiction that dug into human rights violations like women’s rights in Matched by @allycondiebooks or gun violence in All American Boys by @jasonreynolds83.
Focusing on either the country most impacted by the issues they read about or the NGOs working to tackle them, 7th graders further explored the real life implications and solutions behind the human rights in question with final projects that educated us using infomercials, infographics, and posters.
Following the actual rules and practices used at the UN, students role-played delegates in a Model UN, where they learned about current world issues, the power of the veto, and the importance of strategies like lobbying.
Throughout this unit, our students also had the unique opportunity to engage directly with folks working in NGOs. Thank you to the Ujamaa Community Resource Team (@ujamaa_crt) for educating us on the significant human rights efforts they are spearheading in Tanzania. And big gratitude to Dr. Karilyn Crockett, @MIT professor in urban planning, who helped us understand how highways can make or break a society.
