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Social Sciences

LESSON PLANS

Digital Rights Source: HRE USA Our understanding of the laws, rights, and responsibilities when we access and use the Internet have lagged behind the extreme pace of technological development. In this lesson, students will learn about the rights we have every time we use a digital device to post, communicate, click, and browse as well as the rights that young people and digital advocates are demanding be enacted into law in the United States. Students will also learn about our responsibilities as users of the Internet regarding the way we consume and share information and engage with others in online spaces. When we better understand our digital rights, we are empowered to be good digital citizens and insist that companies and the government develop technology in ethical and responsible ways. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies Freedom of Speech & Protest in Professional Sports Source: HRE USA Students are asked to step outside of their comfort zones, and analyze opposing perspectives to gain a deeper sense of truth and variance in regards to the Colin Kaepernick protests during the 2016-2017 NFL season. Students relate this to the U.S. Bill of Rights and infuse the UDHR to supplement the content. Grade Level: middle school Subject Area: social studies Going Global – Investigating Global Issues of Interest and Importance Source: HRE USA In this independent research project, students focus on areas of interest to them based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and then study a location that is a hotbed of violations of their chosen human right. The long-term study culminates with a structured presentation of their topic with the intent to raise awareness of Human Rights issues and the intent of proposing a potential solution utilizing specific problem-solving steps.. Grade Level: middle school Subject Area: social studies Human Rights & Justice: An Ancient & Modern Case Study Source: HRE USA This lesson challenges students to establish, defend, and complicate their understandings of the relationship between justice and human rights. Students will evaluate both an ancient law code (Hammurabi’s Code) and modern examples of juvenile justice in the United States using relevant articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to determine the ways in which human rights can be challenged or reinforced by different applications of justice. Grade Level: middle school Subject Area: social studies Human Rights and Service Learning Source: Amnesty International USA An introduction to human rights service learning with a lesson on poverty. Grade Level: middle – high school Subject Area: social studies, service learning Human Rights & The South African Constitution Source: HRE USA In this lesson on the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, students will look at the Constitution of South Africa because it is the most pro-human rights constitution in the world, with guarantees for housing, healthcare, food, water, a clean environment, and many other rights. Students will then analyze the gap between the promise of these rights and the implementation of them. Grade Level: middle school Subject Area: social studies Human Rights in National Memory Source: HRE USA Curriculum Integration Guide In this lesson, students explore and deconstruct nationalism in historical interpretation and consider how politics, power, and identity influence the recognition of human rights violations and issues in contemporary society as well as in the context of national history. This lesson/project should be done at the end of a US history course or following a unit on the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s and 1970s. It can also be done in an upper-class elective course relating to human rights and genocide. Students will need prior knowledge on American history from the 1700s – 1950 including the creation of the United Nations and the 30 Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Grade Level: High school Subject Area: social studies Migrant Rights Source: HRE USA This lesson exposes students to contemporary international migrations and their relationship to human rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This lesson can be modified to address many different migratory themes, such as: international migration, historical accounts of migration/immigration to the United States, undocumented/illegal immigration, etc. This specific lesson discusses the international migration of Middle Eastern and African people to Europe during the fall of 2015. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies Pressing Human Rights Issues in Africa Source: HRE USA Students will be introduced to several pressing human rights issues that are occurring in countries in Africa, and then work in groups to research and create a report on possible ways to improve the human rights situation and present their plan of action to their peers. This lesson is intended to be a follow-up after an introductory lesson on human rights has already taken place. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies Service Learning for Human Rights Education Source: HRE USA This guide is intended to provide educators with a loose blueprint to follow in adapting service learning experiences to human rights education. The following service learning experiences can be adapted as extensions of any lessons in human rights education that are provided on this website or beyond, as a stand-alone unit plan for classroom-based civics education, as an extra- or co-curricular experiences for students involved in human rights education activities within or beyond the walls of school environments, or for any other purpose an educator concerned about human rights may develop. Grade Level: elementary – high school Subject Area: general Slavery Still Exists Today Source: HRE USA Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Kevin Bales of Free the Slaves estimates that there are 30 million enslaved people on the earth today. Students have the distinct opportunity to make a difference by raising awareness and communicating effective measures. This lesson seeks to inspire students to confront modern-day slavery through the mobilization of an awareness campaign. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies The UDHR & Contemporary Issues Source: HRE USA This lesson asks students to correlate the UDHR to current newspaper articles which illustrate the portrayal of human rights in one of four situations (rights achieved, rights denied, rights violated, rights in conflict). Students will explain that situation, the correlation to the UDHR, and then write a reflection on the role of the UDHR in potentially resolving the situation. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies Using Inquiry-Based Research to Highlight Contemporary Human Rights Challenges Source: HRE USA Students will be introduced to the concept of Human Rights and tasked with finding how they are still applicable to our world today. This series of lessons will begin with a general introduction to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this, students will design their own questions about what human rights abuses may still be occurring today. The lesson will culminate in students creating an infographic, which will then be shared with the class. Grade Level: high school Subject Area: social studies
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