David's+LEDP


 * Content Area:** Social Studies


 * Objective:** Students will draft documents which contain their conception of fundamental human rights, along with their reasoning for those rights. Students will then debate as a class and approve the most acceptable draft, with amendments as needed.


 * Principles of Learning:** this activity makes use of several of James Paul Gee's principles of learning, including ( 30) //Cultural Models about the World Principle//, (21) //"Material Intelligence" Principle//, (19) //Intertextual Principle,// and (8) //Identity Principle//.

**Materials:** Collected excerpts of human rights documents (see Procedure). Writing paper and materials for recording their choices. A white board for the


 * Procedure:** Students will begin by forming small teams which will be responsible for forming a single draft of a declaration of fundamental human rights. Each team should ideally consist of no more than four individuals. Each team should quickly assign jobs, such as scribes, researchers, and a reporter.

The students will make use of excerpts from several sources provided in paper form to them, such as the Declaration of Independence, The Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, etc. Each of these historical documents will give examples of what have been considered fundamental human rights at various times and in various contexts. The documents they receive should include material on a wide variety of human rights. However, students do not need to draw solely from the documents at hand, and may include original rights. The teacher may provide one as a possible example.

Each team will be required to compose a list of ten fundamental human rights. A //fundamental// right is one which is both essential to freedom and not reducible to a more basic conception of the right. For example, the right to compose satirical art is not a fundamental right, but the right to freedom of expression is, and it covers the composition of satire. The teacher can provide guidance on this question as the teams pursue their objectives.

Students will prepare their list, along with a citation of the origin of each right, describing which document or documents it is found in, or whether it is an original addition by the students. The students will also include a brief reasoning behind their choices.

Students will spend roughly twenty minutes on this portion of the assignment.

In the remainder of the class, the teams will come back to their regular seating and the teacher will mediate a discussion. Each team's reporter will read out the results of their work, along with their citation. The teacher and the students will evaluate each entry as it is given for redundancy, and a volunteer will transcribe the rights up for discussion on the white board.

After a discussion, the whole class will come to a consensus on the ten most important/acceptable rights to include in the class's final list. This may require multiple class periods if the class is only an hour long.


 * Analysis:** This assignment requires the students to emulate the roles of the people who, throughout history, have composed formal documents detailing their conceptions of human rights. People like that have had to think seriously and particularly about what are the most fundamental rights; that is, what freedoms and privileges are human beings entitled to, regardless of social status or other distinguishing characteristics. It requires a great deal of empathy for individuals who are oppressed. This assignment requires the students to draw upon each other's collected wisdom, as well as the wisdom contained in the provided documents. Finally, it requires them to see each of these documents in their historical contexts, as members of a genre dedicated to a particular theme.

Examples: [|The Universal Declaration of Human Rights] [|Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions] [|Black Panther Party Ten Point Program] [|The United States Bill of Rights]