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HUMAN RIGHTS 5TH GRADE EXPEDITION

INSPIRATION

Our Human Rights expedition is inspired by history and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students use the anchor texts, “Esperanza Rising” and “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” to unpack and apply the UDHR in a real world setting. They explore history and the lives of private and political figures, through articles and interviews, to gain awareness of the human rights and positive, peaceful contributions to a Better World. The purpose of this expedition is to promote moral courage, altruism and tolerance. The students use their knowledge of Human Rights to create narratives based on the experiences of others and be advocates of human rights within their own community.

Big Idea:

  • We can learn lessons about human rights from the experiences of others.

Overarching Guiding Questions:

  • How are human rights threatened in our community?
  • How do people show excellence, perseverance, integrity and compassion when faced with human rights challenges?
  • How can we raise awareness of human rights?

MASTERY OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS

Our expedition is designed to provide students with learning experiences that promote critical thinking, effective communication and collaboration, and empower students to be scholar-citizens who create a better world.

Also, students master writing skills as applied to narrative and monologue writing. They analyze text to develop their understanding of story structure and the individual components of the plot structure. In addition, 5th graders use extended discourse in socratic seminars, grapple with complex concepts and texts, and debate on human right issues.

Because the expedition is designed to be meaningful and relevant to our students lives, they are invested and engaged in their daily work. They recognize the work is to build their capacity as positive contributors to society.

Reading and writing is at the forefront of learning each day. Students investigate and explore the meaning of complex text, form opinions and arguments from a variety of texts and articles, and learn to justify their claims with evidence both in written and oral discourse. In our expedition, our students use Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan as anchor text along with readings and articles about Private John G. Burnett’s Account of the Trail of Tears, Cesar Chavez, the Holocaust and many more. Moreover, deliberate opportunities to engage in the writing process each day are given to essentially build the skills necessary to foster our students' ability to explain and refine their ideas to others and communicate effectively in the professional world and beyond.
At the end of our expedition's first case study, students write a monologue based on a character’s reaction to an event from Esperanza Rising. For the performance task, students work in groups to finalize the order of their monologues and create a program that includes the order of their monologues, the cast, and a Directors’ Note. In the Directors’ Note, students write about the human right challenged by the event described in their monologues, identify the corresponding article from the UDHR, and explain how people are impacted by this issue today. Finally, students perform their monologues for a live audience.
Embedded in our expedition are Language Dives. Students collaboratively dive into complex and compelling sentences that are deconstructed and reconstructed to examine its purpose, talk about its meaning, and analyze it's structure. Language Dives expand our students' ability to use academic language in conversation and create academic sentences in their own writing.

CHARACTER

It is not common knowledge that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights emerged in 1948 after the atrocity of more than 65 million deaths, including millions of Jews and hundreds of thousands who died during Holocaust. Since the construct of the UDHR there have been significant improvements in the human condition. However, presently, violations to human rights continue around the world including in our local communities.

In light of this, our 5th grade students learn that they can be, and are, the vehicles of change towards racism, discrimination and other human rights violations. This expedition is framed with a strong character focus of compassion, integrity and perseverance as students learn of the life experiences of those immigrating to build a more positive life for themselves and their families, people who were forced to live their lives in internment camps during WWII, and survivors of the Holocaust.

Students have the gift of speaking with Holocaust survivors at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. They learn of their tenacity and the compassion people exhibited during a time of extreme discrimination and hate and that our freedoms should never be taken for granted.

CREW

At Conway, it is common practice to sit in a CREW circle to build relationships, connect as a class family and examine our progress in becoming E.P.I.C. scholars and citizens. CREW is based on the motto, "WE ARE CREW, NOT PASSENGERS." This means we support one another in all we do, work as a team and leave no one behind. It is a time that students reflect on their daily practice of our school character norms which are Excellence, Perseverance, Integrity and Compassion. In connection to our Human Rights Expedition, students analyze the EPIC traits of historical figures who faced human rights violations and correlate it to their own lives. Our students become inspired to become ethical people who stand for justice and identify the actions it takes to become such people.

Debriefing our learning in a CREW Circle
Students connect personal EPIC traits to historical figures.
Standards based scholarly and character learning targets act as learning goals and are embedded throughout every lesson in our expedition. Students make connections between the evidence of their work and their progress in meeting the learning target .

Fieldwork and Experts

Unlike the common field trip where students are spectators, our Conway 5th graders engage in fieldwork. Fieldwork is a time to collaborate with community experts who have first hand knowledge with human rights violations. In fieldwork students are active investigators who use methods of inquiry to expand on their knowledge and research built in the classroom. Fieldwork journals with guiding questions and learning targets are used as a tool to document their findings and reflect on their learning.

Students begin the year with a visit to the New Americans Museum located in San Diego’s beautiful Liberty Station and get the opportunity to interview a community member from Afghanistan as well as explore the struggles of those becoming American citizens. Following this, they head to Los Angeles to work with holocaust survivors at the Museum of Tolerance. Additionally, we visit Chicano Park to take a glimpse into the history, the struggles, and accomplishments of the indigenous and latino people. Visiting immigrants at Staehly Farms is also a highlight of our fieldwork. Students have an deeper appreciation for the contribution that our immigrants make to our society and community.

New American Museum- Mr. Jirjees shares the difficulties of immigrating to America and the struggle to find a place to live just because he was Iraqi and could not speak english.
"Learning about human rights awakened me. I didn't know so many people suffered in history because of racism. People should be treated equally no matter what their skin color or background. We are all humans and deserve equal rights."-Lorraine 5th grade
Fieldwork at Staehly Farms, students interview immigrants and learn of their challenges, hopes, and dreams. They use this information to write a historical- fiction narrative of the immigrants they interviewed. The narratives are compiled into a published book to be donated to our school and community library.
Empowered to be social scientists, field work journals are an essential tool in the field to collect data and information.

High Quality Work

“If you’re going to do something, I believe, you should do it well. You should sweat over it and make sure it’s strong and accurate and beautiful and you should be proud of it.”- Ron Berger CAO EL Education

"When a student is done with schooling, she is judged for the rest of her life not primarily by her ability to perform on tests, but by the quality of person she is and the quality of work she does. Developing an ethic of quality in students is vital.- Ron Berger

As an EL Education (Expeditionary Learning) school, we believe that all students can reach their highest potential when learning is challenging, active, meaningful, collaborative and public. A fundamental component to this approach is High Quality Work which is comprised of 3 attributes: Complexity, Craftsmanship and Authenticity.

In our expedition's case studies, students are compelled to create end products that demonstrate the 3 attributes of high quality work in formats that meet standards from the professional world. Peer and teacher feedback along with student created criteria lists and rubrics drive the HQW. Also, experts in the field are invited to offer feedback to augment the accuracy of the product. Every piece of feedback is valued and applied to make multiple revisions towards products that are worthy of public presentation. Creating a culture of excellence supports students in the process of self-assessment and analyzing their own thinking as they devote themselves to creating high quality product.

"I don't mind making revisions to my work even though it can be hard. I have learned to persevere through it, because when I am done, I feel proud of my work. I like that it's so good, I could present it to the President of the United States." --Dustin (5th grade)
The revision process fosters a growth mindset, a quality that will serve our students throughout their lives. This picture depicts a student's second draft and he will seek more feedback from peers and make revisions for a 3rd draft.
Our 5th grade students recognize that HQW depends on taking ownership of their learning. EL Education's approach to learning is grounded in 10 Design Principles based on Kurt Hahn's 7 Laws of Salem. The 3rd Principle says: "The Responsibility for Learning is both a personal process of discovery and a social activity. Everyone learns both individually and as part of a group. Every aspect of an EL Education school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning."

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Craftsmanship requires attention to accuracy, detail, and beauty.
Well-crafted work is done with care and precision.
This expedition has inspired me to become a human rights attorney and one day work for the United Nations."- Karla

Service and Civic Duty

To be of service to the community is the heart of every expedition. Students are equipped to be advocates of a cause through the in-depth work in each of the case studies. Our 5th graders feel strongly that ALL members of our community should become aware of their rights and familiarize themselves with the articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Students create posters of UDHR articles that they feel connected to and participate in a human rights awareness march to Grape Day Park in Escondido. Also, publish a book of narratives depicting the life of immigrants and donate it to the immigrants interviewed to honor their story and to our local library. Lastly, to 5th graders hold a Conway Community Garage Sale and the proceeds go to needy families.

5th graders take pride in being advocates of human rights in their community. Their student created posters of the UDHR articles bring awareness to the community of their human rights.
Students Present their narratives to Staehly Farm Workers at our Celebration of Learning to honor their life story.
"Why do people think we are better than another person? We are equal and deserve to live in a world where we respect each other and treat each other with kindness and compassion."- Melanie
BE THE CHANGE THE WORLD NEEDS TODAY!
Created By
Therese Ellsworth
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