Lesson Plan
Contents
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Lesson Plan: Task
As a member of a committee of renowned historians, you have been selected by the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to explain the successes and challenges to human rights in the United States. The United Nations wants to look at how human rights have blossomed and been threatened in a variety of contexts around the world in order to better protect these rights in the future.
The committee will be divided into 8 teams that will examine the struggle for freedom and equality experienced by one of the following historical groups from America's past:
- African-American Slaves
- African-American Civil Rights activists
- Women
- Hispanic-Americans
- Native-Americans
- Foreign-National/Immigrants
- Asian-Americans
- People with unpopular Ideas
Your task will be to explain the history of your specific group’s struggle for equal rights in the United States using the resources of the Documented Rights exhibit. Your overall goal is to provide the United Nations Council with a suitable answer to the following questions:
- How have people struggled to have their unalienable rights recognized?
- How has the federal government responded to these struggles?
- How can current civil rights activists learn from past successes and failures?
To explain the answers you uncover to the Human Rights Council, you have been asked to create a finished product to present at this year’s annual Human Rights Day. When creating your finished product, you should incorporate the appropriate primary source documents. Your finished product can be in any of the following formats:
- PowerPoint Presentation
- Dramatic Performance
- Historical Documentary
After each group presents their finished product, the entire UN Council (i.e. the entire class) will discuss their findings. They will compare and contrast, examine the historical context, evaluate the success, and assess the role of the government in the process.
Recommended Time Frame:
- 2-3 Days Research and Analyze Primary Sources
- 3-4 Days Create Product
- 2-3 Days Presentations of Materials and Discussions
