PIHRE Explorer,
Second Issue

 

Team Tips

In every issue, the Partners Project will provide team tips. These are suggestions which your team may find useful. If you have a team tip, please let us know. You can leave a message by phone or send it by fax or mail.

January Tip

The month of May is just around the corner. January is a good time to take a breath, evaluate how your team and students are progressing, and plan your next lessons and community action projects. One suggestion is for each team member to answer these questions individually and then, as a team, discuss relevant questions. Some questions to consider:

Which lesson(s) were successful for your team and students? (Please send the Partners Project a copy!!!) Why did this lesson work well?
Which lesson(s) were not successful? Why not? What could you have done differently? How could the lesson be adapted for the students?
What community action project(s) have the students undertaken, planned, and completed? (Please send the Partners Project a copy!!) What went well? What could be changed?
Have the students changed their behavior or attitudes in any way? What are the noticeable changes? What effect have the changes had on the class and/or the school?
Has your attitude toward your students changed? How?
What have you learned about human rights since the beginning of the school year?
How is your team doing? What can each team member do to improve the dynamics of the team and the presentation of the lesson?


Take A Look!

This section will be an active bibliography with resources that you have found thought-provoking, inspirational, helpful, etc. Please submit titles of articles about human rights topics and human rights education, novels, non-fictional works, poetry, music, and art along with short summaries about the work(s) or author(s) and the title of the publication as appropriate.


Curricula/Resources

Please let us know about sources for human rights education posters, bookmarks, etc. that you find helpful.

World Cultural Events Poster covers major cultural events around the world for 1995. 25"x17". $4.95. Call (612) 924-4141 to order and for more information.


Lesson Plans

Many team members have requested that successful lessons be made available. We need lesson plans from you, the team members, to to do so! We ask each team to send in at least one lesson by March 5, 1995. The following format is repeated from the first newsletter. Please send in any lessons that you feel were successful and worthwhile. In May 1995, we will have available a compilation of the lesson plans used by Partners Project teams. This compilation will be the cumulation of your efforts!

To generate ideas for lessons and share classroom experiences, each issue will highlight a lesson plan designed and used by a Partners Project team. The lesson plan can be an activity for one class or an entire unit. Please include the following:

Age level and appropriateness for special needs students
Time
Preparation
Materials/Resources Used
Instructions -- Introduction, Body, Conclusion
Evaluation
Accompanying questions, ideas, activities
Classroom discussion
Tips for implementing the lesson
Suggestions about the lesson

Please include the names of the team members, grade of class, school, and city. Depending on the number of lesson plans received and accompanying handouts, the Partners Project may print short lesson descriptions for the three grade level groupings, (primary, middle and high schools). You will be able to contact the Partners Project for a complete copy of the lesson.


The Great Court Quiz Bowl

Expo Elementary, Grades 4-6
Elective Courts Class
Karen Randall, Teacher
Michelle Garnett, Community Representative
David Sips, Attorney
Lesson created by Wendy Casra

Age Level:

K-4, 5-8, 9-12: Each level may need to have some adaptions of the lesson.

Objectives: Students will:

Learn vocabulary about the court to prepare for mock trial.
Develop basic research skills.
Work together in groups and deal with competitive situations in the workplace.

Time: Six class periods.

Materials:

  1. List of terms: writ of habeaus corpus, prosecutor, defense attorney, witness, judge, jury, plaintiff, hearsay, appeal, indictment, small claims court, beyond reasonable doubt, contempt of court, acquit, hung jury, due process, felony, misdemeanor, bailiff, closing argument, objections, sustain or over-rule objections, civil trial or civil court, criminal trial or criminal court, opening statement, testimony, direct examination, cross examination, grand jury, petit jury, arraignment, mistrial verdict, defendant, Bill of Rights, Constitution, plead guilty, innocent until proven guilty, court reporter.
  2. Research Source with vocabulary words, i.e. xeroxed articles, encyclopedias, dictionaries, government resource books.
  3. Index cards and file boxes.
  4. Printed numbers to keep score or chalkboard and chalk.
  5. List of questions about the terms. Ex. What are the answers a witness gives to the questions a lawyer asks called? (list of sample questions available from the Partners Project)

Introduction:

  1. Choose 30 terms that the students will define and prepare the research source(s) students will use.
  2. Divide students into teams of three. Students will choose a name for their team and label their team box of index cards.
  3. Over a couple of class periods, the students research the terms using the research source, encyclopedias and other materials. The students will write a definition for each term on a separate index card. The teams will place the index cards into the file box.
  4. Review the definitions with the students.
  5. Explain the rules of the quiz bowl game before the day of the quiz bowl.

Example:

  1. There will be three rounds. Each round will last fifteen minutes. Each team will have exactly 30 seconds to answer the question. The answer must be completely correct.
  2. First round: All teams (i.e.. eight teams) will compete and may use their index cards in the first round. At the end of the first round, the four teams with the most points will advance to the second round.
  3. Second round: The teams may use their index cards. At the end of the round, the two teams with the most points will advance to the third round.
  4. Third round: The students must answer the questions from memory. At the end of the round, the team with the most points wins.

Body: The Great Court Quiz Bowl

  1. Elect one person to keep score.
  2. Review the above quiz bowl instructions.
  3. Conduct the quiz bowl, recycling the questions from each round.

Conclusion:

  1. Discuss with students how they felt and what they learned about the role of each person from the court vocabulary.
  2. Discuss the role of attorneys and how to win and lose gracefully.

Evaluation: How well students participate in team work, quiz bowl, and class discussion.


Community ACTION! Projects

Please send a short description of your community action project(s) including planning steps and results, the name of the school, grade level or class, team names, and with any news articles or notes on other media coverage to the Partners Project.

Thematics Studies Project, Grades 5-7

St. Paul Open School

Karen Randall, Teacher

Michelle Garnett, Community Representative

David Sip, Attorney, Neighborhood Facilitator with ESNDC

The class theme was "Facing History and Ourselves," a case study of the Holocaust which asked students to examine issues of tolerance and activism in their own lives as well as in the past. The class decided to focus on "The Future." A community volunteer project was a critical part of the curriculum for both of the topics. The partnership with the East Side Neighborhood Development Company (ESNDC) allowed the class to examine the issues of tolerance and activism in a real world context. The project goals were to begin to understand human rights issues affecting local neighborhoods, including safe streets and affordable housing, and steps that students can take to create positive change in their neighborhoods.

The class first learned about St. Paul's East Side neighborhoods by conducting a mapping exercise of streets, houses, alleys, and businesses. The students, working in pairs, collected data on buildings in two block areas for possible future development.

The students then learned about the history of ESNDC by interviewing community members who have been involved in neighborhood organizing and development projects. The students used the information gathered to write a brochure introducing the ESNDC to the neighborhood and assisting with outreach.

Finally, the students helped with an ESNDC housing upgrade, locating resources for landscaping, creating garden spaces, and doing the plantings themselves. The teacher and community representative compiled the data from the project.


Partners Publications

Students (and adults!) are always excited to see their names in print. In May, the Partners Project will publish two collections of human rights journalism, creative writing, and art. One will be for team participants and the other for their students. Encourage your students to be creative now. Each student may submit two works. Please send copies of writings and art to the Partners Project offices by April 1, 1995. The collections will be available at the May 1995 Partners Project Recognition Event.


Greater Minnesota

Grand Rapids & Remer: A follow-up workshop will be held in Grand Rapids on February 10, 1995 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for the 30 participants.

St. Cloud: Margaret Manderfeld, a St. Cloud attor-ney involved in the Partners Project, organized a mini-orientation on the Partners in Human Rights Education Project for the St. Cloud Bar Association at their January meeting. An introductory training will be held in St. Cloud on February 15, 1995. Tell your friends!


Human Rights Events Calendar

The Partners Project encourages you to send information about any human rights related event, including school events. Please include a brief description of any event, location, contact name, and phone number. You can call or send the announce-ment to the Human Rights Center.

January 1995

26 1995 Beijing Women's Conference Briefing. Persons interested in volunteering to work with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights delegation to Beijing, China for the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995 should plan to attend the briefing. Offices of Briggs & Morgan. 8:00 a.m. For more info, call (612) 341-3302.

26 Hanan Ashrawi. The Challenges of Peace and Nation Building.

U of M, Northrup Audito-rium, Minneapolis. Distinguished Carlson Lecture, 12:15 p.m. co-sponsored by U of M Humphrey Institute and the Center on Women and Public Policy. Ms. Ashrawi founded the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights and served as the spokesperson for the Palestinian delegation to the Middle East peace talks. Free tickets may be reserved by calling (612) 625-6688 or 625-3471. Tickets are also available at the U of M at Coffman Union, Room 130 of the Humphrey Institute and at the St. Paul Student Center's Union Station. Classical Arab music and Palestinian folk songs by Crossing Borders will begin at 11:30 a.m.

27 Human Rights in Turkey: Report from the Turkey Assessment Trip.

The Center for Victims of Torture. 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Doug Johnson, Executive Director, Mark Williams, M.D., and Mike Cline, M.D. will present a report on human rights from their trip to Turkey. Brown bag lunch. For more info, call (612) 626-1400.

28 Partners in Human Rights Education Training. U of M Law School, Minneapolis. Registration, 8:30 a.m. Training and Luncheon, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Training will be held for new team participants. Please tell your colleagues. Call (612) 626-0041 to register for the training.

28 Haiti After Aristide's Return.

Haiti Justice Committee at the Resource Center of the Americas, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon. For more info, call (612) 627-9445.

February 1995

4 Julio Revolorio. The Peace Process in Guatemala.

Resource Center of the Americas, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon. Mr. Revolorio, a representative of the refugee sector in the Guatemalan Assembly of civil society and executive director of Casa Guatemala (Chicago), will address the current escalation of political violence and the difficult negotiations between the government and URNG rebels as well as the student movement. For more info, call (612) 627-9445.

4 Film on Guatemalan Student Movement.

Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis. 7 p.m. Donations accepted for Casa Guatemala, Chicago. For more info, call (612)627-9445.

6 Dr. H. Jack Geiger. Human Rights in Peril: In the World and at Home.

Satteran Room, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dr. Geiger, President of Physicians for Human Rights and a founding member of Physicians for Social Responsibility, has led human rights missions to the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Kurdistan, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Free with following reception. For more info, call (612) 330-1180.

9-12 "Imagining Argentina."

Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre presentation at the Southern Theatre, 1420 Washington Ave. S., Minneapolis. Excerpts from the work in development will be presented. This original flamenco dance theatre work, created by Susana di Palma and inspired by Lawrence Thornton's novel entitled Imagining Argentina, is a fictionalized account of the "disappeared" in Argentina in the 1970s. The work in its entirety will be co-presented in Minneapolis with Theatre de la Jeune Lune from July 20- August 6, 1995. For more info, call (612) 337-0701.

10-11 Amnesty International Midwest Regional Conference on Human Rights Education.

Kalamazoo, Michigan. For more info, call Denise Janssen, AI Human Rights Education Steering Committee, (608) 244-6922.

13 Winona LaDuke. Rethinking Multicultural Education: A Native Perspective.

Friends of School of Minnesota, 3244 34th Ave. So., Minneapolis. 7 p.m. Ms. LaDuke is a national spokesperson on native issues and the Director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, White Earth, Minnesota. Free. For more info, call (612) 722-2046.

16 Partners Project Fellowship Meeting.

U of M Law School, Room 385. 4:30 p.m. 1994 Fellows will discuss their fellowships and answer questions about the application process for persons interested in becoming 1995 Fellows. For more info, call (612) 626-0041.

18 Rev. Lucius Walker. The Cuba Solidarity Movement.

Resource Center of the Americas, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 noon. Rev. Walker, Executive Director of Inter-religious Foundation for Community Organization/Pastors for Peace, will discuss current U.S.-Cuba relations, the status of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and the role of the U.S. solidarity movement. For more info, call (612) 627-9445.

24 Mark Danner. Haiti and El Salvador and the Role of the U.S. Media.

Newman Center, 1701 University Ave. SE, Minneapolis. 7 p.m. Mr. Danner is a noted journalist and author of The Massacre at El Mozote and an upcoming book about Haiti, Beyond the Mountains: The Legacy of Duvalier. This public lecture will cover Haiti, El Salvador, and the role of the U.S. Media. Sponsored by Resource Center of the Americas. For more info, call (612) 627-9445.

24 Winona LaDuke. Indigenous Peoples' Views of the Environment and Development, including Native American Views.

U of M West Bank Union Auditorium, Minneapolis. 12:20 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. MacArthur Lecture Series. Ms. LaDuke is the founder and Director of the White Earth Land Reclamation Project, White Earth, Minnesota. For more info, call (612) 624-0832.

25 Partners in Human Rights Education Workshop: Children's Rights and the Media.

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute, Minneapolis. 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. A panel of media specialists will discuss how to use the media in human rights education. Information and agenda is included in this newsletter. The cost will be $5 to cover curricula materials. Continuing Education Credit available.

March 1995

10 Partners Project Summer Fellowship Applications Due. See February 16 Meeting.


Upcoming Issues of the Explorer

March 15, 1995 Issue

Deadline for submissions, March 5, 1995.

May 1, 1995 Issue

Deadline for submissions, April 15, 1995.

Please mail or fax materials to:

Attn: Maria Baldini, Andrea Knutson
U of M Human Rights Center/Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
229 - 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455.
Fax: (612) 625-2011


Partners Project Staff & Office Hours

General Office Hours

Monday to Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Other hours to check out materials from the Human Rights Resource Library can be arranged. Please call* two days in advance. Partners in Human Rights Education is located in the Human Rights Center, Room 437, 4th floor, at the U of M Law School.

Sometimes we are making copies on another floor, answering another phone line, or temporarily out of the office. Please leave a message. We will return your call as quickly as possible.


Children's Rights and the Media Workshop

Hubert H. Humphrey Institute

February 25, 1995

Cost: $5.00 (Continuing Education Credits available)

8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Sign in and coffee

9:00 a.m. - 9:20 a.m. Introduction to the Issue of Children's Rights and the Media

9:20 a.m. - 9:50 a.m. Overview on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the use of newspapers in the classroom

9:50 a.m. - 10:10 a.m. Video on the Convention of the Rights of the Child

10:10 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Media panel addressing Children's Rights and ways to give children

a voice through media

11:00 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. Break

11:10 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Breakout Session

Curriculum facilitators and media experts assist participants in community action planning

11:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Report on action plans

12:00 p.m. - 12:15 p.m. Closing remarks

To register, please complete the other side of this page and return the registration form with $5.00 to the Partners Project. For more information, call (612) 626-0041.


Partners in Human Rights Education
U of M Human Rights Center/Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
229 - 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

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