We Are All Born Free

We are all born free

This picture book illustrating the 30 rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a great way to think about how we all live together, and should respect each others’ rights.
KS2 | 60 Mins | Group

KEY QUESTION: What rights does every human being have? What responsibility do I have to respect the rights of the people who I live with and around?

Background

The children’s book, We are all born free, produced by Amnesty International, shows ‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures’, and is a creative way of thinking and learning about human rights depicting humans and animals.

Activity

1. Put learners into pairs, and give each pair a colour photocopy of one double page spread of the book. (An alternative would be to buy a class set of 15 books for the school, for every class to use).

2. Explain that each pair are going to work on a different human right and then present it to the rest of the class. Ask the pair to discuss the human right shown and its meaning and decide how the picture links to the human right that is shown. They can then decide whether the pictures show people in a positive way, where everyone’s rights are respected, or in a negative way, showing people not protected by their rights.

3. Each pair can present their picture to the class, with the aim that everyone understands the rights that are described, and is able to see an example of each right either being protected or being taken away. The teacher needs to aid this discussion where possible, and be aware of sensitive issues, for example the image for torture is far more real and graphic than some of the others, so the pair with that should be chosen carefully, and their presentation supported.

4. Ask the question: Do you think that human rights are important to help us all live together? And give pairs 2 minutes to discuss together, before contributing to a group discussion. Each time someone contributes, ask: does anyone have anything to say in response to that? This moves the conversation forwards and allows more pupil talking time.

Differentiation for KS3 or KS4
We are all born free would also be a useful resource to explore for KS3 and 4 learners as the pictures clarify the meaning of each right very helpfully. In addition, Amnesty International have produced a teaching resource as part of their Protect the Human resources called Right Up My Street aimed at KS3 and KS4 which encourages students to investigate and understand human rights by looking at a picture of an everyday street scene. It includes group discussion and research.

SLN also recommends the ‘We Are All Born Free’ powerpoint and video both available via Amnesty International.

This is an excellent powerpoint, which enables the book to be read from an interactive whiteboard www.slide.com/r/34ZShwqM5j9fGOIANLnczqVLG9zA8RcF?previous_view=lt_embedded_url

This is an excellent seven-minute cartoon film based on the book, which could be used in classrooms or as a basis for an assembly www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9_IvXFEyJo

Click on the further links below to download recommended PDFs:

Artwork of Street
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_16933.pdf

Activity Instructions
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_16964.pdf

Lesson Plans
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_18560.pdf