Our PBL (Project Based Learning) activity on HUMAN RIGHTS has begun with the stunning Photographic exhibition of Pierpaolo Mittica at Harry Bertoia Museum. I due video sono in Italiano.

It was great to see my students listening to the knowledgeable guide and engrossed in observing those images or taking notes 😉

OUR PROJECT GOAL is raising civic awareness on the importance of respecting the basic Human Rights through the creation of a campaign whose target is teenagers.

FIELD OF RESEARCH: We’ll try to develop the following issues:

• What are the basic Human rights?
• What are the main violations of the basic Human rights in the world?
• How can we make sure the respect of the human right you have chosen is enforced?

PROCEDURE:  Each group of students will have to:

1)  choose one particular human right and research into its violations;

2)  choose a photo from the exhibition to analyze and comment in relation to point 1;

3) Create a “digital“ sharable learning object in the form of Prezi presentations, PowToons, Kahoot (with relevant information) Videos, Posters, Photos and blog comments to raise awareness as to that issue.

BRAINSTORMING: Write your answer in the Padlet I’ve just created. (It’s like a notice board. Double click and write your sentence. You can also add a link)

Step one: read the post on Human Rights in my colleague Ms Ziraldo’s Blog. For this project we have been, are and will be working together with her students, with Ms Maccarrone’s from Liceo Leopardi and with Ms Bortoluzzi from Udine University. It’s important before approaching your research to know what the 30 basic human rights are. Don’t forget to watch the videos carefully.

Step two: choose a photo from Mittica’s exhibition – you have taken or from the website Living Toxic – to analyze and gather information on the disaster, slavery or violation of the human rights it depicts and reports.

Step three: Create your own campaign from your chosen human right and Mittica’s photograph.

• to inform the reader by creating a POSTER, an INTERACTIVE IMAGE, A PREZI;
• to convince to take action by creating a video or a poster;
• to involve the reader emotionally by adding a poem or a text, writing as if you were the person in the photograph. (see also Ziraldo’s blog)

The following ThingLink I’ve just made offers you a great variety of Apps you can choose from. CLICK on the symbols to open the link.If you prefer to make a video – even shot using yoursmartphone or tablet – you can edit it using YouTube or iMovie or other editors.

The following video is an example: ADRA is fighting for the basic rights of at-risk individuals around the world. Girls and women are at risk of trafficking and abuse, the civil rights of minorities are ignored, and disabled people are treated unjustly.

The following one is by Amnesty International. It’s done by professionals so don’t look for a single app to make something like this 😉

I want to add a great video Human Rights, UNITED shared by Silvia who I thank. UNITED is a human rights music video unlike any other. Its production included a 45,000-mile world tour covering four continents and 13 countries. Two thousand volunteers, including 150 actors, contributed their time to this global endeavor. Director Taron Lexton was 19 years old when he created UNITED with a crew that consisted mostly of teenagers and pre-teens, making it truly a youth project. The film depicts an inner-city kid with a heart for basketball (played by 11-year-old Andre Boydon) who is confronted by a gang of bullies and their leader (Eric Forte), and has to fight for his right to play. What makes UNITED a great human rights video is how Andre’s character accomplishes this, without violence.

It was first shown inside the United Nations headquarters in New York in August 2004. UNITED is now available with subtitles in 15 languages and has aired in countries around the globe.

NB: This post is a work in progress and will be constantly updated and modified by adding new materials, hopefully suggested and recommended by you :). It’s just the beginning of a project that will continue until the end of the year.