Visual Thinking And Human Rights Day

Source: @StefRosenthal; ASIDE 2018

We just thought these second-grade drawings were too good not to share. In an effort to celebrate Human Rights Day on December 10, our friend and colleague, Stefani Rosenthal (@StefRosenthal), wanted her students to participate in this special tribute to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Source: @StefRosenthal; ASIDE 2018

It did not take much for Stefani to shift her regular lesson on character traits in literature to apply those same skills to discuss the human rights defender of education, Malala Yousafzai. It provided the perfect opportunity to talk about rights and what they mean on a topic that the students could connect with as second graders.

Source: @StefRosenthal; ASIDE 2018

Stefani primed the students by reading a book on Malala from the library and then showed them the BrainPop video on her as well. The students looked at some of the images from the illustrated booklet on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They loved the little character in the book, so they decided to use similar ones in their own drawings.

Using their sketchnoting techniques, they constructed their own versions for the "Right to Education." This enabled them to internalize the message of this right by using visuals as points of reflection on what they learned.

These drawings are precious and worthy for all to see. Sometimes, a little time away from the usual routine does a lot more than we think.

Source: @StefRosenthal; ASIDE 2018