Teacher's Guide for FACES ^® Rights of the Child

American Civil Liberties Union: www.aclu.org
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldier: www.childsoldiers.org
Department of Labor's Youth Rules! www.youthrules.dol.gov
Justice for Kids and Youth: www.usdoj.gov/kidspage/index.html
Kids Can Free the Children: www.freethechildren.org
Special Olympics: www.specialolympics.org
UNICEF: www.unicef.org
United Nations: www.un.org
Youth Advocate Program International: www.yapi.org

• Relating prior knowledge to the reading
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension
• Critical Thinking
• Writing
• Creative Expression

advocate
child labor
child rights
compulsory
human rights
polio
UNICEF
United Nations

Pre-reading:
Distribute copies of FACES ^®: Rights of the Child to students in your class. Start the discussion by asking:

• What are child rights?
• What are human rights?
• What kind of rights might be at risk for children around the world?

Record student responses on chart paper. You may want return to this list after reading and discussing articles in this issue to see how student perceptions and ideas may change with learning more about children around the world.

Ask students to turn to pages 4-5 to look at the map. Have students take turns finding locations on the map in the magazine and on the classroom globe.

Divide the class into small groups and read pages 6-7 of FACES ^®: Rights of the Child. Ask each group to make a list of ways people can conserve water at your school, in their homes and in their yards.

Ask each group to make a poster about ways to save water. Display the posters in a hallway, creating a gallery called "Water for the World."

Ask the students to read "India's Child Labor" on pages 8-12. Tell the students that they will be writing letters to members of the United Nations about their thoughts on children working in India.

After reading the article, lead a class discussion on some of the points in the article. This will help give students facts and ideas for letter writing. Ask students:

How many hours a day do some children work?
How many days a week do some children work?
How young are some of the children who are working?
How many children in India are working?
How much do children make for their work?
What is schooling like for children who work?

Model letter writing for the class. After drafting the letters, students can type them on a computer during computer lab time or copy them by hand.

Ask the students to read "Hope for Freedom" on pages 18-21. Students can also visit the Free the Children web site at www.freethechildren.org.

Ask each student to write a short newspaper article about the Free the Children campaign and things people can do to help children around the world. Model newspaper-style writing for the students.

Ask students to read pages 26-29 on "Special Olympics." Visit the Special Olympics web site at www.specialolympics.org. Find information on Special Olympics in your area, including upcoming dates.

Ask each student to create a poster advertising Special Olympics. Encourage them to include different sports and to try to convey themes of pride and working together.

Display the posters in a hallway of the school.

Have students read "The Littlest Soldiers" on pages 30-32. Write the quote from Laura Barnitz of Youth Advocate Program International on the board or on chart paper:

"Children should not just feel sorry for these children. They are survivors. They need to be helped." (p. 32)

Lead a class discussion on what Barnitz means in that quote. What do the students think? After discussion, have students write in their journals using the prompt: "I think children are survivors because . . . "

After spending some time with Rights of the Child, go back to the list the class made in Activity 1.

Ask these same questions:

• What are child rights?
• What are human rights?
• What kind of rights might be at risk for children around the world?

How have students' thoughts changed about rights of children around the world? What were some of the surprising things they learned? What can we do to make a difference?

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Updated: 5/18/13 11:37 pm
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