The Power of Words Project

I am extremely passionate about this PBL. It not only gets kids reading, but it gets them involved in their community and MEANS SOMETHING to them. Allow me to explain....

We've been talking a lot about the theme of human rights in class. We learned about Cyrus the Great who developed the first set of human rights and that's how he was able to conquer a lot of the land known as the Persian Empire. We discussed what human rights actually are and why they are not met. In the students' reflections on how they felt about the Holocaust, the institution of slavery, chaos in the middle east, etc. the majority of them expressed that they were so angry that they wanted to do something about it.

In light of their motivation, Kristin and I developed the Power of Words Project. The students were able to choose a novel from the library and they will pick out a theme. Depending upon the theme of the novel, they will submit a proposal stating what they would like to do based on a human right that is not being met. Once the proposal is approved and the project is thought out, the students will actually carry out the project and fulfill a basic human right for another human being.

The students already have ideas in mind before they've even finished the first chapter! They are so motivated and excited about this because they understand how lucky they are and how unfortunate others can be - they will be making a difference and they will be demonstrating their knowledge. Who knew this all could come from Persia?