Rationale
This teaching sequence on Children’s Rights is prepared for students of 6th grade of a public
school.
The proposal is based on the belief that all children must have the opportunity to develop as
full citizens. In light of the “Diseño Curricular para la Educación Primaria de Segundo Ciclo”, I
have chosen this topic in order to fulfill which I think to be one of the most important teaching
goals expressed in this document:
“Garantizar la participación de los alumnos/as en una experiencia escolarinstitucional pluralista y democrática que les permita crecer en el pleno ejercicio de la
ciudadanía”1
My proposal includes mainly group work in order to promote debates, discussions, and
negotiations among children, that enables them to build their knowledge not only individually
but also collectively. I think it is important that children learn to work together and respect
other people since as it is expressed in the Curriculum, the school must offer contexts in which
children can interact and learn from someone else’s point of view. This is also one of the
purposes of teaching English, since it is a way to introduce children to something different and
unknown.
“Desde una mirada más amplia, el contacto con la lengua extranjera confronta a los
niños/as con la diferencia y permite el abordaje y la vivencia inevitable de lo otro, lo
diferente, lo ajeno, lo diverso”. 2
That is why through the topic Children’s Rights, I try to show them the paramount
importance of accepting others no matter their beliefs, characteristics or culture, promoting in
this way a sense of altruism among students. Children must know that they have a voice and
that they have rights. They must know that they are not only the future of the world, but also
the present. So preparing them to take full exercise of their rights, I think is the first step to
improve society, since if children are prepared and conscious of their rights as kids, they can
make a better use of their rights as adults.
This proposal also encourages teachers to work together, since in order to achieve the final
task it is necessary the collaboration of the ICT teacher through the entire proposal. The idea is
that students prepare during the English classes, the content for the final task about Children’s
Rights, at the same time that they learn to use a software to film a short video in the IT classes,
as a means to express the content of the final task. Also, team work is needed in order to
prepare an educational exhibit for the Universal Children’s Day on November 20th, to show the
works of 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. These students will be working on the same topic but in different
levels with different final tasks, being the final task a poster on 4th grade, a presentation on
“Padlet” on 5th grade, and a short video on 6th grade. This type of work will enable students to
acquaint with their rights in different levels of complexity.
Finally, I find this proposal in line with the Curriculum, since the final goal of the Primary
school in general is help children to achieve self fulfillment. And I think this passage of the
Diseño Curricular, is a reflection of my intentions at the moment of writing this proposal:
1
Dirección General de Cultura y Educación, (2008), “Los propósitos de la Educación Primaria”, Diseño
Curricular para la Educación Primaria. Segundo Ciclo, volumen 1, La Plata, Buenos Aires (prov.), pp 14
2
Dirección General de Cultura y Educación, (2008), “Inglés: La enseñanza del Inglés”, Diseño Curricular
para la Educación Primaria. Segundo Ciclo, volumen 1, La Plata, Buenos Aires (prov.), pp 64
“El ejercicio de todos los derechos del ciudadano se concreta principalmente a
través del lenguaje oral o escrito, de la posibilidad de apelar a usos específicos del
lenguaje, de buscar concesos expresando e integrando diferencias por medio del
diálogo y la palabra hasta producir los acuerdos siempre renovados que regulan la vida
en común y preservan para todos el ejercicio pleno de la ciudadanía”3
Teaching Goals



To favor the development of children as citizens
To empower children to make full exercise of their rights
To promote a sense of altruism in children
Learning Objectives
By the end of these lessons, students will be able to:





Distinguish some social practices with children that are within or out of the law (For
example: child labour)
Identify which rights are respected in their community and which are not.
Differentiate “needs” from “wants”
Use different learning strategies for their own learning: Use of imagery, Use of
keywords, use of visual support, grouping.
Relate their everyday activities with their rights
Table of content
Contexto: “Yo”, “La organización social”
Prácticas del lenguaje:
 Describir
 Explicar y argumentar
 Manifestar acuerdos y desacuerdos
Tareas




3
Crear un personaje para que, a través de
él, los estudiantes puedan expresar el
conocimiento que van construyendo
acerca de los Derechos del Niño.
Analizar descripciones en grupo, para
determinar qué derechos se cumplen en
su sociedad y en otras sociedades y
justificar sus respuestas.
Categorizar necesidades y deseos
Compartir las producciones con otros
para ampliar sus conocimientos desde
otro punto de vista
Exponentes lingüísticos
“I have the right to go to school”
“I enjoy/don’t enjoy the right to have a name”
“Rights are universal, egalitarian and
inalienable”
“I have the responsibility not to bully other
children”
“I want a computer”
“I need food”
“Argentina complies/doesn’t comply with this
right”
“It is important that you know your rights, so
you can exercise them”
Dirección General de Cultura y Educación, (2008), “Las responsabilidades de la escuela primaria en
relación con los desafíos para la formación en una ciudadanía responsable”, Diseño Curricular para la
Educación Primaria. Segundo Ciclo, volumen 1, La Plata, Buenos Aires (prov.), pp 23
Time allotted
6 lessons of 1 hour each (2 classes per week)
Resources




Netbooks for the IT teacher to work with for this proyect
Video with song, and netbook to play it
Flashcards
Photocopies
Final output
In groups, students have to make a short video in “Movie Maker”, presenting one of the
Children’s Rights. In order to do this they have to use a character and dialogues they have
created through the project
Assessment
Different aspects of student’s performance will be taken into account in order to carry out an
assessment. The most important aspect is the process students go through, since learning a
language is a continuous process that cannot be achieved in only one step, and every student
has his/her own learning pace. Even though the project has a final task, the final task is not the
only to be assess.
Description of the teaching sequences
Class 1
Pre-task
Warm up: Teacher asks students to say activities that are good for children (ej. Going to
school, exercising, etc). Teacher copies their answers on the board
Teacher asks students what they think “rights” are, and writes the answers on the board
(brainstorming, semicontrolled technique). Then the teacher gives them the definition of rights,
and explains that they are going to work with Children’s Rights since the Universal Children’s
Day is celebrated on November 20th, and it is a good opportunity to raise consciousness among
children about this topic. (Identify the purpose of a task, Metacognitive S)
Core-task
Teacher asks students if what they have written on the board when talking about good
activities for children, are children’s rights. Teacher asks for volunteers to identify the Children’s
Rights and circle them. We check altogether.
Teacher shows a short video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_70HXxd5Y) with a song
about children’s rights for students to identify which rights the video illustrates. (Using
resources for receiving and sending messages: Cognitive S)
Follow up
Teacher gives students an activity in which they have to write the missing word in sentences
about rights. In order to do this, they have a picture to guide them. They check altogether (using
imagery: Memory strategies)
Class 2
Pre-task
Teacher asks students to mime in groups of 3, one of the children’s rights they remember.
The rest of the class has to guess which right it is (using mime or gesture: Compensation S).
Teacher explains that this activity will help students to be prepared for the final task: make a
short video with the IT teacher about one of the Children’s Rights.
Core task
Teacher gives students ten articles of the Children’s Rights (an edition for children), and
assigns one right per group. In groups (cooperating with peers and becoming aware of other’s
thoughts and feelings, Social S), students have to discuss if they agree with that right or not, if
the right is respected in their society and especially if they respect other children’s rights (in L1).
They have to justify their answers. Students have to pay attention to key words to remember
that right (keywords: Memory S). Then, each group creates a character to illustrate the assigned
right through an image, or series of images (using imagery: Memory strategies; Information
transfer, semicontrolled technique). After that, students present it to the rest of the class and
say if our country complies with that right. Each group also has to write on the board the
keyword of the article (e.g. “family”, “name”, “medical care”) for the rest of the class to
highlight it on their photocopies (Highlighting, Cognitive S). Other children can give their
opinion on which is the keyword or if they think they right is complied with in their society and
discuss.
Follow-up
Each group writes a dialogue bubble for the character they have created in the core task.
They have to write in the dialogue bubble if their character has the right they have been working
on or not, using this chunk of language: “I enjoy/don’t enjoy the right to have time to play”
Class 3
Pre-task
Teacher asks students which some of the characteristics of Children’s Rights are, and
introduces them to the words: Universal, egalitarian and inalienable, presented on a poster.
Teacher gives examples illustrating these words, and students have to say which word
corresponds to each example.
Universal:
Egalitarian:
Inalienable:
Core task
Teacher gives each group a website address where they can find news on children’s rights
around the world (they work with the netbooks provided by the school). Teacher asks students
to analyze the news in order to deduce which children’s right the news is about. After sharing
what each group understood with the rest of the class, altogether discuss if Children’s Rights are
respected in every part of the world
Follow up
Students write another dialogue bubble, saying if the country they have read the news
about, complies with Children’s Rights or not. “Brazil complies with the right to have time to
play”. (Linking with already known material, Metacognitive S)
The teacher writes the following question in the board for students to answer in their
notebooks: “What do you think is the first step to exercise your rights?” The answer will be
discussed the next class.
Class 4
Pre-task
Teacher asks a few students to read aloud their answers to the previous class question, and
altogether discuss the answers. If nobody tells the expected answer (The first step is to know
that you have rights), the teacher will provide it, and ask if students agree or not. Students add
to their character, another dialogue bubble saying why it is important to know our rights. (It is
important to know your rights, so you can exercise them)
Core task
Teacher asks why responsibilities are connected with rights. After a short discussion, teacher
divides the class in two groups, and gives one flashcard to each student. The flashcards of group
A, are about Children’s Rights (e.g. “Children have the right to have education…), and the
flashcards of group B are about children’s responsibilities (…and the responsibility to learn as
much as they can). In order, students of group A have to walk around the class and find the
responsibility that comes with their Right.
In pairs, students stick the rights and responsibilities on the board. Then, each student has to
read aloud one flashcard and we clarify vocabulary. They are invited to say what they think
about rights and responsibilities, and if they think that it is necessary to add a responsibility or
right, they can do it.
Teacher gives a True of False activity based of the rights and responsibilities worked with the
flashcards. Students correct the activity altogether.
Follow up
Clip note. Students have to complete the clip note in order to organize the rights according to
the verb used (grouping: Memory S). If there is not enough time, students can finish this clip
note at home, with the help of the photocopies and activities done in class.
Children have the right to
have …
receive…
be…
enjoy…
special…
make…
Class 5
Pre-task
Teacher draws two columns on the board, one for “Needs”, and another one for “Wants”.
Teacher asks students if anybody knows the meaning of these words, and if nobody does the
teacher gives the direct translation to their L1. Altogether define these words and think of the
difference between them.
Core task
Teacher asks students to draw two columns and write “needs” in one column, and “wants” in
the other. Then they can come to the board and write the words in English (with the help of the
teacher if needed), in the corresponding column. Then we discuss if there is a “need” that is
missing in the “Declaration of Children’s Rights”.
In groups, students have time to prepare what their short video is going to be about. They
have to use the character they have created with all the dialogue bubbles (these include: the
right, responsibility, if every country complies with the right and why it is important).
Follow up
Students are given a check list with all the items their presentation needs to include, and a
self evaluation sheet for students to be aware of their progress.
Class 6
Students present the short videos in an educational exhibit. Different classes of English
working on Children’s Rights will be participating in this exhibit as well.
Worksheet
1. Children have the right to:
A. have a _____________
B. have a ____________
C. have _____________
D. Have ____________
E. ______________
F. _______________
Tomás
2. True or false?
a. Children have the right to have a clean environment, and the responsibility to look after their
environment
b. Children have the right to freedom of thought and religion, and the responsibility to bully
others
c. Children have the right to proper medical care, and the responsibility to eat candies.
d. Children have the right to special care for special needs, and the responsibility to be the best
they can be
Flashcards: Rights and Responsibilities
Bibliography





Brown H. D., “Techniques, textbooks, and technology”, Teaching by Principles, An
interactive approach to language pedagogy, USA.
Dirección General de Cultura y Educación, (2008), “Los propósitos de la Educación
Primaria” y “Las responsabilidades de la escuela primaria en relación con los
desafíos para la formación en una ciudadanía responsable “, Diseño Curricular para
la Educación Primaria. Segundo Ciclo, volumen 1, La Plata, Buenos Aires (prov.)
Flashcards, pp. 5-8 www.e-activist.com/eacampaign/action.retrievefile.do?ea_fileid=14113
Oxford R., “Looking at Language Learning Strategies”, Language Learning Strategies,
USA.
Video with song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN_70HXxd5Y