Read, Write, and More about Human Rights

February is Black History Month! What a perfect time to reflect on that history and the characters that played roles and continue to contribute to positive trends in that process. Here is one ReadWorks.org list of great titles to cover with your students on the topic!

I have just come across a wonderful resource on human rights, related to this month's focus, that I hope many of us will drop into our toolkits: the B.C. Open Textbook project, which is dedicated to the goal of making post-secondary education more accessible to adult students. The site is supported by the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education.

Reader IV of "BC Reads: Adult Literacy Fundamental English" (BC Reads) contains nine original stories written specifically for adults on the topic of Human Rights! This level 4 reader is roughly equivalent to levels 4.5 to 6 in the K-12 system. Though developed among Native American Tribes in Canada and published on a Canadian site, the language used will not conflict in any way with the English used by US students (maybe a spelling here and there), and the topic is certainly universal!

The stories are engaging, easy to read, but not childish, and include wonderful writing activities to help students develop their own plans to take action in the direction of their goals.

What I found most appealing about the resource is that all BC Reads readers hold the most open of all Creative Commons licenses. That means that students and instructors can share the content and modify it in any way that please. I have a list of activities that could be developed in that regard. Ask me if you want ideas. I love OER! 

What activity can you contribute after you read the stories in this resource? How would you and your students use that open content? Leecy

Leecy Wise
Moderator
Reading and Writing CoP