Behind the scenes
Click through this gallery to see some photos of us working the the project!
BOOKS:
We read two important books this year that taught us about human rights and student activism. Scroll down to read our summaries and reflections on these two books.
We read two important books this year that taught us about human rights and student activism. Scroll down to read our summaries and reflections on these two books.
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
The book, Esperanza Rising is a fictional story about Esperanza, a Mexican girl that used to be wealthy and how she had a great and brave father who was a ranchero or (grape) ranch owner. Also to add on Esperanza lived in Mexico in huge house with her mother, her father, her abuelita and many servants and maids.
On the night before her 12th birthday, her dad was out on the ranch and he was attacked and killed by bandits. Eventually he died of pain and the sad thing was that the next day it was Esperanza's birthday. At this point Esperanza and her whole family became depressed and so sad. Their lives started to fall apart because at the time in Mexico, women (her mama) didn’t have the right own land. This meant their home and the land now belonged to her evil uncles. After they found out that Esperanza’s uncle paid bandits to kill her father, not only did he do that later he wanted to kill Esperanza's father just to marry Esperanza's mother. Then the uncles even burned down the family’s beautiful house. Everyone was ok but now they were very scared of the uncles. Esperanza’s mother knew the only way to stay together and to be safe was to run away in secret to California, along with their servants, who helped them get jobs as workers. Esperanza acted like a snob and had trouble accepting her new, poor life, but then everything changed again when her mama got really sick. Esperanza's mother was in the hospital for at least 5 months because of a dust storm. Also her mother got sick of a lung infection. In addition, Esperanza had to be ready for the hard labor and struggles. She got depression later on because of the hard work and everything she wanted she had to work for it even tho her mom wasn’t there for her, but Esperanza mother taught her to be brave enough like her father. The story ends with Miguel saving their spirit and boosting their happiness by bringing back Abuelita to help mama get better - and it worked! This book helps us understand human rights because we see Papa lose his right to life by being killed by the bandits, Mama lose her right to own land, and all of the characters lose their right to fair pay and safe working conditions as they protest for better rights as workers. Also - Esperanza was sacrificing herself for her family and friends. You may ask how well she is sacrificing herself because back then when her father was alive she didn't have to work, she had everything she wanted but now she has to work for everything she wants and every single dollar she gets she spends it on something good and helpful like food and clothes. The character of Marta teaches us that if you see something is wrong, you have to be brave and speak up until it changes because she notices that Mexican or Mexicans-Americans are not getting treated the same in the farms. She is willing to get violent to change that so she wants to teach us that we gotta care for human rights and some human rights are not getting treated well or the same. Written by Kaylee Tepi |
I Am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai
by Malala Yousafzai
The book “I Am Malala” is about Malala Yousafzai, a girl who lives in Pakistan and loves to go to school. Malala is the author of this book, so it is an autobiography, meaning she wrote the true story of her own life. The book starts when she is 10 years old and her region of Pakistan starts to change because of a group called the Taliban moves into the area. Things change slowly at first, but all of a sudden, the group has taken over and everyone is so afraid of being killed that they are forced to do what the Taliban says. This includes making girls schools illegal. Malala loves school and she does not want to stop going. Her father says she can still go to school but she has to be careful.
As things get worse, Malala knows she has to defend her right to education, so she stood up and spoke at an event. She said what she felt and some people listed to her and some didn't. On the other hand the Taliban found out where she lives and where she goes to school, so the family has to leave their home for a few months to hide. The Taliban wanted to kill her and her father. When the Pakistan Army tries to take the land back, the family feels like they can go back home. But then everything changes again. The Taliban send a person to go shoot Malala because they wanted to silence her and stop her from fighting for girls education. The book continues to explain what happens to Malala when she is in the hospital and how the doctors save her life, and how her family is forced to leave Pakistan and move to England so she can get the care she needs and to stay away from the people who tried to kill her. Malala recovers and starts her new life in England. She goes to school and she wins a lot of awards because now the whole world knows about her story. This book helped me to think that if you believe in something, then you need to be brave and stand up and fight for it. They wanted to kill Malala just because she wanted to speak up for girls education, but they didn’t win. Today she is still alive, fighting every day. I could relate this to student activism because a student activist needs to speak up for their community or their religion and more. Malala has taught everyone to never be afraid to speak up and never judge a book by its cover! Written by Michelle Vazquez |
WRITING:
We spent the month of October writing about Cesar Chavez and the month of November writing about Malala and Greta. Scroll down to read a student sample of our completed writing pieces.
Writing Unit 1: Human Rights
We spent the month of October writing about Cesar Chavez and the month of November writing about Malala and Greta. Scroll down to read a student sample of our completed writing pieces.
Writing Unit 1: Human Rights
Writing Prompt:
Write an Informational Report about the Human Rights Leader, Cesar Chavez, and explain how his actions have helped protect rights of Mexican Migrant Workers in the United States. In your report, be sure to... *Explain the human rights issue that affected Mexican Migrant Workers in the United States . *Why was Cesar Chavez inspired to help Mexican Migrant Workers? *How did Cesar Chavez's efforts as a human rights activists make the lives of Mexican Migrant Workers better? |
Writing Unit 2: Student Activism
Writing Prompt:
Write an Informational Report about the two student activists. Explain how each of their struggles are similar and different. What challenges did the activists face? How did overcoming these challenges reveal the same leadership quality in each student? In your report, be sure to... *Describe a struggle each student activist faces *Identify a leadership quality that both activists share |