Read the Introduction To Using Fiction To Teach Human Rights guide and use our teachers notes to discuss and debate the book 'In The Sea There Are Crocodiles&' by Fabio Geda.

Flora Popescu’s parents are planning to defect when daily life suddenly brings frightening changes – some linked to a friendship between Flora and a new boy at school. Unlike his poor classmates, Daniel dresses and eats well, and his father ranks high in the secret police. Flora slowly realises that her father is in danger and only she can save him from the secret police.

A series of activities for one-two lessons to explore conflicting views on the land rights of Traveller groups, with a main activity to explore and try to resolve the issues through role-play and discussion.

Two Welsh language one-hour lessons for students to use UN Convention Against Torture definitions to judge which interrogation techniques amount to torture, then consider whether governments should be allowed to interrogate terrorist suspects using these methods.

Fiction has real power to further human rights education. Explore the themes of difference and diversity with your class through our teachers notes for the book 'Oliver&' by Birgitta Sif.

A selection of activities for primary classes to explore asylum and refugee issues in a participatory way. Created by our Edinburgh office for schools in Scotland, this is a great resource for schools anywhere in the UK.

This is a compelling story about the Crimean Tatars’ struggle to reclaim the land from which they were exiled in World War II. All her life, Safi’s parents dreamed of returning to her grandpa’s native village in Crimea. But they end up exchanging their sunny Uzbekistan house for a squalid camp where no one welcomes them. The story explores how the struggle threatens to tear Safi’s family apart, and asks if this strange land can ever become home.

A powerful story about a young girl’s struggle within the constraints of her nomadic society. Shabanu lives with her camel-herding family in Pakistan’s Cholistan Desert. At 12, she is already betrothed, while her 13-year-old sister is about to be married. When tragedy strikes, Shabanu must choose between dreams of freedom and obligations to family and culture.

Written by Ying Chang Compestine, this is a powerful story of a girl who comes of age during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1969). Nine-year-old Ling leads a happy life with her parents, both dedicated doctors. Comrade Li, one of Mao’s political officers, moves into their apartment and creates an atmosphere of increasing mistrust in which Ling begins to fear for her family’s safety. Over four years, and despite witnessing many horrors, Ling not only survives, but blooms.

This beautifully illustrated book introduces deafness to young children. The story explores some of the difficulties a child who is deaf may face, and how upsetting these can be. The story helps to reinforce how important it is to make sure everyone is included in games and activities, and how easy it is to make changes so that this can happen.

Many children’s novels and even picture books possess great power to open up new worlds and inspire a capacity for empathy. Being able to empathise makes it easier to be kind, tolerant and willing to consider other points of view. It makes it harder to adopt prejudiced stances, helps to guard against aggression and conflict and may even encourage people to take positive action on behalf of others. It also helps young people to put their own problems in perspective. These are all values that lie at the heart of human rights and we can find them in books for children.

Read the Introduction To Using Fiction To Teach Human Rights guide and use our teachers notes to discuss and debate Dark Parties by Sara Grant.

Secrets in the Fire is based on the true story of Sofia, an indomitable young girl in war-torn Mozambique, who strays from a path while playing and steps on a landmine. She manages to transcend the brutality and horror that have shattered her childhood, and builds a new future out of the ruins of her life.

Soldiers of the Kashmir Freedom Fighters are in search of new recruits at nine-year-old Rafiq’s school in rural Kashmir. They scrawl a line in chalk on the schoolroom wall. Any boy whose height reaches the line will be taken to fight. Rafiq is tall for his age and becomes the first boy to cross into a life of brutality and terrorism. So begins Rafiq’s transformation from child to boy soldier, indoctrinated into a cause of fanatical belief. But even when he no longer recognises himself, his family remembers the boy he was and hopes he will return.

The books on this shortlist for the 2018 Kate Greenaway and Carnegie Medal winners were chosen by expert youth librarians. Proving our theory that all good books engage with human rights, we’ve found deep themes of justice, truth and freedom to explore in every one. All of these books are eligible for the Amnesty CILIP Honour, for books that best uphold, illuminate or celebrate human rights and the values that underpin them. Click each to find human rights education resources that you can use to explore human rights with children and young people.

Two lesson plans which introduce students to concepts of fairness and unfairness, the human right of freedom of expression and Amnesty’s work in this area. Developed in consultation with teachers working in Special Schools.

This Words That Burn bitesize blog series explores the power of poetry. We will introduce you to some incredible poets and share simple activities you can do to inspire your own poetry. You can find links to all the blog posts below: Blog 1: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-introducing-our-bitesize-poetry-series Blog 2: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-reflect-through-poetry Blog 3: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-feel-through-poetry Blog 4: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-question-through-poetry Blog 5: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-listen-through-poetry Blog 6: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-dream-through-poetry Blog 7: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-demand-through-poetry Blog 7: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/classroom-community/words-burn-celebrate-through-poetry If you find these resources useful you can also find our full Words That Burn resources on TES or on the Amnesty website.

This resource supports educators to introduce students, aged 7 -13, to young people’s rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The session plan below will help students think about what rights are important to them and understand that everyone is equally entitled to Human Rights. It will also give them the opportunity to explore the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to understand that young people have special rights that are unique to them.

Lluniwyd yr adnodd hwn i fod yn gytbwys a hwyluso dadl a thrafodaeth agored ymhlith myfyrwyr 14 oed a hŷn o blaid ac yn erbyn y gosb eithaf. Mae’n cynnwys gweithgareddau a ffeithiau i archwilio’r gosb eithaf. Mae’n ystyried y dadleuon o blaid ac yn erbyn, ac yn gofyn sut mae dienyddio wedi dod yn fater hawliau dynol. Gall myfyrwyr hefyd archwilio effaith byw ar res yr angau ac ystyried p’un a yw’n deg dedfrydu plant i farwolaeth. Mae’r adnodd yn cynnwys sgript ar gyfer gwasanaeth a thrafodaeth. Mae hefyd yn defnyddio ffilmiau, astudiaethau achos a data i bobl ifanc ysgrifennu amdanynt. Mae Amnest yn gwrthwynebu defnyddio’r gosb eithaf ym mhob achos ac ar gyfer pob trosedd, p’un a yw rhywun yn ddieuog neu’n euog. This resource is designed to be balanced and facilitate open debate and discussion for and against the death penalty for students aged 14+. It includes activities and facts to explore the death penalty. It looks at the arguments in favour and against, and asks how capital punishment has become a human rights issue. Students can also examine the impact of living on death row and consider whether it is fair to sentence children to death. The resource includes an assembly script and debate. It also uses films, case studies and data for young people to write about. Amnesty opposes the use of the death penalty in all cases and for all crimes, whether someone is innocent or guilty. Also available in English and Arabic.

Session 8 - power Throughout history, words and poetry have been used to challenge, protest and inspire change. In this session students watch Inja perform his poem Freedom and explore poems about race and privilege before creating their own protest poems. About Words that Burn Words That Burn challenges you to take action for human rights through poetry. Using this resource secondary schools can explore human rights through poetry, with 10 free educational resources designed to help students develop their own writing and performance style. This is national project to explore and express human rights through poetry by Amnesty International in partnership with Cheltenham festivals.