Standing Up For Your Human Rights
Learning Goals
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Understand and use new vocabulary words
- Read words with double vowels ou, ow, and oo
- Apply the grammar rules you’ve learned in this book
- Create and write a plan to stand up for a human rights issue
Get Ready to Read
- Think of a time you stood up for yourself. What happened? How did you feel?
Vocabulary
| 1. The government will give more money to people on income assistance. | a. A company, business, club, or group that was put together for a special purpose |
| 2. Always try to speak to the person who has responsibility for the problem you face. | b. Having the job of taking care of something or someone |
| 3. What might get in your way? Be creative to find ways to deal with these challenges. | c. A feeling that good things will happen in the future |
| 4. Find an organization that tries to solve problems like yours. See if they have someone who can help you learn more. | d. Money that the government gives people who are out of work, sick, disabled, or old |
| 5. Jack Layton called for more hope and optimism. | e. Something difficult |
| 6. Jack Layton called for less fear and despair. | f. A feeling of no hope |
Write an answer for each question using the word in bold. Write in complete sentences.
- What is the biggest responsibility you have ever had?
- What sport do you think is the most challenging?
- If you had one million dollars to give to one organization, which one would you give it to?
Word Attack Strategy
Word Patterns
Some words have double vowels — two vowels side by side. The double vowels ow, oo, and ou are tricky because they each have two different sounds.
|
|
|
Notice that both ow and ou can make the /ou/ sound.
Notice that both ou and oo can make the long /u/ sound.
Fill in the blanks with the double vowels that will make a real word.
1.
| ou ow |
|
d___n t___el l___d |
2.
| ou ow |
|
cl___d s___th f___nd |
3.
| ou ow |
|
v___el t___n disc___nt |
4.
|
ou ow |
|
sh___t fl___er all___ |
5. Write the words above in the boxes below. Read the words.
| ou | ow |
|
|
6. Read these words. Do the letters ow make a long /o/ sound or an /ou/ sound? Circle the correct choice.
|
a. follow b. shower c. flower d. snow e. window f. arrow g. rainbow h. below i. power j. grow k. tomorrow |
long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ long /o/ /ou/ |
7. Fill in the blanks to make a sentence using the words below.
| mushroom | balloon | shampoo |
| afternoon | cartoon | rooster |
a. Do you go to school in the __________________ or at night?
b. I love this __________________ soup!
c. I got this chicken so I could have eggs, but it turns out it is a __________________.
d. Do you have a favourite __________________ character?
e. I wash my hair with __________________ three times a week.
f. There is a __________________ at my desk because it is my birthday.
8. Read the words. Does the oo make a long /u/ sound, or does it make the same sound you hear in book? Circle the correct choice.
|
a. fool b. room c. pool d. took e. moon f. good g. shook h. stood i. broom j. raccoon k. football l. looking m. understood n. mushroom |
long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book long /u/ same vowel sound as book |
9. Read the words below and sort them into the boxes below.
| around | rainbow | know | our |
| powerful | grow | stood | how |
| food | shown | you | cloud |
| houses | about | group | arrow |
|
a. What says /ou/ like trout?
|
b. What says long /o/ like snow?
|
|
c. What says long /u/ like soup?
|
d. What has the same vowel sound as book?
|
Use Your Reading Skills
Read Standing Up for Your Human Rights in your reader. Return to this page when you are done.
Check Your Understanding
1. What is the main point of this text?
a. To explain how to send an email
b. To describe Martin Luther King Jr.
c. To explain how to stand up for your rights
2. The steps for standing up for your rights are written below. They are in the wrong order. Put them in the right order. Look back at the text to help you.
a. Know who you can turn to for support.
b. Figure out the right person to talk to.
c. Make a back-up plan.
d. Decide what things you can use to make your point.
e. Set a goal.
f. Predict what challenges might get in your way. Come up with ways to deal with them.
g. Write down the problem.
h. Choose how to speak up — in an email, on the phone, in person, or by letter.
3. Think about these human rights problems. Write down a goal that would solve the problem.
| Human Rights Problem | Goal |
| a. The women in my workplace get paid less than the men, even though they do the same job. | |
| b. My landlord just raised my rent by an extra $200 a month. This is illegal — and I can’t afford to pay that much. | |
| c. My kid’s school will not let the queer students start a club to fight homophobia. |
4. Name three ways you can speak up for your human rights.
______________________________________________________________________
5. Name one thing you could do if your plan does not work the first time.
______________________________________________________________________
Grammar
1. Are these complete sentences?
a. Women’s rights.
b. She made people laugh.
c. In all of Canada.
d. The first Aboriginal person in government.
e. He told a story about Mouseland.
f. Writing a book about what her family went through.
g. Jim loves Jack.
2. Put the two sentences together to make a compound sentence.
a. There are a lot of homeless people in my town. I wrote a letter to the government to ask them to help.
b. I learned about the people running to be in government. I voted for the person I liked best.
c. It’s always important to stand up for what’s right. It’s not always easy.
3. Add capitals to these sentences.
a. joy kogawa wrote a book called obasan.
b. nellie mcclung used to live on vancouver island.
c. did you know that december 10 is human rights day?
d. did you know that canada was the fourth country in the world to make same gender marriage legal?
e. tommy douglas went to brandon college.
4. Add commas to these sentences.
a. To stand up for your human rights, you can write a letter send an email make a phone call or speak to someone in person.
b. There are lots of people who can help you stand up for your rights, including friends family your MLA your MP or an organization.
c. Let us be loving hopeful and optimistic.
5. Make these words plural.
a. right
b. life
c. man
d. baby
e. dish
6. Rewrite the underlined words as contractions.
a. Dr. Seuss said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It is not.”
b. What does not kill us makes us stronger.
c. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you are half way there.”
d. In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: it goes on.
7. Below is a summary of a story you have read. Add an apostrophe or an apostrophe and an s to the words in brackets.
(Viola Desmond) hero was Madam CJ Walker. Madam CJ Walker was (America) first self-made millionaire. Viola started a business like (Madam CJ) beauty business. (Viola) business was doing very well, too. One day, (Viola) car broke down when she was delivering her beauty products. She went to see a movie at the Roseland Theatre while she waited for her car to get fixed. She sat on the main floor of the theatre. The (theatre) main floor was for white people only. Viola was black. The (theatre) manager told her to move to the balcony. (Viola) eyesight was poor and she could not see from the balcony. She did not move. For that, the police took her to prison. Viola stood up for herself in court. She lost, but she helped start the fight for (African Canadians) rights.
Writing
Writing Task
Think of a human rights problem in your life, or choose one from the list below. Make a plan to take a stand. Use the tips from the text and fill in this Make a Plan sheet. Edit your work with the checklist below. Hand in a final copy of your plan to your instructor.
Human rights problems:
- homelessness
- hunger
- low minimum wage
- bullying in schools
- missing and murdered Aboriginal women
Checklist:
- Did I explain the problem clearly?
- Did I make a goal that would solve the problem?
- Did I figure out what decision-maker I should talk to?
- Did I think of at least one challenge and a way to deal with it?
- Did I decide on a way to talk to the decision-maker?
- Did I make a list of people who could help me?
Answer Key
| Vocabulary | |
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| 1 | d |
| 2 | b |
| 3 | e |
| 4 | a |
| 5 | c |
| 6 | f |
| Word Attack Strategy | |
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| 1 | down, towel, loud |
| 2 | cloud, south, found |
| 3 | vowel, town, discount |
| 4 | shout, flower, allow |
| 5 | ou: loud, cloud, south, found, discount, shout |
| ow: down, towel, vowel, town, flower, allow | |
| 6a | long /o/ |
| 6b | /ou/ |
| 6c | /ou/ |
| 6d | long /o/ |
| 6e | long /o/ |
| 6f | long /o/ |
| 6g | long /o/ |
| 6h | long /o/ |
| 6i | /ou/ |
| 6j | long /o/ |
| 6k | long /o/ |
| 7a | afternoon |
| 7b | mushroom |
| 7c | rooster |
| 7d | cartoon |
| 7e | shampoo |
| 7f | balloon |
| 8a | long /u/ |
| 8b | long /u/ |
| 8c | long /u/ |
| 8d | same vowel sound as book |
| 8e | long /u/ |
| 8f | same vowel sound as book |
| 8g | same vowel sound as book |
| 8h | same vowel sound as book |
| 8i | long /u/ |
| 8j | long /u/ |
| 8k | same vowel sound as book |
| 8l | same vowel sound as book |
| 8m | same vowel sound as book |
| 8n | long /u/ |
| 9a | around, powerful, houses, about, how, cloud, our |
| 9b | rainbow, grow, shown, know, arrow |
| 9c | food, you, group |
| 9d | stood |
| Check Your Understanding | |
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| 1 | c |
| 2 | g, e, b, f, d, h, a, c |
| 3a | Women in my workplace will get equal pay for equal work. |
| 3b | My landlord will raise my rent by the amount allowed by law. |
| 3c | My kid’s school will allow a club to fight homophobia. |
| 4 | Answers will vary: write a letter, send an email, make a phone call, book an appointment, join an organization, vote |
| 5 | Answers will vary: I could change my goals, speak out in a different way, talk to different people, or get help from different people. |
| Grammar | |
| QUESTION | ANSWER |
| 1a | no |
| 1b | yes |
| 1c | no |
| 1d | no |
| 1e | yes |
| 1f | no |
| 1g | yes |
| 2a | There are a lot of homeless people in my town, so I wrote a letter to the government to ask them to help. |
| 2b | I learned about the people running to be in government, and I voted for the person I liked best. |
| 2c | It’s always important to stand up for what’s right, but it’s not always easy. |
| 3a | Joy Kogawa wrote a book called Obasan. |
| 3b | Nellie McClung used to live on Vancouver Island. |
| 3c | Did you know that December 10 is Human Rights Day? |
| 3d | Did you know that Canada was the fourth country in the world to make same gender marriage legal? |
| 3e | Tommy Douglas went to Brandon College. |
| 4a | To stand up for your human rights, you can write a letter, send an email, make a phone call, or speak to someone in person. |
| 4b | There are lots of people who can help you stand up for your rights, including friends, family, your MLA, your MP, or an organization. |
| 4c | Let us be loving, hopeful, and optimistic. |
| 5a | rights |
| 5b | lives |
| 5c | men |
| 5d | babies |
| 5e | dishes |
| 6a | Dr. Seuss said, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” |
| 6b | What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. |
| 6c | Theodore Roosevelt said, “Believe you can and you’re half way there.” |
| 6d | In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. |
| 7 | Viola Desmond’s hero was Madam CJ Walker. Madam CJ Walker was America’s first self-made millionaire. Viola started a business like Madam CJ’s beauty business. Viola’s business was doing very well, too. One day, Viola’s car broke down when she was delivering her beauty products. She went to see a movie at the Roseland Theatre while she waited for her car to get fixed. She sat on the main floor of the theatre. The theatre’s main floor was for white people only. Viola was black. The theatre’s manager told her to move to the balcony. Viola’s eyesight was poor and she could not see from the balcony. She did not move. For that, the police took her to prison. Viola stood up for herself in court. She lost, but she helped start the fight for African Canadians’ rights. |
Attribution
Human rights
Fists by Nemo is in the public domain.