Maybe it’s all the news about the Corona Virus, or the long awaited delivery of the Education Review here in Manitoba, but I just felt the need to get lost in a creative project. So, instead of feeling helpless, I decided to make something that might make others feel empowered and hopeful.  And. . . what I ended up creating is what is pictured above, a  totally free downloadable bulletin board set to highlight books students (and teachers 😉 ) can read to feel inspired to rise up to take action.

This bulletin board resource includes 16 images that highlight the words of diverse change makers, and suggest stories of hope and change.  It was important for me to include voices of different ages, decades, genders and ethnicities, to reflect the diversity of the future change makers we have in our classrooms.

I know that bulletin board space can sometimes be limited, so I’ve designed the resources to be layered. I used a black file folder, glued the change maker quote to the outside cover, and then glued the list of suggested readings inside.

Each change maker is paired with a human rights reading list that is reflective of their impact:

Nellie McClung- Article 21: The Right to Take Part in a Free Government

Barack Obama- Article 14: The Right to Seek Asylum from Persecution

Malala Yousafzai- Articles 24 & 26: The Right to Education & Rest/Play

Greta Thunberg- Article 25: The Right to a Standard of Living, Clean Water Access

Senator Murray Sinclair- Article 9: Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest, Detention or Exile

When I set up my bulletin board, I added a “lift me” tab to encourage viewers to interact with the text and peek inside.

And, as an added extra, and because the topic of Human Rights is clearly part of Citizenship, I’ve included the French and English pictorial definitions for Citizenship.  I think it’s important to intentionally use the language of Deep Learning as much as possible with the culture of a classroom or school, and bulletin boards are definitely one of the more common modalities of creating and showing our classroom’s and school’s values, beliefs and culture.

As a final note, it’s ideal that the books featured on your bulletin board are readily available for students to read. So with this in mind, I encourage you to download the slides, save a duplicate to your Google Drive, and modify the book covers featured inside to be reflective of the books your classroom/library has on hand.

To download these resources, click here.

Looking for slide with a particular change maker’s image or words? Leave me a comment below and I’ll see what I can do 😉

Wishing you hope and change,

@msmclauchlan