How did the Bush administration try and build nationalistic fervor?
What was ironic about building a wall between the US and Mexico?
What was shocking about hurricane Katrina?
How did Americans say “no” to the Bush administration?
EXTRA: (for bilingual student)
I. CIA Torture
In 2006, Bush banned torture by the military because of discriminating photos of
US soldiers torturing prisoners in Iraq (see Abu Ghraib). However, Bush did NOT ban torture by
the CIA.
Keep in mind that torturing POWs, or anyone is illegal by international law
(UN Convention Against Torture 聯合國禁止酷刑公約).
A. Abu Ghraib The name of the prison and scandal where American soldiers brutalized detained Iraqis including rape, torture, electrocution, sodomy and even murder (weekly executions). The brutality began in March 2003 and ended in 2006 (See CNN). B. Waterboarding坐水凳 A form of torture that drowns the victim so that they confess to anything. Not a reliable way to gain factual information, and considered cruel and inhumane by most moral people. C. Guantanamo (關塔那摩灣拘押中心) was a prison for terrorists who were subject to torture, especially waterboarding. Later a secret military file, the Manuel操作手冊 for Operation運作 of Guantanamo was leaked by military whistleblower Chelsea Manning to the website WikiLeaks (維基解密)founded by Julian Assange (朱利安·亞桑傑). WikiLeaks and Manning published a series of leaks 洩 including US soldiers in Iraq targeting and killing civilians and journalists. Manning faced jail time and Assange was recently arrested in London after hiding out in an Ecuadorean embassy for 7 years.
D. Black Sites: Secret CIA prisons where the CIA torture suspected terrorists. When Germany found out about these Black Sites operating in Germany and other EU countries it created a diplomatic storm. The new German leader Angela Merkel was livid and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to go to Germany to smooth over the tension. (See BreakingNews English). At that time, Germany and the world only knew about 8 of these so-called sites, but after WikiLeaks published a series of leaks, we know these Black sites were far more numerous and extensive (See Washington Post).
The goal of this course is for the student to speak English for the entire class time. The teacher will make notes of errors and provide feedback during pauses or the end of the class. However, more important than perfection is flowing communication and confidence. The intermediate/advanced student is expected to use a new idiom and vocabulary.
I have taught human rights several times for my social studies classes, and now I will present something to my ESL students. I will pick and choose from my past lessons and apply them to what writing lessons we had learned from our completed textbook Great Writing 1.
My past lessons:
This is a nice introduction to the story of human rights, with an example of China's crackdown on human rights lawyers in 2014, a well as Taiwan's treatment of SE Asian migrant workers. (September 2015)
This lesson is about Identity and Otherness and its relation to human rights using readings about acid attacks on women and the first Muslim mayor of London Sadiq Khan. (July 2016). I'll never forget this lesson because I had them draw identity maps and I was honored with the privilege that in almost every class, 1-2 students disclosed their sexual orientation to me, some even before me telling their parents.
This lesson is a little bit more difficult, having the students discuss with a partner Needs vs Wants. There is a list of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights here with some Mandarin translation. (August 2015)
Introduction: I'll introduce the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights with some of my previous material and corresponding booklets. (Class Handout) Activities:
