Student Voices: Exploring Fairness and Development Through Poetry and Digital Storytelling

How Middle School Students Used Poetry and Media to Reflect on Global Justice Issues

At YingHua International School, our Middle Years Programme (MYP) students recently concluded a powerful unit on digital storytelling, grounded in the global context of Fairness and Development. This theme encourages students to consider justice, human rights, and sustainability—not just as abstract ideas, but as forces shaping lives around the world.

📚 Literature as a Lens for Justice

To launch the final activity, students selected a poem from around the world that connects to fairness and development. The poems explored issues like inequality, environmental justice, civil rights, and the human cost of conflict. After selecting a piece that resonated with them, each student reflected on the poet’s message and examined how that message connects to the world we live in today.

🎬 Storytelling for Change

Building on this literary foundation, students then created digital stories that connected their own ideas to global issues. Through visuals, voiceovers, music, and pacing, they brought their perspectives to life—demonstrating how style choices can deepen emotional impact and strengthen a message.

Their final in-class writing assignment tied everything together. Students were asked to:

• Explain how their chosen poem explores a theme of fairness or development

• Reflect on at least three creative choices they made in their digital story

• Consider how storytelling can influence awareness, empathy, and social change

🌍 Global Thinkers, Local Changemakers

This project encouraged students to think critically, express themselves creatively, and recognize the power of their own voices. As one student wrote, "Stories about fairness and justice matter because it makes people be grateful for what they have, and to be inspired to help people in need."

Please enjoy their work—a collection of digital poems that show how middle schoolers can meaningfully engage with global issues and advocate for a more just, peaceful world.