Introduction to a Study of the Holocaust

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This lesson will spark inquiry around the unit and serve as the guiding force for the remainder of the unit. Students will create questions they want answered while they read quotes and listen to passages from books about the Holocaust. It is important for the teacher to dispel any misinformation the students may have as the unit progresses.

OBJECTIVE

Students will:

1. Activate their prior knowledge about the Holocaust
2. Examine quotes and text passages related to the Holocaust
3. Generate a list of questions about the Holocaust.

MATERIALS

1. Passages from the literature used in this unit
2. Post-it notes or index cards
3. Markers

SET UP AND PREPARE

1. Identify passages to be read aloud or copied
2. Copy the quotations on index cards
3. Prepare a KWL chart with a fourth column labeled "Is it true?"
4. Quotations to use:

• "In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the labor unionists and I didn't speak up because I was not a labor unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant so I didn't speak up. Then they came for me... by that time there was no one left to speak up for anyone."                       - Martin Niemoller
• "The Shoa profoundly belongs to all of us."
  - Geoffrey Tabakin
• "Man is like a pillowcase. The color of one may be red, another blue, another black, but all contain the same cotton."
  - Kamakrishna

DIRECTIONS

Step 1: 
Write the objectives on the board and read them with the students. Access prior knowledge by asking students what they already know about World War II and the Holocaust. Have the students write what they know on Post-it notes. Students will most likely have many misconceptions about the Holocaust. It is suggested to have students post what they "know" rather than share it out loud so that students don't hear the misinformation and take it as truth.

Step 2: 
Post students' documented prior knowledge in the Know column of the KWL chart. The teacher can mark the statements that are true in the true column and share those orally with the class.

Step 3: 
Give the students a brief amount of information about the Holocaust and World War II. Enough information should be given so that the students have enough information to create some curiosity and generate some questions.

Step 4:
Pass out Post-it notes to students and have them write an "I wonder" question on the Post-it note. If student-generated questions are new for your class, the teacher should model his/her own question. Example: I wonder how long World War II lasted. Or "I wonder what happened to children during the war."

Step 5: 
Pass out copies of the quotations and the book passages to the students. Students should either read them silently or listen to the teacher read them aloud (depending on the reading abilities of the students). After reading each selected text, students should record an "I wonder" question on a Post-it note.

Step 6: 
Repeat step five with each selected passage. Provide enough wait time for students to generate a variety of details and questions.

Step 7:
Post students' documented questions in the classroom.

Step 8:
Revisit the objectives. Ask the students:

• Did we activate our prior knowledge?
• Did we generate a list of questions to guide our unit?

SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS

Pull a small group of struggling readers and read the passages with the students. Students who need more of a challenge should write one question from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

ASSESS STUDENTS
Pull a small group of struggling readers and read the passages with the students. Students who need more of a challenge should write one question from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy.

ASSIGNMENTS

Students will record their prior knowledge and questions on Post-it notes.

HOME CONNECTION
Instruct students to share the activity with their families and record their questions to share with a partner in class the next day.

EVALUATE THE LESSON

• Were your students able to generate questions?
• What worked well?
• What didn't?
• If you taught the same lesson again, what would you do differently?

Lesson Ideas to Enrich Student Inquiry into the Holocaust
Offers an inquiry-based lesson on author's purpose, current events, strong vocabulary, and the role a bystander plays in conflict.

Reading the Play
Introduces a lesson involving reading Julius Caesar and comparing Shakespeare's depiction of the characters to the actual historical figures.

The Interview of a Lifetime
Students interview each other, taking turns posing as journalists and as survivors of the sinking of the Titanic.

ARTICLE	Books For Teaching the Holocaust Suggests books for support of student inquiry into the Holocaust.
UNIT PLAN	Literature and History of the Holocaust Features unit of study on the Holocaust, that focuses on both the good and bad in human nature.
ONLINE ACTIVITY	Research Tools: The Holocaust and World War II A collection of articles to help research World War II and the Holocaust, with a focus on Anne Frank.