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Sarah Vorderer

Lesson Plan Five

TITLE

Genocide: A Specific Look at the Tragedy during the Holocaust

TIME

This lesson will be a 50 minute lesson on the Holocaust which fits into a larger, nine week unit on the topic of oppression.

SETTING

Both the instruction and the performance of the lesson will take place in my English classroom. During individual work, students will work quietly and independently at their own desks. However, during small group work, students will move their desks so that both group members are facing each other and working cooperatively.

The class we are teaching is comprised of 25 high school level sophomores at Downers Grove North High School in District 99. Downers Grove North High School is located in suburban Chicago. The district and school host mostly middle-class, Caucasian students. Our general English class, which meets every day for 50 minutes, contains 20 students who are white, one who is Asian American, two who are African American, and two who are Latina/o. The class is split almost evenly down the middle in terms of gender; there are 12 boys and 13 girls.  All of our students are English proficient; thus, there are no bilingual or ELL students. One of our students had ADHD, while another has severe Asthma that oftentimes limits his abilities in class.

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

1) Identify key events and concepts relating to the rise of fascism in Germany, their own feelings, the causes, effects and course of World War II, genocide and the Holocaust.

2) Create an original piece of artwork, poetry, prose, play, diary or essay (or any other approved piece of work) that reflects an understanding of the Holocaust and the relationship between the key terms they discuss.

3) Relate the experiences of individuals who lived through the Holocaust to situations and dilemmas that young people might face in today's society.

4) Discuss key terms with a partner while working cooperatively.

5) Identify how the Holocaust and Genocide relate to oppression and the themes we discussed while reading The Color Purple.

BACKGROUND

Prior to this lesson, students will have the novel The Color Purple. While reading this novel, we will have explored and discussed topics relating to oppression and hatred mostly relating to women since this is what The Color Purple focuses the most on. This lesson will serve as a transition between The Color Purple and our discussion of genocide and Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, My Father Bleeds History. Students began discussing WWII and the Holocaust in their history classes two weeks ago; thus, they have some background on the Holocaust. However, I think it is important to explore the implications of genocide and WWII more deeply because of the tragic consequences of these acts of hatred. Also, because genocide still occurs today, students need to be aware of the horrific problem.

MATERIALS

• Class roster for attendance

• Photo copies of all necessary handouts for class of 25 students

• Art supplies—markers, colored pencils, posters, construction paper, scissors, magazines, and glue for those students who wish to engage in artistic expression

• Example of other students’ work to illustrate creative possibilities for project

• Chalk

• List of groups for group work

PREPARATION

• Have attendance sheet ready to take roll at the beginning of class.

• Make sure the room is set-up in its normal formation (rows) since students will begin class

working independently.

• Make photocopies of necessary handouts.

• Write initial exercise on the board so that students can begin working as soon as they arrive.

• Make overhead transparencies of all directions so students with special needs are clear as to what

they should be doing.

• Organize lesson plan material so I am prepared to teach during the lesson.

• Designate partners for group work

PROCEDURE

Introducing the Lesson (12 minutes)

• Students will work independently on the prompt given at the beginning of class which will be written on the chalkboard at the front of the room: What do you know about the Holocaust? I will encourage students to make a list of words or phrases that they believe are related to the Holocaust. The instructions on the board will also ask students to write an appropriate definition for the items they list.

• During this time, I will take attendance while students work independently.

Extension of Introduction (20 minutes)

• Students will move into groups of 2 which I designate (and one group of three if all students are present).

• Within these groups, students will first go through their lists of words and then critique each other’s lists.

• Students should add or delete words based on the discussion they have with their partner. I will walk around and read over each group’s list to make sure they are on track. If not, I will suggest words they should add or delete.

• Students will then select the 15 words that they believe are the most important (they must have seven from each student’s list) and designate the relationship between the words.

Instruction (10 minutes)

• Describe assignment to students (pass out handout with specific instructions)( Basically, they will be creating an original work of art that must illustrate the relationship of at least 15 words from their list. It can be a picture, essay, comic strip, poem, prose, play, basically anything they want. They must relate describe how their work relates, in some way, to a problem people our society still face today. They can do this artistically or in words or they can incorporate both in their project.

• I will show students other prior students work so they can get an idea of what I am talking about. I will stress to students, however, that this assignment is fairly informal and will be collected tomorrow.

Brainstorming (8 minutes)

• Students will have the last few minutes of class to being brainstorming or working on any ideas they might have. At this point in time students may ask any questions they might have about the assignment as well.

DISCUSSION IDEAS

Prior to Instruction

• What do you already know about the Holocaust? What do you want to learn?

• What are key concepts that you have learned about in relationship to this time period?

• How did the Holocaust have a lasting affect on survivor’s and generations to come?

• How does the study of the Holocaust and genocide make you feel? What emotions are evoked?

• How do you think victims of the Holocaust and genocide are oppressed?

After Instruction

• How were individual lives affected during the Holocaust? How do the sufferings and outcomes of the time period affect subsequent generations?

• Why should people study the Holocaust?

• What important themes should students walk away from this lesson with?

• How can the problems from the Holocaust be applied to our society today?

• What would you do if you lived through this time period?

BILINGUAL/ESL AND DIALECT ACCOMMODATIONS

For our particular class of students, there are no necessary bilingual/ESL accommodations which need to be made. However, if this lesson were to be taught to a group of students needing accommodations here are some suggestions I have:

• Encourage students to use their native languages (Spanish, Polish, etc) in their piece of art, story, play, etc.

• Display directions on the overhead so that students can reread instructions if my speech is too fast.

• Have ESL teacher or another student translate handouts/directions into their native language so that directions are made explicit.

• While students work in pairs, make sure that the ESL/bilingual students work with a student who is understanding and patient. Put ESL students with other students who I know might have some knowledge of foreign language even if it is minimal. Putting the two Spanish speakers together might be a good idea so they can speak Spanish to each other if they are more comfortable with speaking their native language instead of English. Monitor these pairs to make sure they are communicating effectively during their group work.

SPECIAL EDUCATION ACCOMODATIONS

• I will put the student with ADHD in the front of the room as well so that she will have an easier time focusing on what is going on in class. This will eliminate some distraction. I will also check this student’s assignment book each day in class to make sure they know what the expectations are. When students are given individual class time to work, I will specifically ask this student how she is understanding the material. I will also reiterate the important points of the lesson to her to help her focus on the most important concepts. During group work, I will closely monitor her and her partner to make sure she stays on task. I will also meet with her during the brainstorming part of the lesson to make sure she understands the project and to help her focus on an idea that interests her.

• I will keep a close eye on the student with asthma to make sure that he is not being overwhelmed by the work. If he needs to use his inhaler, get a drink, take a break, he will be permitted to do so to eliminate some of the stress that sometimes leads to difficulty breathing.

ASSESSMENT

1) Assessment of identifying key events and concepts relating to the rise of fascism in Germany, their own feelings, the causes, effects and course of World War Two, Genocide and the Holocaust: I will informally assess that students can identify concepts by walking around the classroom during individual and group work and making sure students have identified important terms and concepts. I will formally assess this objective when students hand in their project. I will make sure that students identified 15 key concepts that relate to the ideas I explicated. I will also assess that students incorporate their own feelings and opinions in the project and relate history with present day.

2) Assessment of creating an original piece of artwork, poetry, prose, or essay that reflects an understanding of the Holocaust and the relationship between key terms: I will formally assess this objective through the students’ final project. I will assess that students’ understand the unit by putting relevant words and definitions and can explain the significance of the relationships between all of these words. I will make sure students’ work is original, and I will encourage each student to be creative!

3) Assessment of relating the experiences of individuals who lived through the Holocaust to situations and dilemmas that young people might face in today's society: I will formally assess this objective through the student’s work of art. I will make sure that students make connections between how the Holocaust affected people during WWII and also how the Holocaust continues to have implications on following generations. I will formally assess that students discuss how the Holocaust compares to situations/dilemmas that young people or other members of society currently face. Students will need to clearly expand on this idea either through words, a poem, essay, or speech so that I can clearly see that they see the connections they are making. I will informally assess this objective when students are working in class by walking around and making sure students are on task and making connections.

4) Assessment of discussing key terms with a partner while working cooperatively: I will informally assess this objective by monitoring students while they work in groups. Students are expected to discuss relevant terms and definitions. I will make sure students are actively engaged in the discussion and on task. I will also make sure students are working together and being respectful of each other. I will also make sure both students are being active listeners and speakers while partaking in the discussion.

5) Identify how the Holocaust and Genocide relate to oppression and the themes we discussed while reading The Color Purple: I will formally assess this when I look at each students’ project. However, I will also informally assess this by carefully listening to students’ discussions and observing their behavior in class.

EXTENSION IDEAS

*Put the words on a word wall so that the students can come back to the words throughout the rest of the unit about genocide. Put words from other instances of genocide (Rwanda, Native Americans, etc) on the word as well.

*Have a Holocaust survivor come into the classroom and talk about their experiences.

*Have an art show where students present their work of art to the entire class so that students can understand their peers related to the activity.

*Have students interview one of their family members about their feelings about Genocide. If a parent is unaware of the topic, students should inform their family member about the topic.

SOURCE OF ACTIVITY

I would like to thank the authors Art Spiegelman and Jane Springer for influencing my ideas about Genocide and the Holocaust. They provided insightful information which inspired me to create this lesson and educate my students on such tragic events in our world’s history. I would also like to thank Professor Willis for encouraging me to read about these topics and exposing me to these books.

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

Genocide by Jane Springer



for creating rubric

Professor Willis

Illinois State Standards

ILLINOIS STATE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS GOAL(S) AND LEARNING STANDARD(S)

4.B.4b Use group discussion skills to assume leadership and participant roles within an assigned project or to reach a group goal.

This lesson meets this standard because students must work together to come to a consensus on the 15 words they will use in their project. Students must be both active listeners and speakers and use leadership skills to meet the task they are assigned.

1.C.5c Critically evaluate information from multiple sources.

This lesson addresses this standard because students must evaluate key concepts from this class (the multiple texts we read and the discussions) while also reflecting on information from their social studies class.

2.B.5b Apply knowledge gained from literature as a means of understanding contemporary and historical economic, social and political issues and perspectives.

Students will use knowledge they have gained about the time period and from different literature to understand how past issues have an impact on current lives. They will also connect the Holocaust and Genocide to their own lives and feelings.

3.B.4a Produce documents that exhibit a range of writing techniques appropriate to purpose and audience, with clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence.

During this lesson, students will produce documents that allow them to display creative writing techniques. They are allowed to explore and produce a wide-range of documents as they focus and organize their ideas about the topic at hand.

REFLECTION

I really enjoyed planning this lesson because I feel like it brings to light a very important topic that students should be educated about but might not have previously been informed about. Also, I really like the lesson I planned because I think it allows students to illustrate their feelings and knowledge in a very unique way. They can express their feelings and display their creativity through this project unlike other activities where they might be restricted to a traditional essay. If I were to write this lesson again, I would probably give students more time to work in their groups. Also, I think it would be cool to have the speaker come before introducing this project as a firsthand account might really invoke feelings and emotions in the students that might invest students deeper into the project.

**Handouts are attached below.

[pic]

This is your chance to be creative!

Here is your task…..

Please create a poem, play, painting, drawing, graphic organizer, comic strip, diary entry, or any other creative response that you and I discuss which in some way connects ten words that you choose from the discussion you and your partner had about the Holocaust and genocide. It can be any ten words, but you MUST include a list of the words you choose and explain how they are included in your work or art via a rationale. Tomorrow, you will briefly share your response with a small group of students. See the list below to see which group you are in. I can’t wait to see what each of you creates!

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

John Marianna Nayeli Yuki Daphne

Chris Asha Michael Latisha Andrew

Sarah Ashley Kimberly Katie Andre

Kayla Kristopher Patrick Carmen Denise

Ashton Jamal Mike Blake Aiden

You will be graded on the following:

| |Excellent |Good |Fair |Needs Improvement |Not Apparent |

|Creativity/Originality | | | | | |

|Rationale/Explanation of words | | | | | |

|Incorporation of ten words | | | | | |

|Presentation | | | | | |

Score:________/20_______

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