Summary
This lesson asks students to consider the impact of the Holocaust and why people should remember it. Students discuss myths surrounding the Holocaust, investigate the events of the Holocaust, and read testimonies from those who experienced it. Students then research the experiences of victims, survivors, and rescuers and construct their own Wall of Honor that shares the stories of these important figures.
Essential Question(s)
Why should we remember the Holocaust?
Snapshot
Engage
Students determine whether several myths about the Holocaust are true or false.
Explore
Students analyze a series of quotes relating to the Holocaust and share what they found surprising, interesting, or troubling about the quotes.
Explain
Students examine an infographic and organize the information they find interesting and important.
Extend
Students review the experiences of victims, survivors, and rescuers and construct honorary plaques that retell their stories. Students then participate in a Gallery Walk to view their peers’ work.
Evaluate
Students reflect on the lesson’s essential question and complete a brief writing activity.
Materials
Lesson Slides (attached)
S-I-T handout (attached; one per student)
Holocaust Timeline Infogram (linked)
Window Notes handout (attached; one per student)
Holocaust Research Criteria handout (attached; one per student or group)
Research Card Deck (attached; one set per class)
Pencils or pens
Notebook paper
Student computers or tablets with internet access
Materials to create honorary plaques, such as construction paper, glue, scissors, and markers (optional)
Preparation
Before beginning the lesson, cut apart the 30 individual cards in the attached Research Card Deck. Each card includes the name of a Holocaust survivor, victim, or rescuer. Place these cards in a hat or box before class starts, as students are meant to randomly select the name of the person they’re going to research.
Additionally, ensure that students have internet-connected devices for the lesson. Students must access a K20 Center HIVE site with several research resources.
You should also have materials such as construction paper, glue, markers, and scissors ready for this activity.
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Introduce the lesson using the attached Lesson Slides. Display slide 2 to share the lesson title then display slides 3–4 to share the essential question and learning objectives. Review these with students to the extent you feel necessary.
Inform students that they should read the four statements on the next slides and determine whether each is true or false. Show slide 5 and have students silently read the statement then determine if it is true or false. Allow students approximately 30 seconds to consider the statement. Then, display the following slide, slide 6, to reveal the answer and additional context. Allow 30 seconds for students to process the information.
Repeat this process with slides 7–12.
After transitioning through all of the slides, ask students if there were any facts in particular that surprised them.
Explore
20 Minute(s)
Organize students into groups of three or four. Display slide 13 and pass out one copy of the attached S-I-T handout to each student. Share with students that the handout includes a list of quotes related to the Holocaust from oral history interviews and other sources.
Give student groups at least 10 minutes to read the quotes together. Then, share the S-I-T strategy with students. Have groups discuss whether the information presented in each quote strikes them as surprising, interesting, or troubling, and have them share their reasoning.
After groups have had time to discuss, invite one member of each group to share at least one of the quotes they identified as surprising, interesting, or troubling. Invite group members to share their reasoning with the class.
Explain
20 Minute(s)
Keep students in their small groups. Display slide 14 and have students access the link to the Holocaust Timeline Infogram. Explain that the infographic contains descriptions and images of several events that occurred between 1933 and 1945. Have students examine the infographic and give them approximately 10 minutes to do so.
Give each student one copy of the attached Window Notes handout and go over the modified version of the Window Notes strategy. Draw students’ attention to the labels of the quadrants: Facts, Feelings, Questions, and New Knowledge. Tell students that they should use these quadrants to capture their responses to the Holocaust Timeline Infogram. Ask them to consider the following questions in relation to each quadrant:
Facts: What specific details do you find interesting or notable?
Feelings: What are you feeling as you learn these facts?
Questions What questions do you have now?
New Knowledge: How does this connect to what you had learned previously?
Give students an additional 10 minutes to complete their Window Notes.
Extend
60 Minute(s)
Keep students in their small groups. Display slide 15 and inform students they should work as a class to design a Wall of Honor that pays respect to people who survived, lost their lives, or saved the lives of others during the Holocaust.
Have a representative from each small group come to the front of the classroom. Ask each representative to draw a name from the hat or box in which you placed the prepared Research Cards. Have students return to their seats after they draw their names.
Have groups quietly read the name of the person on their cards and whether that person was a survivor, rescuer, or victim of the Holocaust. Then, move to slide 16 and pass out one copy of the attached Holocaust Research Criteria handout to each group. Have each student access the Holocaust Victims, Survivors, Rescuers Hive resource using the research link on the slide. Share that they should find the name of the person on their cards. Using the links below the person’s name, students should read about their figures and write as much information as they can about them in the different sections of the handout.
Move to slide 17. To guide students during the next part of this activity, inform groups that they should use the provided materials to create plaques honoring the people they researched. Tell students that each honorary plaque should include the following: a picture of the person, their name, the place they are from, several interesting facts about their lives, and a description of their experiences during the Holocaust. Allow students time to work.
Show slide 18. Once groups have finished their honorary plaques, have them prepare a Wall of Honor by taping their completed plaques to a classroom wall, hallway, or bulletin board. Have one person from each group remain at their group’s plaque and have the remaining students participate in a Gallery Walk to view the completed plaques. As students visit each plaque, have the person at each plaque present their findings.
Evaluate
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 19 and share the essential question from the beginning of the lesson. Have students take out a piece of paper. Have them complete a brief writing assignment as an Exit Ticket by responding to the question on the slide, “Why should we remember the Holocaust?”
Allow students approximately 10 minutes to write then collect their responses as a summative assessment.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Bell ringers and exit tickets. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/125
K20 Center. (n.d.). Canva. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/612
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk / carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Google slides. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2335
K20 Center. (n.d.). Holocaust timeline [Infographic]. Infogram. https://infogram.com/holocaust-timeline-1hmr6g7rdzkwo6n?live
K20 Center. (n.d.). Holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers. Hive. https://hive.k20center.ou.edu/boards/3
K20 Center. (n.d.). Mentimeter. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/645
K20 Center. (n.d.). Nearpod. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/4803
K20 Center. (n.d.). Piktochart. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/2394
K20 Center. (n.d.). S-I-T (surprising, interesting, troubling). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/926
K20 Center. (n.d.). Window notes. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/189
K20 Center. (n.d.). Word warriors: The code talkers of Oklahoma. 5E Lessons. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/lesson/1759