Title: Debunking Course: 20th Century History

misconceptions about the

Holocaust Duration: 50 minutes
Cycle/Year: Cycle 2 Year 2

Objectives - Students will be exposed to the different revolts and uprisings led by the Jewish
resistance during the Holocaust
- Students will inform others of their assigned revolt/uprising by creating a press
release
- Students will student primary and secondary historical evidence (testimonies,
images, articles) of their respective revolt and uprising
- Students will clear the misconception of Jewish people as ‘passive victims’ of
Nazi oppression
Subject-Specific Competency 1: Examines social phenomena from historical perspective
Competency:
Competency 2: Interprets social phenomena using historical method
Cross-Curricular Competency 1: Uses information
Competencies:
Competency 4: Uses creativity
Competency 8: Cooperates with others

Professional Competency 1: To act as a professional inheritor, critic, and interpreter of knowledge

Competencies or culture when teaching students.

Competency 2: To communicate clearly in the language of instruction, both orally

and in writing, using correct grammar, in various contexts related to teaching.

Competency 6: To plan, organize and supervise a class in such a way as to promote

students’ learning and social development.

Competency 7: To adapt his or her teaching to the needs and characteristics of

students with learning social maladjustments or handicaps.

Competency 8: To integrate information and communications technologies (ICT) in

the preparation and delivery of teaching/learning activities and for instructional
management and professional development purposes.

Competency 11: To engage in professional development individually with others.

Self-directed- - Explain thoroughly the activity while keeping students engaged.
goals
Materials:
 Powerpoint
 Envelopes with worksheets
 Posters
 Primary and secondary evidence

Learning Activity(ies) and/or Task(s):

Introduction: (5 minutes)
As students are entering, give each student a lined paper before they are seated. Recall the past
few weeks we have been talking about World War II and the different battles. Today we are
going to explore, the greatest atrocity and tragedy of the 20th century, the Holocaust.
To Students: I want you to think back to your trip to Washington in Grade 9 and think
about your visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the different exhibits you
explored. I want you to list 4 different exhibits that impacted you the most. For those
who did not attend this trip, I want you to think about your Holocaust education and tell
me how it impacted you.
Ask a few students to discuss the exhibits they were exposed to and how it impacted them.

After a few students have shared their answers, I will ask students to get up and take a look at
the exhibit I have set up around the room. They will take 7 minutes to study the testimonials,
and other primary and historical sources. Once the students are done, I will ask them what they
think the exhibit’s theme entails (the uprisings). I will relate the following to them
To Students: When I was younger, the holocaust education I received was one where
Jewish people were seen as “passive victims”. There is a misconception that Jews did not
do anything to fight back against the Nazis. We will be debunking this misconception,
proving that Jewish people were courageous and rebelled against their Nazis oppressors.
(1 minute)

Main Activity: 25 minutes

The activity is for students to write a press release informing the world of the resistance,
revolt and uprising, within 100-150 words. Students who will be divided in four groups,
will use the evidence they collected from around the classroom exhibits. Each of the four
groups will write an overview of the revolt/uprising with the respective evidence they
collected. Students will be issued guiding questions that will help them formulate a press
release to be shared with the rest of the class.
Each group will have a runner, a scribe and a speaker chosen by the teacher. Each group will
receive two envelopes. One envelope with the name of the revolt/uprising, while the other
envelope will have specific instructions for the given activity, loose leaf paper and guiding
questions will also be provided.
The Runner is given the task of opening the envelop and finding out which revolt/uprising the
group has and they will collect all the evidence for their revolt around the classroom which
will be also color coded according to their numbers. (Allocating one minute)
The Scribe will write down all the ideas and the press release to inform the classroom about
the specific revolt/uprising. The scribe will write down the ideas the groups comes up with an
analysis of the historical evidence.
The Speaker will read what the scribe has written, the overview of the revolt and the result of
the revolt in 1-2 minutes.

Guiding Questions:

Who are the main actors? (Names? Titles? etc.)

Identify the uprising

Identify location and date

Describe specific details, what were the results/consequences?

What does the historical evidence (pictures, testimonials, etc.) support/reveal about the
uprising/revolt?

Closing: (2 minutes)
Next class students will take the draft they presented and fine tune it and write the article in a
newspaper template that will provided, so future classes could read the stories of resistance,
and the courage the Jewish people displayed during the Holocaust.
*If there is time left, students will start with the newspaper article, that will continue into the
class for completion.

Assessment:
The assessment will be the end product of the press release they do in class. The press release
will be used as a rough draft to an article they will write on the newspaper template I will
provide next class. Their articles will be used as evidence to future RWA students about the
resistance and courage Jewish people demonstrated during the Holocaust. This assessment will
be a group assessment.

Differentiation:
The Powerpoint is used not only for instructions also for students to be able to see the
instructions I am giving verbally, if they missed anything I have said. Student will cooperate
with one another getting to participate with their classmates and discuss the different historical
evidence. The evidence is given in forms of testimonial, pictures and articles, which gives
students different ways to study the revolt/uprising, through a variety of evidence.