Introduction
For this learning activity, I chose to discuss intolerance with a focus on the Diary of Anne Frank. I am currently substituting in a few Jewish private schools so this topic is relevant to and interesting to me. I want to focus on having students do background research on what life was like for Jewish people during this time. I would provide examples from the perspectives of the Jewish people and the Nazi party.
Grade 8 Reading and Writing Key Expectations:
Reading
Extending Understanding
1.6 extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other texts, and to the world around them
Point of View
1.9 identify the point of view presented in texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts; give evidence of any biases they may contain; and suggest other possible perspectives
Writing
Purpose and Audience
1.1 identify the topic, purpose, and audience for more complex writing forms Developing Ideas
1.2 generate ideas about more challenging topics and identify those
Form
2.1 write complex texts of a variety of lengths using a wide range of forms
Voice
2.2 establish a distinctive voice in their writing appropriate to the subject and audience
Task
Process
Task 1: Students will do preliminary research on the Holocaust. They will be provided with a few helpful websites listed below.
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/an-introductory-history-of-the-holocaust
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/holocaust_overview_01.shtml
Task 2: As a class, we will discuss a few key terms that would be important to this lessons, particularly, defining propaganda and antisemitism. Students will look and discuss the images in small groups of 3-4. There will then be a group discussion following the students writing their report in order to get an idea of what students are thinking, if they are comprehending the information/message, if the material is becoming too difficult for the class/some students.
Task 3: There will be class discussions to discuss what we are reading. Some prompting questions could include: What instances stood out to you? What techniques do you notice? What kind of language is used? We will also go over the format in which their diary entries should be done.
Evaluation
Below is a rubric to mark students on their diary entry.
|
CATEGORY |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Sentences & Paragraphs |
Sentences and paragraphs are complete, well-constructed and of varied structure. |
All sentences are complete and well-constructed (no fragments, no run-ons). Paragraphing is generally done well. |
Most sentences are complete and well-constructed. Paragraphing needs some work. |
Many sentence fragments or run-on sentences OR paragraphing needs lots of work. |
|
Ideas |
Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the diary was about. |
Ideas were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organization could have been better. |
Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the diary was about. |
The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was very difficult to figure out what the diary was about. |
|
Content Accuracy |
The Diary contained detailed and well articulated references to issues discussed in this unit. |
The Diary contained detailed and articulated references to issues discussed in this unit. |
The Diary contained limited detailed and fairly well articulated references to issues discussed in this unit. |
The Diary contained very little detail and was not articulated well to issues discussed in this unit. |
|
Format |
Complies with all the requirements for a diary entry |
Complies with almost all the requirements for a diary entry |
Complies with several of the requirements for a diary entry |
Complies with less than 75% of the requirements for a diary entry |
Conclusion
I hope that students will gain an understanding of the Holocaust and the emotional stories of those who were a part of that history. This can also act as a segway or continuation into media literacy. To gain feedback from students, I would ask them to write down in 2-3 sentences what they enjoyed about this project and anything that they did not think and/or suggestions they may have.
Credits
I got a few ideas from examining this webquest.