Freshman Global Studies, Special Topic Lesson: Genocide
Standards Met: This lesson is part of the Freshman Global Studies Overarching Unit
Plan and meets the Common Core Standards delineated therein. Big Ideas: conflict,
cooperation, courage, interactions, justice, survival, technology, tyranny,
defense/protection. This lesson aims to prepare students for their visit to Jewish
Heritage Museum in Manhattan by assisting them in developing their own
understanding of two key concepts that will enrich their visit to that institution: antiSemitism and Genocide. This lesson activates prior knowledge of Judaism, war,
World War II, the Holocaust, racism and bigotry. In general, this lesson aims to
supply prior knowledge, as above, in anticipation of students’ trip to Manhattan’s
Museum of Jewish History, which is in fact a memorial to those who perished in the
Holocaust. Students will be able to participate in a guided inquiry into the issues of
anti-Semitism and genocide in order to develop their own understanding of how antiSemitism begat the Holocaust, and how many conflicts in the 20th Century included
genocide either inadvertently or as, in the case of the Nazis, a matter of state policy.
Classroom Aim: What is bigotry? What is anti-Semitism? What is genocide? How
does racism and bigotry become mass murder?
Do Now: Focus on One Word: 1. Bigotry; 2. anti-Semitism
Class Work: Students will participate in a guided inquiry into bigotry, particularly
anti-Semitism, and their logical place at the beginning of the gravamen of this lesson,
which is a short reading, followed by reading comprehension questions, on genocide.
Students will complete this lesson as a group.
Independent Practice: There is no independent practice for this lesson.
Methods and Materials: This is a special topic lesson designed to equip students with
the prior knowledge necessary to fully comprehend the significance of the exhibits at
Manhattan’s Museum of Jewish Heritage. This lesson is conceived to meet the needs of
struggling readers, as well as students with receptive or expressive language delays or
disabilities. There are two do now exercises designed to assist students in improving
their heuristic reading skills: students will see and read the words bigot and antiSemitism embedded in contexts that calls upon prior knowledge that it is safe to assume
they possess. Students will then read a short passage (culled from Wright, Edmund. The
Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006)
that defines and characterizes genocide, and answer several basic comprehension
questions. As the lesson unfolds, the teacher should press students to ask any questions
they may have about the material covered.
Need for Lesson: SS FGS STO GENOCIDE*lp; SS FGS STO GENOCIDE*dn1; SS FGS STO
GENOCIDE*dn2; SS FGS STO GENOCIDE*ws
Key Points:
Essential Questions:
*Why does genocide occur? How should the world deal with genocide? How can
perpetrators of genocide be brought to justice?
Name
Date
Freshman Global Studies Special Topic, Genocide, Focus on One Word Worksheet: Bigot (noun). This is
a short worksheet to help you use context (which means “the parts of a discourse that surround a word or
passage and can throw light on its meaning”) to learn a new word. This is a whole class activity, so you will be
asked to read these sentences aloud. We will work together as a class to determine its meaning.
1. **** understands that members of the Ku Klux Klan are by definition bigots.
2. Mr. Feltskog doesn’t like to hear the n-word because he has heard too many bigots use it to insult and
degrade Black people.
3. ***** ran into some bigots on the J train, and they used the n-word and other insults to disrespect
various ethnic groups.
4. **** thinks it’s fortunate that in a school as diverse as the High School of Economics & Finance there
are no bigots.
5. Adolf Hitler pretty much serves as a definition of what a bigot is.
The noun bigot means
Name
Date
Freshman Global Studies Special Topic, Genocide, Focus on One Word Worksheet: anti-Semitism (noun).
This is a short worksheet to help you use context (which means “the parts of a discourse that surround a word or
passage and can throw light on its meaning”) to learn a new, domain-specific social studies word. This is a
whole class activity, so you will be asked to read these sentences aloud. We will work together as a class to
determine its meaning.
1. The Holocaust in Germany was the culmination of a long history of general European anti-Semitism.
2. The Jewish people have endured a long history of anti-Semitism.
3. While criticizing Israel, some Malaysian politicians have made remarks that many people believed
sounded like anti-Semitism.
4. In many respects, the Nazis were typical of other European anti-Semitic political parties.
5. Adolf Hitler was clearly an aggressive anti-Semite.
The noun anti-Semitism means
Name
Date
Freshman Global Studies Special Topic, Genocide, Focus on One Word Worksheet: anti-Semitism (noun).
This is a short worksheet to help you use context (which means “the parts of a discourse that surround a word or
passage and can throw light on its meaning”) to learn a new, domain-specific social studies word. This is a
whole class activity, so you will be asked to read these sentences aloud. We will work together as a class to
determine its meaning.
1. The Holocaust in Germany was the culmination of a long history of general European anti-Semitism.
2. The Jewish people have endured a long history of anti-Semitism.
3. While criticizing Israel, some Malaysian politicians have made remarks that many people believed
sounded like anti-Semitism.
4. In many respects, the Nazis were typical of other European anti-Semitic political parties.
5. Adolf Hitler was clearly an aggressive anti-Semite.
The noun anti-Semitism means
Name
Date
Freshman Global Studies Special Topic, Genocide: Lesson Worksheet. Please read the passage below,
where you will find the answers to the questions of this worksheet
Genocide: The systematic policy of destruction of a group or nation on grounds of race or ethnic origin.
Following the Nazi policy of genocide of the Jews and of ethnic groups such as gypsies, the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted by the U.N. in 1948. Since the signing of the
Convention, many conflicts in the world have split groups along ethnic or tribal lines, and claims of genocide
have been made. Examples include the Nigeria/Biafra conflict in 1969; Uganda in the 1970s; the Pol Pot regime
in Kampuchea (Cambodia) (1976-1979); Iraq’s treatment of the Kurds (1986-1991); the ethnic cleansing of
Bosnian Muslims by Christian Serbs (1992-1995); the massacre of Tutsis by Hutus in Rwanda (1994); and the
attacks on Black Africans by Arab militias in the Darfur region of Sudan (2003-). The international community
has failed in most case to respond effectively to claims of genocide; firm evidence is hard to obtain and states
are reluctant to intervene in the domestic affairs of another state on the grounds that this is a violation of
national sovereignty.
Adapted from: Wright, Edmund. The Oxford Desk Encyclopedia of World History. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2006.
1. What is genocide?
2. Against which ethnic groups did the Nazis commit a genocide?
3. What followed the Nazi policy on genocide?
4. What has happened since the signing of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide in 1948?
5. What are some examples of conflicts during which claims of genocide have been made?
6. How successful has the international community been in preventing the crime of genocide?
7. Why has the international community failed to prosecute people and national governments that commit
acts of genocide?