Lesson Overview
Lesson Author: Rhonda Reagan
Grade Level: 10th /11th grade
Subject Area: World History
 Short Description:
TSW _______________ an introduction to the holocaust in Nazi Germany and Nazi occupied lands in the early
20th century. TSW read two selections and compare and contrast the content as an analogy to the growth of Nazi
oppression and the onset of the holocaust in Europe.
TSW view period photographs and analyze the content to infer the topic. They will then be told to reexamine
the pictures and consider the non-victim individuals and interpret the subject’s roles.
Write a brief, yet concise, description of what occurs in this lesson. (50 words)
Standards
State Curriculum Standards met in this lesson:
Go to state curriculum standards VDOE and select the grade content/level appropriate standards that are being
met in this lesson. Copy and paste here.
-TSW will analyze the cause and effect factors that led and supported the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
-TSW examine the range of behaviors and actions necessary to carry out the Holocaust, which were much more
extensive than previously realized or understood. Help ranged from active participation to passive complicity.
Seemingly “innocent” actions, professional duties, and other seemingly inconspicuous acts had consequences
even if the participants were “just doing their job” or “simply minding their own business.”
Instructional Outcomes:
Identify each instructional objective (learning outcome) for this lesson. These are observable, measurable
outcomes that students should be able to demonstrate and that you can assess. Remember that activities are not
learning outcomes.
TSW identify knowledge of causal factors that led to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany.
TSW display knowledge of some of the various ways compliance contributed to the successful execution of the
Holocaust in the 1940’s.
Enduring Understandings/Essential Knowledge:
This is a goal, not an objective. List the big ideas or concepts that you want them to come away with, not facts
that they must know, see Curriculum Frameworks at VA Dept. of Ed.
Genocide (The systematic and purposeful destruction of a race, political, or religious , or cultural; group, is not a
naturally occurring phenomenon in the human race. “All of our present data indicate that fighting behavior
among higher mammals, including man, originates in external stimulation and that there is no evidence
of spontaneous internal stimulation.” (animal behaviorist John Paul Scott, professor emeritus at
Bowling Green State University)
Essential Questions:
Essential questions address the heart of the discipline, are framed to provoke and sustain students’ interest.
Generate leading questions that you may ask students to get them to understand the big ideas. Possible
questions stems: How… (process), Why…(cause and effect), To what extent…(measure of degree), Which… ,
What convinced you…, How might we prove…
-What were some of the qualifying criteria to be identified for removal during the holocaust?
- What was it like to be a holocaust victim?
- How did the holocaust affect the Jewish culture?
- How did the Final Solution effect the Jewish population in Europe between 1932 and 1945?
- Why was the German population compliant amid the harassment, deportation, and murders of the holocaust?
- What might have been the motivation on, or the pressure on, the non-victim individuals for their actions/roles
in non-military or political aspect?
- To What Extent …
Procedures
Lesson Set:
The activities in this section capture the students’ attention, stimulate their thinking and help them access prior
knowledge. (i.e.- KWLH; discrepant event; inquiry-based question/activity; free write; reading from a piece
literature; demonstration; etc.). Describe your lesson’s anticipatory set which will capture students’ attention.
TTW will talk about the holocaust under Nazi Germany in the early 20th century.
TTW ask that you remain objective. Do not let your preconceived notions veil your observations and analysis of
the material offered for you to consider.
TTW tell class that it is estimated that 11,000,000 people died in the holocaust, 6,000,000 were Jews, 1,500,000
were children (1,000,000 Jewish and the other 500,000 were combinations of other ethnicities, nationalities,
mental disabilities, and even German).
TTW sill ask ‘Why did the citizens allow the genocide take place that amid all the atrocities, many stood idly by
and allowed it to occur?’
Rationale:
Describe how you will relate this lesson to previous learning and to real-life experiences, to explain the
importance of the learning to the students. (requires student involvement)
-
Modern day ostracizing of people of Middle Eastern descent and/or the Islamic religion is based on
preconceived notions of guilt or threat of action. The view is fueled largely by propaganda and biased
views distributed through news and government agencies for ‘our protection.’
-
- Sometimes inaction is just as significant as action.
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Looking at events of the Holocaust through the theme of collaboration and complicity
Techniques and Activities:
List the step-by-step activities in sequential order as they occur in the lesson. Be sure to clearly identify what is
to take place in the lesson. Include a variety of teaching strategies (methods). Activities are to be studentcentered; i.e. solve problems, construct models, design and perform experiments, read authentic resources,
answer open-ended questions, support ideas with evidence, compose, analyze and interpret maps, draw
conclusions. Include guided process of learning. Include the opportunities students will have to expand and
solidify their understanding of the concept and/or apply it to a real-world situation. List any independent
practice activities. (note: there may be more or less steps than listed below)
Instructional input
Modeling “I do”
CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING
Guided practice “We do”
Independent practice “you do”
- Preface reading with reading of quote by Cicero, Law of the Historian.
- Have student read “The Hangman” by Maurice Ogden. Analyze the poem and discuss how it can be
related to the holocaust.
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Ask students to be objective when considering content and making the analogy. Consider the German
population perspective in an objective manner.
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Can you see how citizens may have feared to resist or defend? Why?
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Follow up with Group discussion
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Read quote attributed to Martine Niemoller in 1946, including a brief Bio of him.
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Then again revisit the group discussion about the Hangman poem.
Deconstructing the Familiar: Photo Activity
Rationale
Looking at the events of the Holocaust through the theme of collaboration and complicity provides educators
with a unique understanding of why and how the Holocaust occurred.
Overview
This photo activity has students examine photographs from the Holocaust which may or may not be familiar to
them. By examining the photographs, first without a caption and then with a caption, students see the behaviors
of ordinary individuals and think about the pressures and motives that might have shaped the behaviors.
Grade Level
7–12
Learning Outcomes
1. Nazi leaders needed and found a broad range of helpers.
2. The range of behaviors and actions necessary to carry out the Holocaust is much more extensive than
previously realized or understood (genocide doesn’t just happen on its own); help ranged from active
participation to passive complicity.
3. Seemingly “innocent” actions, professional duties, and other seemingly inconspicuous acts had consequences
even if the participants were “just doing their job” or “simply minding their own business.”
4. Knowledge of Nazi persecution of Jews was well-known if not always understood throughout Nazi-occupied
Europe.
Instructions for Educators
1. Divide the students into groups of two or three.
2. Each group receives a worksheet and one photograph without a caption. (Note, there are seven different
photographs. Several of the groups, depending on class size, will be examining the same photograph, but that is
not a problem).
3. Students examine the photograph (without the caption) and answer the questions in Section 1 on the
worksheet. (5 minutes)
4. When finished, hand out the same photograph to each group but this time with the caption and have the
students read the caption and answer the questions in Section 2 on the reverse side of the worksheet. (12–15
minutes)
5. Bring the students back together as one large group. Distribute the photo activity chart to each student.
6. Have each of the groups report out on their photograph with particular emphasis to sharing their answers to
the questions in Section 2. As they do, each student should fill in the corresponding boxes on the chart for that
particular photograph.
7. Many educators find it helpful to project the photographs on a large screen for all to see since not all of the
groups will have seen or examined all the images. View and download the seven photographs from the Image
Gallery.
8. When the activity is complete, students will have seven examples of ordinary men and women contributing, in
often-times ordinary ways, to Nazi Germany’s persecution and eventual annihilation of Europe’s Jews. The
seven pictures when seen together offer students a unique understanding of how and why the Holocaust
occurred.
Lesson Closure:
How will you close the lesson, summarize the lesson content, relate the lesson to future lessons, and actively
involve the students? Develop reflective questions that you will pose during the closure. Describe how you will
actively involve the students during the debriefing of the lesson and/or student presentations.
Assessment/Evaluation:
Describe the evaluation process that you will use to measure whether the students achieved the instructional
objectives. Describe the criteria for achievement, and performance level. Describe how you will assess that
students have learned. Describe your methods for monitoring student progress. The criteria should directly
align to the instructional objectives and standards. Describe your plan for providing feedback to your students.
Student Products:
Describe artifact/s or products students will create as a result of the lesson. How will these performance
products allow you to assess conceptual understanding and/or mastery of procedural skills? (The following are
examples of performance tasks/products: Participate in a debate; Use evidence to solve a mystery; Infer the
main idea of a written piece; Propose and justify a way to resolve a problem; Design a museum exhibit; Apply
rules to particular situations; Draw a picture that illustrates what's described in a story or article; Conduct a
poll on consumer preferences, display results graphically, state conclusions; Critique a performance or a work
of art; Design an experiment, build a model. )
Supplemental Activities:
Extensions are activities for students who grasped the concepts quickly and need a deeper challenge. Do not
just give the students more of the same activity. You want to explore the concept in more depth and add a new
dimension. Remediation activities include methods to reteach the learning for students who need more
instruction/practice
Adaptations for Special Learners:
Describe how you will adapt the instructional learning strategies for learners with special needs- learners with
disabilities, ESL students, and gifted learners.
Differentiated Instruction:
In what ways have you adjusted your lesson to meet the unique needs of learners? Describe how your lesson is
adjusted by content, process, products and/or environment based on readiness, interests, and/or learning
styles? (Examples: tiered tasks, flexible grouping, cooperative learning, use of multi modality strategies,)
Resources
List all materials (textbooks, maps, crayons, scissors, student whiteboards, research guides, etc.) technology
resources (computers, printer, scanner, internet connection, cameras, projectors, etc.) and web addresses that
are needed for this lesson. If you are using copyrighted materials, you must include author, date, city and
publisher.
Materials and resources needed for this lesson.
Technology resources needed for this lesson
Web Addresses needed for this lesson:
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Printed copy of “The Hangman” for each student
Printed copies of photo activity for each group.
Copy of photo analysis grid