post 3

(even more literate now...)


The reason I decided to share this lesson is because it prepares the students for the reading well, and also promotes some real good discussion.

In a unit on the Holocaust, the students read a short play and other stories on people who helped Jews escape capture from the Nazis. Before reading, the students fill out a graphic organizer on their experiences with prejudice. (I got the original from ADL.org I think, but I can't find it). The graphic organizer is a table with 4 boxes with the headings: Bystander, Accomplice, Perpetrator, Victim. In each of these boxes students are to begin the lesson by recording their personal experiences with prejudice while in each of these roles. After discussing our experiences and feelings in these roles, and whether we have responsibility in these situations, we read the story or play.

At the end, students write a reflection based on the protagonist's experience and reflecting on their own experience with prejudice, what do they think they would have done in their place? And to what extent, would they go (breaking the law, etc).

In the end, the lesson personalized the whole experience for them, and helped to realize that everyone can experience prejudice in one way or another (whether as a victim or perpetrator).