Utilizing Literature Circles

As a history teacher, I’m always concerned about how to most effectively guide students through a book.  Years ago, when I assigned All But My Life by Gerda Weissmann Klein, students “completed” reading guides that followed the book.  It became increasingly clear that students were treating this assignment as busy work- filling in random comments and copying reading guides.  This trivialized Gerda’s story so I was eager to try something new.  Several years ago, English Language Arts colleagues modeled a literature circle with MCHE's Isak Federman Holocaust Teaching Cadre.  This completely changed the way I approached All But My Life.  Students are naturally interested in Gerda’s story and her writing is easily understandable and engaging for high school students.  Their interest, coupled with the reading quizzes I gave, kept the students reading and allowed the students to have meaningful conversations during class time.

To further acquaint yourself with literature circles, Facing Historyprovides some excellent tips for literature circles, especially covering the sensitive subject of genocide.  They also include valuable assessment and extension activities. 

The literature circles allowed my honors sophomores to develop a deeper understanding of the complex history and an appreciation for Gerda’s compelling story.  My literature circle discussion questions were adapted from the teaching materials provided by the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation.  I taught this book to honors World History students for roughly ten years and highly recommend it for teenagers (15+) and adults. 

Teachers guide and exhibition on Jewish resistance

The Museum of Jewish Heritage has an interesting website with a very good resource for teachers.  From 2007-2008 they sponsored an exhibit called "Jewish Defiance in the Holocaust."  While the exhibit has long since closed, the website is still open and a teacher's guide is still available.

Asking students to think about what resistance entails when teaching about the Holocaust is an important topic.  While people might think of armed rebellion as the only form of true resistance, resistance goes much deeper than that. 

Smuggling bread, teaching in secret, or rescuing a Torah scroll were all examples of resistance too.  This teacher's guide provides background information, developed lessons, and lots of primary sources.

I find one of the most interesting parts of the guide to be a lesson on ethical wills.  We might think of a will as a way of dividing up our personal belongings after we pass away, but an ethical will is about putting your values and beliefs on paper.  It challenges students to think about what is really important in life and how even attempting to pass along your values is a form of resistance. 

 

Incorporating Holocaust concepts/content at the beginning of the school year

The beginning of the school year represents the “how to” phase for many teachers at both the middle school and high school level.  We are busy teaching students about the ways we want them to complete certain tasks that they will be doing throughout the year.  This creates an opportunity for us to use Holocaust concepts/content in a place and manner different from the traditional “Holocaust unit” that many people teach in the spring.  The following is a list of possible ways to bring in Holocaust material as you work on the “how to’s” of your classroom:

• Use Holocaust terms when teaching your students the steps/processes you want them to use with vocabulary they will encounter in your content area. 
•  Use a Holocaust excerpt to teach students how to mark the text for a Socratic Seminar.
• Use Holocaust excerpts when teaching your students the differences between non-fiction and fiction or diary vs. memoir. 
•  Use a Holocaust excerpt and history textbook reading on the Holocaust to show the differences in a primary source vs. a secondary source.
• Use Holocaust readings/videos to focus on a specific Common Core skill – example of possible skills listed here.

o    CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7 Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account.

o    CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.