World War II The Holocaust

Goals & Objectives

Goal: Students will learn about the role of the Holocaust in the Second World
War.
Objective: Students will be able to identify the causes of the Holocaust, as
well as learn about life in the concentration camps, by examining relevant
primary sources (Primo Levi, Eli Wiesel, etc.).
California State Content Standards
10.8.5: Analyze the Nazi policy of pursuing racial purity, especially against
European Jews; its transformation into the Final Solution; and the Holocaust
resulted in the murder of six million Jewish civilians.
Common Core Literacy Standards
RSLH 9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or
secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas
develop over the course of the text.
RSLH 9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used
in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic
aspects of history/social science.
WSLH 9-10.7: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to
answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources
on the subject, demonstrating knowledge of the subject under investigation.
WSLH 9-10.9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research.
Driving Historical Question
What were the events which ultimately led to the Holocaust, and how did this
tragic event evolve from discrimination into genocide?
Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge)
Time: 10-15
Since this lesson will take place at the end of the unit, students will already
have prior knowledge about the outcome and course of the Second World
War, including important figures and geographic locations. The teacher will
orally remind the class that even though many soldiers on all sides died in
battle during the war, millions more died in what is known as the Holocaust.
Next, the teacher will show the class several graphs, charts, and maps to the

class, using a short PowerPoint presentation, to hook students with the

sheer scale of the Final Solution. The teacher will then inform the class of the
goal for the day, which is to learn about how the Holocaust claimed the lives
of upwards of six million Jews and other minorities.
Vocabulary (Content Language Development) Time:
Auschwitz
The Final Solution
Birkenau
SS
Nuremburg Laws
Genocide
Concentration Camp
Death Camp
Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) Time: 60
After the introduction, the teacher will tell the class that in order to learn
about the Holocaust, they will be looking at three different primary sources
from the time period. The teacher will then divide the class into groups of 4-5
students, and will have the students physically arrange their desks into
groups. Next, the teacher will hand out the first primary source article, the
Nuremberg Racial Laws, as well as the primary source analysis worksheet.
Once all groups have their primary source, the teacher will then model how
the class is supposed to read and pull information from the text by reading
the first section out loud. Additionally, the teacher accompanies this by
showing the class how to use the complete their primary source worksheets
as well. These worksheets require students to record significant details about
the text, such as who the author is and when the source was written, as well
as pertinent discussion questions. While students are working on the activity,
the teacher will walk around the room to monitor progress and to check for
understanding. Students will be given roughly 15 minutes to work on each
resource, and the teacher will reconvene the class to facilitate a short
discussion about the primary source; the teacher will call on different
groups/students to share their answers to the discussion questions on the
worksheet. Additionally, the teacher will also mention key vocabulary words,
such as genocide and Auschwitz, so the whole class has an understanding.
This process will be completed for the other two articles as well, except the
teacher will not model the activity for the last two articles.
Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) Time: 60
Students will learn about the Holocaust, including Nazi racial policy and life in
the camps, by reading three primary source documents. The first document
is the Nuremberg Racial Laws, the second is an excerpt from the Program of

the National Socialist German Workers Party, and the third is an excerpt
from Night by Eli Wiesel. Students will be working in groups of 4-5 to read
each document, as they are somewhat lengthy and will be of greater benefit
when read in a group. Students will first watch and listen to the teacher
model how to read and annotate the sources, as well as how to complete the
accompanying primary source worksheets. Students will be given about 15
minutes to read each article and to fill out the worksheet in groups, and will
participate in a short class discussion about the source after this specific
amount of time. This process will be repeated for the second and third
articles.
Lesson Closure Time: 10-15
After the class has examined all three of the primary sources, the teacher will
reconvene the class and facilitate a short discussion about the role of the
Holocaust in the Second World War. In order to reflect upon the lesson,
students will compose a short reflection, about 3-4 sentences in length,
about the how the primary sources relate to the causes and consequences of
the Holocaust. The teacher will collect these reflections from students, and
will use them to assess how well students were able to understand the key
concepts of the lesson.
Assessments (Formative & Summative)
The formative assessment for this lesson will take the form of the primary
source worksheets which students completed along with reading the texts.
These worksheets will be collected, and will be graded for completion.
The informal assessment for this lesson will be the reflections students
compose at the end of the lesson. The teacher will collect these, however
these will not be graded and will be used to inform the teacher about student
learning.
The summative assessment for the unit will be a reflective essay, in which
students must compose a one-page essay to assess the total costs and
consequences of the Second World War.
Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with
Special Needs
The group setting of the activity provides a certain amount of support for
English Learners, Students with Special Needs, and Striving Readers, as it
provides these students with the support of their peers. Each of the primary
sources will be accompanied by a word bank, which will help these students,

as well as the rest of the class, understand the meaning behind each primary
source.
English Learners: will be ideally grouped with students who are proficient
in both English and the native language, though if this is not possible then
they will be grouped with students who are strong readers and writers. A
word bank will also be handed out with the primary source documents, so all
students may have a tool by which they can navigate the text. This method
of grouping will also be applied to Striving Readers and Students with Special
Needs, for they too may require the support of their peers.
Striving Readers: will be provided with support in terms of the word bank,
as this will help these students focus on the content of the primary source,
rather than the terminology and verbiage. The group nature of the reading
assignment will also provide Striving Readers with support, for they will be
able to consult their peers when attempting to discern challenging parts of
the text.
Students with Special Needs: may be given extra time to complete the
assignment, which includes finishing the primary source worksheets outside
of class. The differentiated grouping was designed to ideally negate the need
for this accommodation, however some Students with Special Needs may
still require further time outside of class to effectively complete the in-class
assignment. In addition, the word bank which will accompany the primary
sources will help these students mitigate possibly challenging portions of the
text.
Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

Night, by Eli Wiesel

Survival in Auschwitz, by Primo Levi
Program of the National Socialist German Workers Party
Nuremberg Laws (English translation)
Primary source analysis worksheet