After looking through the options of topics a few peaked my interest. My strongest reaction was in favor of studying the Holocaust. Although I feel that sometimes this may be overdone, it is something I've always been interested in. I've already read so many sad but wonderful books on the topic and I look forward to finding more.
I will target this unit for children in grades 6-8 although I think the topic of the Holocaust could go all the way through high school. It's such a huge topic that I would love to spend a semester or even a year on it. The Holocaust is about discrimination, segregation, bullying (an understatement to say the least), etc. The Jews could be related to any other group of people; African Americans, Women, Homosexuals, any non-Christian religion, and the list goes on and on. This topic is about Genocide and the awful things that happened to the Jews so many years ago; but it's also about what still happens to anyone who is a little bit different today and everyday.
From this unit, I want children to take away the main events of the Holocaust; who was involved, why it happened, what the people went through, etc. But I also want them to understand that the reason these people were tortured was because they were different; not because they did anything wrong. I want them to realize that, while it's not always to the same degree, people are hurt everyday just because they are different. Hopefully they will leave with an understanding of the damage that can be done by "bullying" someone because they are different.
I applaud you for maybe moving outside your comfort zone. Often people will stay with the grade level they work or most comfortable. I think this is a great way to explore a passion you have to learn more about a topic of interest. Good for you!!
ReplyDeleteI really like your tie-in to bullying. It would be an incredibly powerful message to first learn that the holocaust is what can happen when we discriminate against a group of people. Then explore cases of discrimination in the world today, in our country, in OUR school and what can we do about it?
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