Scholars investigate the Holocaust through the eyes of an Auschwitz survivor. They analyze and research a firsthand account of events inside the gas chambers moments before hundreds died. Using Holocaust Reading Passages and...

In an ultimate lesson about listening to opposing points of view, your young historians read testimony from the Nuremberg Trials by Nazi SS officers regarding their actions during the Holocaust and a brief speech by Himmler to SS...

What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination? Between collaborators and bystanders? Guilt and responsibility? Prompt learners to think critically about a very complex and textured topic with an innovative packet...

“The Gambler” and “The Journey” offer readers an opportunity to experience two very different views of Jewish life in Poland between WWI and WWII. Whether used as a part of a study of the Holocaust, or as a compare/contrast exercise, the...

Get a glimpse of Anne Frank's years in hiding with this activity, which introduces The Diary of Anne Frank. Readers complete a journal entry about how they would keep themselves occupied if they were forced into hiding (without personal...

Let your learners voice their opinions on morals and human rights with an anticipation guide for Asa Butterfield's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Before reading the novel, kids read several statements that encourage them...

In order to truly understand The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, you'll need to provide middle schoolers with background information about the Holocaust. After contributing as many words as they can associate with the Holocaust, such as...

Before reading Anne Frank's diary, discuss stereotypes with your class. This guide is a great prereading activity; pupils complete a list of incomplete sentences in order to showcase common stereotypes. Then, they complete the seven...

W.H. Auden’s poem “Refugee Blues” launches a study of the problems of refugees. Background information about the poem and general information about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria are provided, as are discussion questions and...

Students explore the role of resistance during the Holocaust. Viewing images, they complete a set of notes on the Holocaust and discuss the feelings they get from looking at the photographs. They identify the parts of speech used in...

Students are exposed to a variety of readings about the Nazi Party and concentration camps. Using the readings as a guide, they identify moral issues that we all face studing the Holocaust. They decide to work together to end bigotry...

Asking questions about the text is a great way for kids to become self-sufficient readers. Use the question-and-response strategy (QAR) to get them thinking about John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. After they read select...

Music and poetry are vehicles that can tell many stories. Learners read the poem "The Song of the Murdered Jewish People" by Itzhak Katzenelson, then listen to the requiem it inspired; composed by Zlata Razdolina. Excellent...

According to John Betjeman, "Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows." With The Boy in the Striped Pajamas film study, scholars work in small groups to discuss the quote and other...

Whether used to review prior to a reading assessment or as a way to generate ideas for an essay, this activity is sure to encourage critical thinking about Markus Zusak's The Book Thief. Kids create a six-sided question cube with each...

Prior to reading Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, class members use the provided worksheet to list what they know about the Holocaust, what they want to know, and how they will find the information they seek. After...

"What my father had anticipated was now actually happening." The Chosen explores the complicated relationships between parents and their children. Readers make personal connections to Chiam Potok's story, set in Brooklyn's Hasidic...

Introduce the major themes in Markus Zusak's award-winning novel, The Book Thief, with an anticipation guide that asks readers to agree or disagree with a series of statements.    

Students read The Complete Maus to explore how Maus is actually three books in one. In groups, they evaluate the book as a tale of surviving the Holocaust and a tale of impacting future generations. They examine the conditions at...

"What are Henry's options?" "What do you think Henry will do?" To better understand the central conflict for the main character in Robert Cormier's Tunes for Bears to Dance to, class members engage in a compare-and-contrast activity that...

What is the "Faurisson Affair”? What is “Holocaust Revisionism”? What does freedom of speech entail? Do revisionists have a right to voice their ideas? Such questions are at the heart of a richly detailed, thought provoking activity...

Learners conduct research to put Anne Frank's diary into historical context. They use maps, timelines, essays and websites to examine the early victories of the German army, paying special attention to the Netherlands and experiences of...

The artistic choices Art Spiegelman made in his graphic novel, Maus, are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare classic comic book forms with Spiegelman’s panels and frames. Directed to specific pages and guided by a...

After reading the introduction to Maus I, class members use A KWHL approach to determine what they know, what they want to know, and where they can find information about World War II, the Holocaust, and other topics associated with Art...