Make your classroom a supportive and communicative place to be before beginning a unit on the Holocaust. Working together as a class, learners reflect on their previous experiences of classroom discussions before establishing a collaborative protocol for discussing sensitive issues in a respectful way.

Concepts

world war ii, the holocaust, discussion skills, respect, classroom community, Journaling, identity

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the lesson at the beginning of the year to reap the benefits of the discussion activities all year long
• Encourage learners to write a short journal entry about what the term facing history means to them

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a journal for each member of the class; have them each bring their own journal or purchase a bulk set of journals at an office store
• The introduction lesson to a 17-part history unit

Pros

• Designed for the connected unit on the Holocaust, but discussion practices and contracts are applicable to any lesson when establishing a protocol for classroom community
• Provides letters for both students and parents, as well as a survey to introduce the lesson's themes and a list of classroom expectations for discussion

Cons

• None