The Holocaust, Day 2 - Class Recap

The barbed wire around Auschwitz I in Poland. Photo taken in 2013.

Hi everyone,

Today was another day looking into more depth on the Holocaust genocide. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 18: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Coming Home" by Mat Kearney. Selected because the song was made into a music video for the Oregon Ducks football team, and I will be hoping to come home to Oregon with a win in Dallas on Monday night! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/9/15:
Wildcat News Brief – Xavier
Holocaust Pictures/Finish Textbook Work
Nazi Tea Party
Rise of Hitler

Homework: Read the blog. Check your updated grades and know what to do to improve! Be good for Mr. Smith, next class! Next news brief: Brenden (then Ebado next class).

News Brief: Xavier had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com -France: Raids kill 3 suspects, including 2 wanted in Charlie Hebdo attack. What a crazy past couple of days in Paris. I tried to explain why terrorists might take a kosher (food prepared in accordance with traditional Jewish beliefs) supermarket hostage, and also the geographically separate standoff with the brothers who allegedly killed 12 people at the comic magazine in Paris. Lots to talk about with this, and I am sure the story will continue to develop over the weekend. Je Suis Charlie!

Thanks for talking about the story, Xavier! Brenden was assigned the next news brief. I also played the Wildcat News for the day:

If you wanted to watch it, here's a link to the  VICE News clip for today.

Holocaust Pictures/Textbook Work: After the news, I showed my iPhone pictures from visiting Auschwitz in Poland in 2013 on the projector. I tried to explain what everything was and why it was important to understanding what happened in the Holocaust. Thank you for your focus and questions during this time!

Next, we finished going through the Modern World History textbook and what it has to say about the Holocaust on pages, 502-505. The assigned work in class was:

Summarize the two sections: The Holocaust Begins + The Final Solution

Write out vocab definitions (words in blue)

Complete questions 1-8 at the end of the Chapter (page 505).

After about 30 minutes of work, I used random popsicle sticks to call on students for answers to the questions. Keep these papers - they will help you with understanding the vocabulary in the unit and in Night, the book you are reading for Mr. Lathrop!

Nazi Tea Party: Obviously, there wasn't any tea, or a party in class. A "tea party" is a teaching activity where students take on the persona of a historical figure or event. In this case, there were eleven different people or events to talk about. I handed out slips of paper to everyone, and then asked that students go around the room talking about their person or event. Here is the worksheet that goes along with this:

Google Drive: Nazi "Tea Party" Worksheet

The directions were to:
1) Write the event or name of the person you were interviewing down on the left column.
2) Write the top 3 most important elements of the story on the slip of paper.
3) Write how you think the Nazis used the person or event to establish or maintain power.

We did not finish this activity in class, so we will come back to it after I get back next week. Have a wonderful weekend!

The Holocaust, Day 1 - Class Recap

Auschwitz II in 2013. The chimneys are the only remainder of much of the camp.

Dear class,

Since everyone is reading "Night" in Mr. Lathrop's class, I thought it was especially important to go over some of the basics of the Holocaust in class. Today was our first day looking more in depth at what happened. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 18: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Critical Thinking & Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "So What" by Miles Davis. A bit of jazz (no lyrics) to start the day! Selected because I wanted to explain the answer to "so what?" in regards to the Holocaust.

AGENDA 1/7/15:
News Brief – Austin
Rwanda Speech Grades
The Holocaust
Textbook Work

Homework: Read the blog. Check your updated grades and know what to do to improve! Next news brief: Xavier.

News Brief: Jim had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: CNN.com - Charlie Hebdo attack: 12 dead in Paris, manhunt on. This was a breaking news story this morning at the time of the class, but I tried to provide context for what happened. It is probable that this attack was in retaliation for a satirical French newspaper printing images of the Prophet Muhammad and making fun of religion (as they have done with many religions in the past).

Thanks for talking about the story, Jim! Xavier was assigned the next news brief. I also played the VICE News clip for today.

Rwanda Speech Grades: I passed back the graded Rwanda speeches, being careful to go over how I scored using the rubrics. In essence:

1) If you did not address imperialism in Rwanda at all, you got a score of 1 on that target.
2) The communication target was the score for your actual speech in front of the class. I included my notes as well as everyone else at the table listening, so you can see what I wrote about how you did.
3) The explanation target was for your overall paper and individual speech. How thoroughly did you explain the genocide in Rwanda and what needs to be done?

If you have individual questions, I would be happy to answer them in person. As with any assignment, you can always revise it (or resubmit it, if you haven't turned it in) to demonstrate a higher level of proficiency, if needed.

The Holocaust: Again, I think it is really important that I not gloss over the history here (especially with Mr. Lathrop teaching Night next door), so we began looking at the Holocaust in depth today. To begin, I passed out the Cornell Notes template, then went through this PowerPoint:

Google Drive: The Holocaust Overview PowerPoint

All of the pictures in the PowerPoint are from my own travels. I made sure to try and explain each slide in depth and I was happy to try and answer all of the questions from the class.

Along with the PowerPoint, I passed out two papers. This one was a map of the concentration camps and death camps in Europe, along with some statistics about the Holocaust:

Google Drive: Concentration Camp Map and Holocaust Statistics

The second paper was a timeline of the Holocaust and a "Pyramid of Hate":

Google Drive: Holocaust Timeline and Pyramid of Hate

All of these are resources that should help you better understand the Holocaust and what Mr. Lathrop is teaching you through "Night."

Textbook Work: Near the end of class, we started looking at the Modern World History textbook and what it has to say about the Holocaust. A mere four total pages, 502-505! That said, it does have a quote from Night at the end, and I did use it to reinforce the vocabulary terms and concepts. The assigned work in class (we will finish next class and go over it together) was:

Summarize the two sections --> The Holocaust Begins + The Final Solution

Write out vocab definitions (words in blue)

Complete questions 1-8 at the end of the Chapter (page 505).

That was where we ended for the day. Next class, we will go over some more information about the Holocaust and how it relates to our lives today. I will also probably show some more photos from my time visiting Auschwitz in Poland. I look forward to continuing this important work with you all!

Genocide in Rwanda, Day 8 - Class Recap

I hope everyone had a great Winter Break! I started 2015 by watching Oregon win the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, California, with my mom and brother!

Welcome back, everyone!

It was really great to see you all today in class. I'm thankful that I have a job that I am so excited to come back to after Winter Break, to see everyone! We checked in today, then finished up Hotel Rwanda. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 21: I can identify the critical components of imperialism.
Communication LT 2: I can use language and style that is appropriate to the content area.
Critical Thinking and Analysis LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Welcome Back" by Ma$e. Selected for obvious reasons. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/5/15:
News Brief - Mr. Fritz
Winter Break Check In
Finish Hotel Rwanda

Homework: Read the blog. Turn in completed Rwanda speech, if you have not already! Next news brief: Jim.

News Brief: I had the news brief today, and talked about this story: CNN.com - Muddy waters cloud search for AirAsia Flight QZ8501. We found Indonesia (where the flight took off, headed for Singapore) and the tragic accident.

Winter Break Check In: As usual, I started the class off by asking if anyone had done anything fun or interesting over Winter Break. It's okay if you just stayed at home! I just wanted to give the opportunity to share if anyone wanted.

Finish Hotel Rwanda: The rest of class was spent finishing the movie Hotel Rwanda (2004), which we started before break. I normally do not show entire movies in class, but this one is SO good and relevant to the Rwanda unit. Here is the worksheet of questions to answer as we watched:

Google Drive: Hotel Rwanda Questions

These questions were due at the end of class, If you are needing it to find the rubrics to turn in with your revised paper, here they are:

Google Drive: Individual United Nations Rwanda Speech Assignment

It is so good to be back! See you next class! :-)