Classroom Activity Plan for Integrating Technology in the Curriculum

Theme: the Holocaust / Developed by Jackie F. Parker

Curriculum Areas Encompassed: Social Studies and Language Arts

Time Necessary to complete this unit or activity: 4 weeks

Learning Objectives: Students will research a self-chosen topic about the Holocaust using various media, present their findings to the class, read a theme related book, and form literature circles to discuss their chosen books and the holocaust.

Materials: KWL Worksheet, 6 copies of each novel, role worksheets, Lest We Forget software, holocaust websites, books, videos, and periodicals about the holocaust.

 

Procedures:

Students will complete a KWL (Know, Want to Know, and Learned) Chart. From the Want to Know column students will choose a topic for research using books and/or periodicals, Lest We Forget software, the U. S. Memorial Holocaust Museum website, and other on-line sources.

Students will complete research and orally present their findings to the entire class using a visual; for example, transparency, Power Point presentation, or video.

Teacher will give a booktalk on The Diary of Ann Frank, Alan and Naomi, Frederich, When Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit, and the Devil’s Arithmetic. Students will then choose a book and form a discussion group (literature circle) rotating through the following roles:

Discussion leader - asks high order thinking questions.

Summarizer - finds main idea or theme of passage being read

Illuminator - ties the passage to a current event (Kosovo, Cuba, etc.) or to a poem or other work of literature.

Illustrator - does a graphic representation of the passage

Word Wizard - chooses vocabulary and adds words and definitions to the Holocaust dictionary.

Musician - finds and chooses music to accompany theme of passage

Roles rotate with each passage assigned in each book.

Students may need to read some passages outside of class.

Students read the passages, complete their respective role sheets, and discuss each passage in their books.

Role sheets and other products are combined in a bound booklet that will be placed in the media center for students who are looking for a good read.

Each group will make an oral presentation to the entire class, and specific books and characters will be compared.

Assessment: the completed role sheets, the students’ presentations, the completed section "Learned" Chart