Tuesday, 28 March

The Holocaust will be at the center of your essay on Night. However, terribly, there have been many genocides in human history. We briefly studied the case  of Reinhold Hanning who was a guard at a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust. Recently, another war criminal was convicted. His trial took years and years to accomplish as well.

After listening to this story, students will work on refining their argument or their draft for their essay on Night.

Friday, March 18

Today the class worked through a variety of activities designed to help students identify a question for their Night essay (Final due April 4th; Rough due March 31st).

The following handout as well as class discussion was used.

Night  Final Essay

 _____ answers a "big question"

_____ is about Night 

_____ a clear thesis statement that says how the theme or themes you have been following is / are important to understanding Night.

_____ an introduction with the name of the book in italics and the name of the author

_____ three pieces of evidence (quotes) from the book for the highest grades. You may have fewer quotes, but you will likely not earn an “A”. You must include at least two quotes.

_____ properly embedded quotes. This means

            An introduction for the quote explaining who is speaking to whom and in what context

            The quote inside quotation marks

            A citation in the format (#)

            An explanation following the quote explaining how it supports your topic sentence or thesis statement.

______ Clear topic sentences for each body paragraph that support your thesis

You may use the following questions as prewriting:

What clear statement can you make about your theme? How is it important to understanding the Night , the holocaust, or Elie Wiesel?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

What quotes help illustrate this idea? What do you need to explain about each quote in order to make your ideas clear to your reader? (You may want to do this activity on line paper.)

Quote ________________________________________________________________________

What do I need to explain _________________________________________________________

Three possible questions include:

Did Ellie Wiesel lose his faith?

Did Ellie Wiesel regain his faith?

Was Ellie Wiesel lucky?

What is the most important lesson one receives from Night? How is it presented?

Thursday, 10 March and Tuesday, 14 March

Thursday students began by sharing their analysis of the Nuremberg Trials and the current trial of a Holocaust War Criminal.

Then the class learned about viewing and learning from primary source documents, and then examined (facsimile) documents from Gerda Weissman's life.

On Monday we are going to view a video documenting a Ellie Wiesel returning to Auschwitz in the company of Oprah Winfrey. The subject matter and images of this documentary are disturbing.

Oprah and Elie Weisel at Auschwitz

If this link works, I'd love to show this to my class. 

Tuesday, 8 March

Class today is focused foremost on survivors of the Holocaust.

Students who attended the talk by Alter Wiener last Friday will be asked to share about their experiences.

Students will then be asked to take a survey that follows up on one taken earlier this year.

Then students will be asked to read and respond to the following stories from the news this month.

First students are asked to read about the Nuremberg Trials that followed World War II. Students should take notes on WHO was involved; WHEN they happened; WHERE they occurred; WHAT prompted them to be held; WHAT happened; and WHY they were important.

Then students are to read the following stories from the news this month. Students may read all the stories, or stop and respond in between, or work with the material in another way that makes sense to them. Students might consider how the current trial is similar to and different from the Nuremberg trials.

1) Auschwitz trial: survivor urges guard to reveal his role at death camp

2) Auschwitz trial: Ex-guard Reinhold Hanning in German court

3) Auschwitz trial: three survivors describe horrors of Holocaust

4) Auschwitz trial: former guard 'made hell possible', says witness born inside camp

Updates through 8 March

Friday, 4 March

Guest teacher Mrs. Robbins has a great lesson, so we will review the SOAPS+Claim & Response analysis on Tuesday (when your journals are due).

Class will begin or end with reading the Grant Magazine on the "N-word".

Students will do a gallery walk of quotes with Mrs. Robbins that is designed to help them create a thesis statement for an essay on Night.

Wednesday, 2 March, 2016

Night Journals are due on Tuesday, March 8th; Mr. Zartler will evaluate them in class.

Next class will be taught by Mrs. Robbins; topics will include a brief activity using the Grant Magazine's current article on race. Class will also be analyzing documents from the Holocaust.

Students have an extra credit opportunity this coming Friday; please see the 

information at the bottom of this post.

Class began with a time to reflect on and share about One Survivor Remembers.

Today's lesson  begins with understanding the concept of "Remembrance Day".

Next we will consider the facts that there are regular attempts to deny the horrors and atrocities of the Holocaust.

Facts and resources about the horror (crime in Germany) of Holocaust denial.

Students will work individually or in pairs to examine one of the resources below. Students will complete a SOAPS+Claim(s) Analysis and present their findings to the class.

SOAPS + Claim

Subject: What is the essay’s topic? (Is there a more specific answer than "Holocaust Denial"?

Occasion: What was the impetus for the writer’s writing the essay at this time?

Author/Audience: Who is the writer? What are his/ her credentials? Why should readers take seriously what she/ he has to say? To whom does the writer address his /her concerns? (See Mr. Zartler if you need help.)

Purpose: why did the writer write the essay? What does he /she want to convince readers of or persuade them to do?

Significance: To what does this piece relate? How might it be important to me, to others; to the world?

Claim: What is the writer intending to prove or establish?

Additionally Reflection or Reaction: What thoughts would you like to share after studying the link below, or what questions do you have?

1) https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/holocaust-denial

2) https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2009/holocaust-denial-movement-rocked-infighting

3) https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2001/lying-about-holocaust-inside-denial-movement

4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/deniers_01.shtml

5) http://www.ushmm.org/confront-antisemitism/holocaust-denial-and-distortion

6) http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007272

7) http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007147

8) http://archive.adl.org/holocaust/response.html#.VsuoIJMrKHo

PPS Focus on Diversity Film & Lecture Series

The Holocaust: Words of a Survivor

       

Alter Wiener

Holocaust Survivor, Author, Speaker

Friday, March 4th

4:30 pm – 6:00 pm

Boardroom, Portland Public Schools, 501 N. Dixon Street

Alter Wiener is one of the very few Holocaust survivors still living in the Portland area. Since moving to Oregon in 2000 he has shared his life story with more than 950 diverse audiences, and has received various honorary degrees and awards. His autobiography “64735 From A Name to A Number” is a personal testimony of the WWII tragedy, and a description of his survival during 35 months in five different Nazi concentrations camps. Through his speeches and writings, Alter hopes to eliminate hate, vengeance and intolerance.  Join us to hear his incredible story of resilience and tolerance.

Autographed copies of “64735 From A Name to A Number” will be available at the end of the program for $20.00. Autographed copies of Trudy Ludwig’s children’s book "Gifts from the Enemy” recounting an episode from Alter's life, will also be available for $15.00.