Self-Reflection: Multi-Genre Project
While it may seem strange to have created a unit that is often left for Social Studies or History classes, I decided to create this multi-genre project on the Holocaust due to the sheer number of creative pieces of writing and media that came out of it. It seemed silly to ignore such a literary-significant event. Immediately, I was forced to choose which of these wonderful pieces of work to pick, since there is no way to cover the ENTIRE history in a single unit.
To me, the ideas and atrocities that were prevalent during the Holocaust are still topical today. All around the world, right here in the United States, in our places of employment, and especially in our nation's schools, ideas of hate, prejudice, and intolerance run rampant. While our schools are becoming more and more diverse, still hate acts and racial slurs are thrown about like the word "the". With bullying being such a hot-button issue for todays schools, what more appropriate a class to facilitate an educated discussion about intolerance and hate than English Language Arts?
I believe that in Grade 8 students, for the most part, have a level of maturity to handle the seriousness of the topic. Overall, I believe this unit will leave my students with a sense of what can happen if we let our hate, prejudices, and intolerance to others determine our courses of action, and ultimately, the course of our lives. I think it will encourage students to think critically about what the Nazis did, how their actions affected the people around them, and where social injustices are happening today. Since I chose a variety of different artifacts to be used in a variety of ways, students will have several opportunities to have their voice heard and share their thoughts and opinions. I specifically chose not to include, for the purposes of this project, many of the gruesome and graphic images of what went on in the concentration camps. While I feel that these sorts of images have an important purpose in a realistic study of this topic, they are not the focus of what my unit attempts to achieve.
This project really forced me to think about not only what kinds of resources I wanted to include, but the purpose and intent behind each of them. It made me think seriously about including artifacts from a variety of different media, instead of selecting exclusively from one genre. This was a real challenge for me. There were so many video clips and informational articles that I wanted to include, but I knew that I needed to expose my students to a wide variety of material that required them to think critically and individually about the topic.
I truly believe that a project such as this is an essential component in a teacher education program. It forces you to be creative, select meaningful resources, and plan effectively and thoughtfully to provide the best learning experience for your students.
To me, the ideas and atrocities that were prevalent during the Holocaust are still topical today. All around the world, right here in the United States, in our places of employment, and especially in our nation's schools, ideas of hate, prejudice, and intolerance run rampant. While our schools are becoming more and more diverse, still hate acts and racial slurs are thrown about like the word "the". With bullying being such a hot-button issue for todays schools, what more appropriate a class to facilitate an educated discussion about intolerance and hate than English Language Arts?
I believe that in Grade 8 students, for the most part, have a level of maturity to handle the seriousness of the topic. Overall, I believe this unit will leave my students with a sense of what can happen if we let our hate, prejudices, and intolerance to others determine our courses of action, and ultimately, the course of our lives. I think it will encourage students to think critically about what the Nazis did, how their actions affected the people around them, and where social injustices are happening today. Since I chose a variety of different artifacts to be used in a variety of ways, students will have several opportunities to have their voice heard and share their thoughts and opinions. I specifically chose not to include, for the purposes of this project, many of the gruesome and graphic images of what went on in the concentration camps. While I feel that these sorts of images have an important purpose in a realistic study of this topic, they are not the focus of what my unit attempts to achieve.
This project really forced me to think about not only what kinds of resources I wanted to include, but the purpose and intent behind each of them. It made me think seriously about including artifacts from a variety of different media, instead of selecting exclusively from one genre. This was a real challenge for me. There were so many video clips and informational articles that I wanted to include, but I knew that I needed to expose my students to a wide variety of material that required them to think critically and individually about the topic.
I truly believe that a project such as this is an essential component in a teacher education program. It forces you to be creative, select meaningful resources, and plan effectively and thoughtfully to provide the best learning experience for your students.