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I just heard @CBCSunday Michael Enright talk about Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was on Apr. 21.
I didn’t want to let another week go by without taking the time to reflect on a project that I did with my class of Gr 9 @mightymindsabm this year. https://www.ushmm.org/remember/days-of-remembrance/resources/calendar
I didn’t want to let another week go by without taking the time to reflect on a project that I did with my class of Gr 9 @mightymindsabm this year. https://www.ushmm.org/remember/days-of-remembrance/resources/calendar
Last January, I came across this article by @cbc @chrisarsenaul. It’s headline did not sit well with me. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-holocaust-survey-remembrance-1.4994602
Fast forward to June, 2019, I came across information that @EPSB_McKay was hosting an exhibit fr @annefrankhouse. Interested Ts were asked to put their name in. I couldn’t help but think about that headline I had seen back in Jan.
In September, 2019, we found out that our visit would be the 1st wk back in Jan. Little did we know how cold it would be that week.
To prepare, I put together a 3 Q form to survey prior knowledge of our students. Each Q was intended to peel back the layers of understanding.
To prepare, I put together a 3 Q form to survey prior knowledge of our students. Each Q was intended to peel back the layers of understanding.
Have you heard of the Holocaust? If you have, what do you know about what happened? What do you know about who Anne Frank was & what happened to her?
The results were consistent with the statistic in the article I came across back in January.
The results were consistent with the statistic in the article I came across back in January.
Six of 29 students had never heard of the Holocaust. And, when asked to explain what happened, almost a third recognized that they were not able to do this.
We were about to change that.
We were about to change that.
In a previous school year, our 3 classes of Gr 8 @mightymindsabm had been a part of a special book club. The T of each class read aloud 1 of the 3 voices from Refugee by @AlanGratz. @DiaMacMighty was one of those Ts. Then, 1 S from ea class would meet to discuss.
Some of my Gr 9’s were familiar with Refugee, but it wasn’t a read aloud that they all experienced in Gr 8.
Before Winter Break, in preparation for our FT to see the Anne Frank exhibit on Jan. 9, 2020, each S selected a fic or nf title set during WWII to read.
Before Winter Break, in preparation for our FT to see the Anne Frank exhibit on Jan. 9, 2020, each S selected a fic or nf title set during WWII to read.
Ss also recorded Qs they hoped would be answered either in the book they read, the book someone else read or on the FT. These were recorded on small post-its and I held on to them until after our FT.
The first day back in Jan, we had a Community Circle to share the perspectives of all the stories that we had read. In preparation for sharing, Ss drafted their thoughts on recipe cards. These cards then became a book talk of sorts as they accompanied the cover of the book
& were arranged around, & connected to, a map showing where ea story began.
It was nice to have our volunteer basketball coach as our tour guide. https://twitter.com/arllennium/status/1215358317586870272?s=20
It was nice to have our volunteer basketball coach as our tour guide. https://twitter.com/arllennium/status/1215358317586870272?s=20
After our FT, those small post-it notes with Qs were put in the middle of a blank piece of 8.5 x 11. Students then responded to their own Qs with what they learned on our FT. This is similar to something I first learned about from @ctovani.
It creates a very concrete visual for students of how their thinking has grown and expanded.
In addition, we took advantage of our Common Area space to have the Gr 9’s share what they learned with 2 Gr 6 Ss from 2 different classes including @siriusly_holly.
In addition, we took advantage of our Common Area space to have the Gr 9’s share what they learned with 2 Gr 6 Ss from 2 different classes including @siriusly_holly.
The Gr 6’s were active listeners and asked pointed Qs to push Gr 9 thinking.
We took our reflecting even further with a Google Q: What were you were thinking & feeling as Mr. Lore took us through the Anne Frank's exhibit?
We took our reflecting even further with a Google Q: What were you were thinking & feeling as Mr. Lore took us through the Anne Frank's exhibit?
Because initial responses focused on the knowledge Ss gained, I printed these for Ss and they were taped to the same page as the responses to their Qs. I asked Ss to highlight in pink any feelings they had already written about.
I then asked Ss to write a final time, this time tapping in to the emotions that they experienced on our FT.
As we started to put together our display, I came across another startling headline but this time it was from Eric Stober @globalnews. https://globalnews.ca/news/4893788/holocaust-survey-canada/
As we started to put together our display, I came across another startling headline but this time it was from Eric Stober @globalnews. https://globalnews.ca/news/4893788/holocaust-survey-canada/
The 2 headlines framed our display which was viewed 1st by Ss & Ts then by Ps during Student-Parent-Teacher Interview evenings Feb 5 & 6.
I lost track of the # of times I would see individuals & grps standing in front of the display, reading the headlines out loud to ea other.
I lost track of the # of times I would see individuals & grps standing in front of the display, reading the headlines out loud to ea other.
I can say with 100% certainty: It caused people to stop and think about what they knew about this time in history. And hopefully, they know more now than they did before.
End of thread. Thank you for reading.
End of thread. Thank you for reading.
