Kristallnacht Lesson Plans

Students research the way of life of the Jews before Kristallnacht. Using new vocabulary and resources, they discover how carefree life was before the days of discrimination and antisemitism. In groups, they create a timeline of the events.

Students examine newspapers to research public opinion about the Holocaust. In this critical thinking lesson, students research the information Americans received in U.S. newspapers about events like Kristallnacht, the Berlin Olympics, or the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Students compare those stories to similar stories today.

Learners interpret historical evidence presented in primary and secondary resources. In this Holocaust lesson, students create museum-style exhibits that feature their research findings regarding Kristallnacht, Concentration Camps, ghettos, Jewish children during the Holocaust, or Nuremburg laws.

Eighth graders explore the persecution of the Jews during Hitler's leadership of Germany in 1938.

Students prepare a reaction statement about what they read. In this Holocaust instructional activity students read several personal accounts from the Holocaust. The students answer a series of questions related to the Nazis and their concentration camps.

Students discover what a dictatorship is by examining the holocaust.  In this government lesson plan, students discuss the laws that were enacted for Nazis to take control of Germany, and the types of laws we have put place to prevent that from happening.  Students answer numerous study questions by researching their textbooks.

Students examine historical perspectives. In this Wagner-Rogers Bill lesson, students conduct research on the bill and its impact on immigration and the Holocaust. Students participate in a mock Congressional debate of the bill.

Students explore the Holocaust through art. In this Holocaust lesson, students analyze the art exhibition titled "Never Let It Rest" by Hans Molzberger. Students keep journals regarding their impressions of the artwork and the Holocaust.

Seventh graders study the ideals of totalitarianism in Nazi Germany through primary and secondary sources in this unit of lessons. They read "Anne Frank:The Diary of a Young Girl" and write expository pieces.

Students view and discuss a video on the children of La Hille and Anne Frank and relate the life altering events of the Holocaust to events from the past that shaped their own family history. They interview members of their family to create an annotated scrapbook page of a a family event.