Some words are best left unspoken.  Words matter, according to Benjamin Zander, conductor, teacher, and lecturer. To illustrate his point, Zander recounts a story told to him by a survivor of Auschwitz. As a result of her experience...

Students explore the experiences of the people in the concentration camps at liberation during World War II. Students read an article on the Liberation of Belsen Concentration Camp and D-Day and report to the class.

Balancing national security and civil liberties can be tricky. To appreciate the tension between these two concepts, class members investigate the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and President Franklin D....

Imagine being a child forced from your home and into a concentration camp during World War II. Scholars prepare for a visit to the United States Holocaust Museum by researching the children of the horrible event. They analyze...

Building a realistic understanding of the trials Jews suffered during WWII isn't always easy. This plan employs student constructed dramatic freeze frame scenes to help build a deeper understanding of Jewish Ghettos, concentration camps,...

Never Forget. As part of a study of the Holocaust, class members watch a PowerPoint about Terezin, read selections from I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Children's Drawings, and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, then craft their...

Tenth graders, after reading a variety of passages and watching a video on "Children Remember the Holocaust," explore the concept of brutality of deportation and analyze conditions in concentration and death camps. They review maps and...

Students distinguish between concentration, labor and death camps, describe conditions in concentration camps, read and discuss Night, by Elie Wiesel, and describe methods Nazis used to disguise true purpose of death camps and...

Students state the difference between death camps and concentration camps used during the Holocaust. Using primary source documents, they summarize what life in the camp was like. They describe the final solution used by the Nazis.

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...

Students compare and contrast concentration camps. In this World War II lesson, students examine photographs and documents from Jewish concentration camps in an effort to understand their function. Students complete worksheets that...

Though the Statue of Liberty welcomes political refugees to her shores, the welcoming sentiment has not always been reflected in the American citizenry. High schoolers read about the regrettable period in United States history...

Historians explain what happened during the Holocaust, but only primary sources portray the true horror of places such as Auschwitz. Using accounts from those who survived the camps, as well as a Nazi government official's memoirs, class...

Students examine the location of the Holocaust.  In this mapping lesson, students analyze two maps identifying the area in which the Holocaust took place. Students familiarize themselves with the symbols used during this time period...

Students explore personal characteristics of Jewish students in concentration camps and the ghetto and make a time capsule of events and photographs following survivors from the ghetto and concentration camps to freedom.

Access a wealth of rich, engaging activities that will allow learners to see through the eyes of Anne Frank and experience her emotional journey as they read her biography The Diary of a Young Girl.

Eighth graders map the important locations of the Holocaust. In this Holocaust lesson plan, 8th graders research the location of countries involved in the Holocaust as well as the location of concentration camps. Students mark the...

Seventh graders discuss the issues of isolation and deportation as they are related to the Holocaust. After reading a brief passage about deportation and confinement in a concentration camp, 7th graders discuss the feelings involved in...

Eighth graders investigate the typical day in a concentration camp. In this Holocaust lesson plan, 8th graders read primary and secondary sources about the conditions of the camps. Students also conduct research about the Warsaw Ghetto,...

Seventh graders explore the geography of Eastern and Western Europe. They compare and constrast the culture of Jewish people from Eastern and Western Europe. They analyze deportation and confinement in concentration camps, using personal...

High schoolers examine Japanese internment camps of World War II. For this World War II lesson, students use primary and secondary sources to research the evacuation process and life within the internment camps. High schoolers discuss...

Students examine the different ways in which children hid trying to escape the concentration camps. Using journal entries, they put themselves into the role of the children and imagine their feelings during the Holocaust. They discuss...

W.H. Auden’s poem “Refugee Blues” launches a study of the problems of refugees. Background information about the poem and general information about Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria are provided, as are discussion questions and...

Designed as a resource for teachers who use Man's Search for Meaning, this seven-page packet includes a list of related informational texts, research issues and project ideas, central questions, background information on World...