Today in my Field Placement, I was excited to find that the teachers incorporated a webquest into their unit on the Holocaust. Apparently, when the class began reading Elie Wiesel's Night, it became clear that the majority of the class was very unfamiliar with Jewish Culture, and it was inhibiting their understanding of the book. So, the teachers created a Jewish-German culture webquest in which the students visited six different sites to collect information ranging from what is kosher, to translating simple Yiddish, to understanding the 613 laws that Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox (Elie Wiesel's sect) Judaism sects follow. They also learned about Elie Wiesel's achievements after the Holocaust.The activity went very well, the class loved it and learned a lot of information in a short period of time. Below is an interview with Elie Wiesel that could be used for enrichment of this topic:
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5 comments:
That is really surprising that the students did not know about Jewish culture. Although it was hard to read Night because it was so heavy and revealed the desperate side of human nature it was a really good book. Your students may be interested in reading some of Eli Wetzel’s other works like Dawn and The Testament. Also, the book The Chosen by Chiam Potok is a book that very quickly introduces readers to the intricacies of the Jewish culture.
Also, I like the idea of the webquest. Active learning is almost always more helpful than passive learning.
I would have loved to see the webquest in action, and to see the kid's reaction.
I'm glad to hear your teacher built a new lesson around the kids' needs. Too often people seem to be content to cluck their teeth over poor test scores and move on to the next topic.
My daughter read Night in her 10th grade class. However she had been exposed to some Jewish culture even in elementary school through reading the Old Testament and read the Diary of Anne Frank in her 6th grade class. This lead to her own research using other books and the internet at home. Her 10th grade teacher informed parents at Open House that the book was going to be read and that led to some discussion at home. I wonder if the parents of these students knew what was being read?
Kim,
I feel it is important for children to learn about all cultures. They should learn about the Holocaust, this is a terrible part of history that should never be repeated. It may be a good idea for them to listen to a survivor, it is an experience I will never forget!
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