The Holocaust, Day 1 - Class Recap

Auschwitz II in 2013. The chimneys are the only remainder of much of the camp.

Dear class,

Since everyone read "Night" in Mr. Puterbaugh's class, I thought it was especially important to go over some of the basics of the Holocaust in class. Today was our first day looking more in depth at what happened. Here's what happened in class today:

Learning Targets:
Knowledge LT 17: I can explain how and why world societies organize themselves and how power is established and maintained.
Behavior LT 2: I can self-direct my learning.

Soundtrack: "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie. Selected for today because David Bowie passed away over the weekend. A total legend, and someone who was speaking about gender and sexual identity issues publicly long before it was socially acceptable to do so. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 1/12/16:
News Brief – Christian H.
The Holocaust
Textbook Work
Grade Checks

Homework: Read the blog. Check your updated grades and know what to do to improve by Friday! All late or missing work is due then! Watch the State of the Union address tonight at 6 PM, and the Republican Response after! Next news brief: David.

News Brief: Christian H. had the news brief today and selected this story to talk about: BBC.com - Turkey: 'IS suicide bomber' kills 10 in Istanbul Sultanahmet district. This was a breaking news story from this morning, and pretty crazy to me, because I once stayed at a hotel a few blocks away from where the explosion happened. We talked about Turkey being bordered by Syria and how that might impact this event, which seemed to target tourists.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

I also asked about the weekend and what people were up to, before moving on.

The Holocaust: Again, I think it is really important that I not gloss over the history here (especially with Mr. Puterbaugh teaching Night next door), so we began looking at the Holocaust in depth today. To begin, I asked students to make the Cornell Notes template on a blank sheet of paper, then went through this PowerPoint:

Google Drive: The Holocaust Overview PowerPoint

All of the pictures in the PowerPoint are from my own travels. I made sure to try and explain each slide in depth and I was happy to try and answer all of the questions from the class.

Along with the PowerPoint, I passed out two papers. This one was a map of the concentration camps and death camps in Europe, along with some statistics about the Holocaust:

Google Drive: Concentration Camp Map and Holocaust Statistics

The second paper was a timeline of the Holocaust and a "Pyramid of Hate":

Google Drive: Holocaust Timeline and Pyramid of Hate

All of these are resources that should help you better understand the Holocaust and what Mr. Puterbaugh has been teaching you through "Night."

Textbook Work: Near the end of class, we started looking at the Modern World History textbook and what it has to say about the Holocaust. A mere four total pages, 502-505! That said, it does have a quote from Night at the end, and I did use it to reinforce the vocabulary terms and concepts. The assigned work in class (we will finish next class and go over it together) was:

Summarize the two sections: The Holocaust Begins + The Final Solution

Write out vocab definitions (words in blue)

Complete questions 1-8 at the end of the Chapter (page 505).

That was where we ended for the day. Next class, you will finish the work in the textbook, go over some more information about the Holocaust and how it relates to our lives today, as well as learn about how the Nazi party rose to power.

Grade Checks: At the end of class, I went through everyone's grades on a 1-1 basis, so you should know exactly where you are at in the class. Please make sure you are working on any missing or late work that you need to revise! This Friday will be the last day I accept late work! Let me know if I can help with anything!