Classroom Activities
To introduce the unit: I will put the term Crimes Against Humanity on the board and ask the students each to write down how they would define this term. I will then have the students use the think-pair-share structure to share their definition with a partner and then with a group. Once each individual has shared in the group, I will ask each group to record a definition on chart paper in the front of the room. I will leave these definitions posted as we study the unit. Once we have reviewed the definitions from each group, I will ask the students: Do you know about any specific crimes against humanity? I will have the students make a list of their responses on the board. Once this activity is complete I will have the students read a piece entitled, "Crimes Against Humanity" written by M.Cherif Bassiouni who is a professor of law and Director of the International Criminal Justice and Weapons Center at DePaul University in Chicago. This piece can be found at the following URL: www.crimesofwar.org/thebook/crimes-against-humanity.html.
After discussing this informative essay, I will have the students write a summary. I will ask them to keep the article and the summary as reference pieces. I will then tell the students that this unit will focus on two distinct Crimes Against Humanity that were happening simultaneously:
- The segregation, dehumanization and murder of African Americans during the Jim Crow Era
- The dehumanization and genocide of Jews in Nazi Germany.
Once I have introduced these two topics, I will have the students create a KWL for each topic. A KWL is a three-column chart with the following headings: What do I know about this topic, what do I want to know about this topic, and what have I learned about this topic? I will have them complete the first two columns and then share their response with a small group. For each topic, I will have each group create a chart that reflects the knowledge and the questions of each team. As we learn, a student recorder will fill in answers to questions in the L columns of the charts.
Next, I will have the students create a glossary of terms in the reference section of their notebooks. The first terms I will have them define are: genocide, degradation, and dehumanization. As we continue through the unit the students will add specific terminology to the list.
At the end of the week I will show two films. The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow (2002), which can be obtained through the PBS website and Holocaust- In Memory of Millions (2002), which can be obtained through Discovery Home Video or amazon.com. The purpose of showing the films is to expose the students to the big picture and the historical content that is worth knowing. I will have the students take notes as they watch and then write reactions to each of the films. I will then provide the students with a timeline of dates and significant events for each of the crimes. It will be one timeline that frames both crimes. This way the students can see that aspects of these crimes were occurring simultaneously.
The next phase of the unit will be devoted to the topic: Poetry as a Vessel for Voice and the Connection between Pictures and Poetry. This part of the unit will require the students to write, analyze and interpret free verse poetry. The classroom activities that focus on the topic of poetry will fall into three categories: hearing the voice, becoming the voice, and whose voices are left? "Hearing the voice," will require students to analyze the voice that is presented in a poem. They will explain the effectiveness of poetic devices, tone, and symbol. The next category, "becoming the voice," will require students to write free verse poems from the victim's point of view. These poems will be based on artwork and photographs from each era. The next category, "whose voices are left?" will help the students gain perspective about voice by analyzing poems written by published poets who have written free verse poems from a victim's point of view.
I will first ask the students to respond to the following questions:
- Why do people write poetry?
- Why is poetry a vessel for voice?
- Is the poet always the voice that is presented in a poem?
- What types of language do poems typically include?
- What is an ecphrastic poem?
- What is a notional ecphrastic poem?
- What is free verse poetry?
Through a series of discussions, I will have the students orally share their responses to these questions, and we will chart the responses as well. Once the students have responded, I will give them the correct definitions of ecphrastic poetry and notional ecphrastic poetry and have them include these terms and definitions in their glossary. At this point I will discuss what free verse means. Since this unit focuses on free verse poetry, I want my students to have a clear understanding of this poetic form. When most people think of free verse they think of poetry that has no rhyme, meter or rhythm. I will tell my students that free verse lacks strict meter but still needs to incorporate some type of rhythm. Using poetic devices and concrete language is what can make a free verse poem a poem rather than prose chopped up into lines. By analyzing selected free verse poems for poetic devices and concrete language, students can then imitate this type of poetry. I will also have the students include in their glossary the definitions of the following terms: Metaphor, Simile, Allusion, Personification, Symbol, Hyperbole, Sensory Imagery, Theme, Tone, and Oxymoron.
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