Holocaust PowerPoint

This PowerPoint is an introductory lesson for a unit revolving around Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. As the novel is historical fiction and deals with the Holocaust, resistance and what makes people hate other people, the lesson serves to introduce students to concepts in the novel with which they may be unfamiliar. The PowerPoint poses the Essential Question for the unit: How do people discriminate against other people? (How do they decide who is “us” and who is “them”) Why do they do this? Students should be thinking about this question throughout their reading of the novel and reading primary source documents to understand the historical context of the novel. The PowerPoint defines the Holocaust, again because seventh graders may have not been exposed to the topic at all.
The lesson then proceeds to the actors of the Holocaust. At this point we would discuss what it meant to be in any of these roles. Proceeding, we would talk about the historical context of the Holocaust, looking at social, economic, religious and political factors and exploring examples of each. We will look at the location of Denmark on the map (Number the Stars is set in Denmark) and discuss Denmark’s role in WWII and the impact on its citizens.
We will review a timeline of the Holocaust that we will match to the timeline of the book as the novel follows historical events accurately. We will define and discuss resistance, and hear audio and video clips of survivors and resistance fighters. We will discuss implications of the Holocaust today. The students should understand the broad context of the Holocaust as well as understand some of the micro-implications of the Holocaust on individuals. These understandings will inform their reading, comprehension and analysis of the novel.
I used transitions between slides. I tried not to use transitions that we cartoon-like as the tone of the lesson is somber and the material required respectful consideration. I used hyperlinks to connect to two websites that would be invaluable for student research and for deeper understanding, especially of the Holocaust’s impact on individuals. The first hand accounts are authentic representations of the history. I used images of children at the camp, a beautiful memorial in Miami and of the Star of David as that became a symbol of “otherness” and was very divisive in and of itself. The only challenge feature that I used was Smart Art graphics to represent the actors. I liked all of the smart art options, but had trouble fitting them to the theme of my presentation. I would probably use these more in a presentation about a simpler topic.
I learned that a PowerPoint can be enhanced by the judicious use of features like transitions and smart art graphics. I have used PowerPoint in the past, but I have not used many features and this is the nicest presentation that I have created and it is due to the advanced features.
A lesson can be enhanced using PowerPoint to view documents, present information in a differentiated manner, and engage visual learners. As well, the teacher can provide instruction while the PowerPoint is running, it is easy to stop and follow a discussion thread or take part in an activity, and then move on when the class is ready.