Belfer Exemplary Lessons for Holocaust Education
Warren Marcus, U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, USA
http://www.ushmm.org

Demonstration: Demonstrations - Session 1

Middle and high school educators were invited to submit lessons to illustrate or add to student understanding of individual responsibility during the Holocaust as reflected in one or more of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's (USHMM) Tenth Anniversary themes: RESISTANCE, RESPONSE, RESCUE, and RENEWAL. A panel of USHMM teaching fellows, experienced teachers from USHMM teacher education programs, and educators from Project Zero at Harvard Graduate School of Education selected five lessons for the Web site.

These lessons were chosen as exemplary models of the following criteria: Historical Accuracy,Building Understanding, Engagement of Students, Innovative Approach, Demands for Critical Thinking by Students, and Broad Applicability and Practicality for Most Classrooms. The lessons also had to conform to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust.

The Web site makes available the lesson plans on both Web and print (PDF) format, student handouts, teacher biographies, as well as other resources. By the spring the site will also include video clips of a model teacher--Aimee Young of Ohio--"in action" teaching her award-winning lesson. Response to the site has been great. Here's one example, "I have been checking things out on the school website and found the link to the Holocaust Museum and your lesson. Wow - I loved your lesson! What a neat way to help teenagers connect with a culture and religious group that they might think they have nothing in common. The photos and comments of the students almost made me cry. Very Impressive." Teachers at USHMM workshops actually gasp with excitement when they view her lesson.