Objective:
After students have watched the films and had a thorough discussion, they will develop a
Framework for comparing geography, people, and the character(s) for each film. They will use a), problem/solution b), cause and effect c), time line and d), compare and contrast. This will prepare the student for greater independent analysis. It will be done in the following way.
Specific tactics to be used in each of the three lesson plans would include:
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- Reading assignments to include history of anti-Semitism
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- Introductory lesson on anti-Semitism
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- Class discussion on the introductory lesson
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- Viewing selected films depicting anti-Semitism
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- Class discussion of selected films
Class will be divided into debating groups:
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- The red group wears red ribbons representing the anti-Semites
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- The white and blue group wears white and blue ribbons, symbolizing the moral consciousness, representing the truth seekers
In lesson plan one, each of the two groups will be assigned a position to defend in a class debate, based on a particular film. The red ribbon group represents the European nationalists. It is composed of the Czar's foot soldiers whose cultural norms of intimidation and torture of Jews was a daily routine. They will represent the illogical zone of the human consciousness. They represent the lowest bestial aspect of the human consciousness. However, as low as their behavior has sunk, it has a natural spark of goodness with some redeemable qualities that could help transform their attitude and behavior into positive action, through education.
The white and blue ribbon group represents the franchised European mentality. It includes scholars like Emile Zola whose stand on equality and freedom is devoid of ethno-geographical distinctions. The white and blue ribbon group represents the European progressive forces, which supported the emerging European constitutional and statutory rights of liberty, equality and fraternity. For this group, individual freedom is natural rights that people are born with and that no government has the right to deprive them of it. The white and blue group support John Locke's philosophy that government exists for the people, not people for the government. Therefore, the purpose of a government is to protect its citizens, their natural rights to life, liberty and property. Any government, according to the white and blue ribbon group that abuses its power, by supporting or abetting anti-Semitism should be opposed.
In lesson plan two, the groups will reverse roles. Each group will represent a position the other group took on in lesson plan one. The purpose is to enhance the student's experience in honing their conflict resolution skills, role playing, and debating tactics. This practice could be of much use for all students who must deal with daily conflicts in their neighborhoods and with school age friends of different ethnic background.
In lesson plan three, the original two groups which were represented in lesson plan one, will be selected again. The white and blue ribbon will characterize the Jewish people and the red ribbon group will symbolize
old Europe
. The objective of the newer debate is to find
solutions
to anti-Semitism in present daily life.
The group dynamics would be similar to the "encounter group" of the 1960's. Each participant would talk about how difficult it is to identify with anti Semitism. How painful it is to experience others' pain and hear the cry of children who beg for their lives as seen in the films. On the other hand, the white and blue members, representatives of the progressive European consciousness, will express their feelings in opposing anti Semitism. How they were touched by their feelings when they debated the need to protect Jews, or when they watched a film showing incidents of terror such as deportation of Jews to the gas chambers.
The usefulness of Graphic Organizers is well documented. This tool helps students learn by binding ideas, concepts, and experiences together. Cognitive psychologists describe human learning as a process of organization and storage of information. They refer to this process of learning as schema. Most educators support the theory of learning that students actively involved making connection with cognitive structures. Graphic organizers help creates the panorama for learning. It helps make connections among existing ideas and motivate students to seek new networks. Piaget indicated that knowledge comes from action. Dewey stressed the concept of active involvement, as opposed to passive learning. The role of active learning is a living experience, which plays a significant role in the educational development of the student, Dewey concluded.
When students use graphic organizers, they tend to be actively involved with details, which trigger divergent thinking. Students then manipulate information to fit the constraints of the organizer. When they use it on a regular basis, the students use less memorization and more creative applications.
The
Problem/Solution organizer
would serve the student best when the student identifies the problems faced in the movie. This would be the student's main preoccupation. The student would summarize the problem he sees in the film and fill in the assigned space in the organizer. Problems such as deportation of Jews, families breaking up, and individual tragedies are useful in order to learn the film's deeper message to the student viewer.
The
Compare and Contrast
Organizer
would serve a different purpose. The student is asked to compare the likenesses and differences among events, geographical locations, characters, ideals, concepts etc. This exercise can help students compare and contrast strong impressions left after viewing the film. Some of the contrasts to be used include good versus evil, individual characteristics shown in a film versus the purpose of life. It is a personal test one can apply to himself. The student gets to know himself a bit better as he makes all these comparisons and fill them in the graphic organizer.
The
Cause/Effect structure Organizer
is particularly useful for students and teachers whose love is history and the social sciences. Cause and effect indicates how events, facts, or concepts were created, because they depended on each other. The teacher would guide the students to understand that a cause may be accidental or irrational (like anti Semitism) and the effect would follow. Students would have little difficulty in identifying the irrational and the rational. They will have to fill in their graphic organizer that Hitler's final solution was the effect of an irrational cause.
The Time Order Organizer
is similar in nature to "cause and effect." Both are based on a previous event. When the focus is on a sequence of events with reference to time, graphic organizers can be very useful in aiding students ordering events. One kind of time order organizer used by social scientists and teachers is a time line. This tool can help students fill in their graphic organizers with appropriate order of events as they happened in the film. They may benefit from this exercise by placing several major events in their graphic organizer, memorizing them, and using them as a starting point of discussion.