Recommended
Readings
and
Activities
for
the
Classroom
on


Genocide,
Human
Rights
and
More

Grade
Levels
7th
–
8th

Teaching
About
Genocide



Confronting
Genocide:
Never
Again?
(Available
for
purchase
online)

http://www.choices.edu/resources/detail.php?id=36

Created
By:
The
Choices
Program

Themes:
Traces
the
evolution
of
the
international
community's
response
to
genocide
and

examines
how
the
United
States
has
responded
to
five
cases
of
genocide.
The
evaluation
of

multiple
perspectives,
informed
debate,
and
problem
solving
strategies
that
comprise
this
unit

enable
students
to
develop
their
own
policy
suggestions
concerning
America's
response
to

future
genocide.

Includes:






Student
Text

Teachers
Guide

Five
Lesson
Plans

1. Day
One's
lesson
helps
students
to
define
genocide.


2. Day
Two
asks
students
to
examine
five
different
cases
of
genocide
from
the
twentieth

century,
followed
by
a
class
activity
on
The
New
York
Times
coverage
of
the
Armenian

Genocide
in
1915.


3. Days
Three
and
Four
are
devoted
to
a
simulation
in
which
students
act
as
advocates
of

the
four
options
or
take
on
the
role
of
members
of
the
Senate
Committee
on
Foreign

Relations.


4. Day
Five
asks
students
to
design
their
own
'Option
Five'
and
apply
their
views
to

hypothetical
cases.


5. An
optional
lesson
is
also
included
in
the
unit
which
asks
students
to
construct
a
model
of

a
public
memorial
to
a
genocide.



Holocaust/Genocide
Project:
An
End
to
Intolerance
(Available
for
free
online)

http://www.iearn.org/hgp/student‐magazine.html

Created
by:

iEARN
(International
Education
And
Resource
Network),
Students
from
around
the

world

An
End
to
Intolerance
(AETI)
is
an
annual,
international
student‐produced
magazine.
Each
year,

students
participating
in
the
Holocaust/Genocide
Project
collaborate
from
all
over
the
world,

via
computer
telecommunications,
to
publish
this
printed
magazine.
Each
issue
of
the

publication
focuses
on
a
particular
topic;
for
example,
the
1995
issue,
Remember
the
Children,

 

focused
on
children
in
the
Holocaust,
and
also
contained
information
about
topics
of

contemporary
concern.



Teaching
About
Identity



Individuality
and
Stereotyping:
“Hand”
Identity
Charts
(Available
for
free
online
if
member
of

Facing
History
and
Ourselves)

www.facinghistor.org

Created
by:
Facing
History
and
Ourselves

Themes:
explore,
illustrate
and
articulate
identities,
reflect
on
the
differences
between
the

ways
in
which
we
see
ourselves
and
the
ways
in
which
others
might
see
us,
reflect
on
the

significance
of
identity
and
on
the
influence
our
sense
of
our
identity
can
have
on
our
choices,

Explore
the
language
of
imagery
and
symbol





Teaching
About
Race

Race:
Origins
and
Legacies
of
a
Modern
Construct
(Available
for
free
online
if
member
of

Facing
History
and
Ourselves)

www.facinghistory.org

Created
By:
Facing
History
and
Ourselves

Summary:
This
lesson
outline
explores
the
complicated
philosophical
roots
of
the
concept
of

"race,"
and
traces
its
legacies
to
the
eugenics
movement
in
the
United
States
during
the
early

20th
century.


Themes:
Explore
the
evolution
of
“race”
as
a
social
construct,
examine
the
influence
of
the

Enlightenment
era
on
the
creation
of
modern
definitions
of
race,
examine
how
“race”
evoloved

into
a
justification
for
the
political
and
social
institutions
of
the
18th
and
19th
centuries,
examine

the
role
of
science
in
shaping
ideas
of
race,
examine
how
preconceived
notions
and
judgments

shaped
the
“scientific”
discoveries
of
the
late
18th
and
mid
19th
centuries.



20th
Century
Genocides



Armenia:
1915‐1923



iWitness:
Oral
and
Visual
Documentation
of
Survivors
of
the
Armenian
Genocide
(Available

for
free
online)

http://www.teachgenocide.org/teachingguides/index.htm

(PDF
Version)
http://www.teachgenocide.org/files/iwitness_Photo_Activity.pdf

 

Artists:
The
Genocide
Project
‐
Ara
Oshagan
and
Levon
Parian

Created
by:
The
Genocide
Education
Project
(www.GenocideEducation.org)

Themes:
Armenian
Genocide,
survivor
testimony,
the
power
of
photography

Includes:

Short
Introduction
on
Armenia
Genocide

Explanation
of
photo’s
by
the
Artists

8
Survivor
photos
and
brief
stories
from
their
point
of
view

Student
Activities:

1. Identify
themes
in
all
photos

2. Investigate
one
photo
and
then
read
text

3. Investigate
one
photo,
imagine
their
life
after
the
fact,
questions
for
survivor

4. For
school
or
homework:
write
about
own
photograph
and
story



Bosnia:
1992‐1995



Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo. (Book available for purchase online)
http://www.amazon.com/Zlatas-Diary-Zlata-Filipovic/dp/0140242058
Author: Filipovic, Zlata.
Penguin Books, 1995.
Summary: Almost a parallel to The Diary of Anne Frank, this collection of diary entries from an
eleven year old gives an important perspective on life in Sarajevo. Organized by entry, the book
is a great read for junior high to high school students, or passages from it could easily
supplement a general discussion of the former Yugoslavia. ISBN: 0140242058.


Rwanda:
1994



Defying
Genocide:
Movie
and
Classroom
Guide

(Movie
and
guide
available
for
free
online)

http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/analysis/details.php?content=2007‐01‐
05&menupage=Central+Africa

Created
by:
Committee
on
Conscience
of
the
United
States
Holocaust
Memorial
Museum

Themes:
Definition
of
genocide,
Rwanda
genocide,
rescuers,
aftermath
and
reconstruction,

student
activism

Includes:

15
minute
DVD

Preparation
and
Debriefing
Resources
and
Activity
Questions

1. What
is
Genocide?

2. Timelines

3. Historical
Background

4. Preparation
Activities

 

5. Debriefing
Questions

6. Rwanda
and
Genocide
Today

7. Ethnicity
in
Rwanda



Darfur:
2003‐Present



Sudan:
Staring
Genocide
in
the
Face
(Available
for
free
online)

http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/alert/darfur/staring_genocide_in_the_face/

Created
by:
United
State
Holocaust
Memorial
Museum

Includes:

1. Picture
and
Slideshow
with
audio
commentary
by
Jerry
Fowler

Shows
photos
from
Darfur
and
Chad
from
a
trip
Jerry
Fowler
took
their
in
2004.
Jerry

explains
the
photos
and
gives
us
a
look
into
the
daily
lives
of
Darfur
refugees.

2. In
Sudan:
Staring
Genocide
in
the
Face
by
Jerry
Fowler

Article
that
gives
some
historical
context
to
the
current
situation
and
talks
about
the

necessity
of
action
to
end
the
conflict,
and
whether
or
not
it
is
a
“genocide.”

3. Sudan:
Death
by
Designation
by
Jerry
Fowler

Audience:
Students:
7th‐12th


Discusses
the
issues
surrounding
the
naming
of
Darfur
as
a
“Genocide.”

4. Possible
Activities

a. Questions
about
Slideshow:

1. What
feelings
do
these
photos
conjure
up?

2. What
kinds
of
struggles
do
Darfurians
have
to
deal
with
in
the

camps?

3. In
what
ways
have
the
Darfurians
demonstrated
strength
and

hope
for
the
future?

4. What
happened
to
them
before
they
reached
the
camps?



Congo:


http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/congojournal/

Ripples
of
Genocide:
Journey
Through
Eastern
Congo
(Available
for
free
online)

Created
by:
United
States
Holocaust
Memorial
Museum:
Committee
on
Conscience

Themes:
Events
in
DRC,
efforts
to
prevent
genocide
elsewhere,
first
hand
accounts
and

photographs,
causes
of
genocide,
role
of
human
rights
organizations
in
addressing
genocide,

challenges
to
preventing,
how
students
can
raise
awareness,
displacement
and
hunger,
child

soldiers,
militias
and
armed
groups,
attacks
on
villages/collapse
of
coping
systems,
rape
and

counseling.

Includes:






Activities
based
on
web
resources
provided
by
Ripples
of
Genocide
at
USHMM
website

1. Comparing
Accounts

 

2. Interpreting
Images

3. Alternative:
Poster
to
inform
students
about
DRC

4. Discussion
Questions

5. News
and
Watch
Journal