Friday, April 9, 2010

The Holocaust

I have been invited to work in a classroom that is currently studying the the Holocaust.  Together we are reading The Wave.  It descibes an experiment in a high school classroom in Palo Alto, CA in 1969.  The teacher introduces new movement focusing on the power of discipline, community, and action. What starts out as a simple demonstration quickly turns ugly as students turn against those that question the movement and refuse to play along.  The point is to recreate what happened in Germany with the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.  Why did so many readily follow along?
We are also reading five additonal novels.  The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Night, Hitler's Canary, Someone Named Eva, and rs. I Have Lived a Thousand Years. Students will be logging onto the class wiki and posting comments in response to questions, ideas, and quotes along the way.  It will be fun to read their reactions.  As we go, I will share the most interesting here!