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Holocaust Research Project - Reflections

This lesson was part of my unit on Elie Wiesel's Night. Given that many of my 9th-grade students found Night to be a very challenging text, I was surprised at how much enthusiasm most of my students showed once they began finding information on the Holocaust. I would say this has probably been my most successful lesson in my first year of teaching.

I gambled by allowing my students a lot of freedom in designing and implementing their project plans. The only major restriction I imposed was that the project must not violate school policies or be offensive to other students or their parents. The gamble paid off -- nearly all of my students decided to do a Powerpoint presentation, showing off (and practicing) their technology skills. Since nearly every cooperative group had at least one member as proficient with Powerpoint as I was at the time, I had to offer very little technical assistance.

The variety of my students' projects was, for me, one of the most interesting aspects of this lesson. One group focused on the vocabulary posted on my classroom's "word wall" while another researched the horrors of the Holocaust; a third group looked at the effects of the Holocaust in Europe.

I look forward to teaching this unit again. I was very pleased with my students' performance and enthusiasm as they researched and designed these projects.