Understanding Intolerance through World History

Grade Level: 10th

Academic Areas: Language Arts, Social Studies

Duration of service: 1-2 Months

Character Virtues: Justice and Fairness, Respect, Civic Virtue and Citizenship

Service Areas: Education/Tutoring

 

Service Learning Project:

After completing tenth grade unit on the Holocaust, students will research and identify groups that been victims of intolerance past and present. Students will contact local ethnic, religious, and cultural groups to identify individuals within their community that have been victims of intolerance. Students will interview individuals and present their stories during a memorial program. Students will participate in a contest to create a memorial to commemorate victims of intolerance.

Students will organize and plan a Multi-Cultural Festival including the entertainment, food, decorations, and activities. Students will compile recipes of food to be served that night and create a cookbook to be used to generate revenue for permanent memorial. Students will plan for an annual event around the theme of "Tolerance"

Goals and Objectives

Academic

Learning Goal: To foster an understanding of the Holocaust and its relationship to other world history events.

Standard: Soc. Studies #2 – Turning points in World History and broad perspective sweep of the outcome.

Learning Goal: Through literature to bring historical facts to a personal level to enable students to become proactive "citizens of the world".

Standard: English Standards #1 , #2, and #3

Service

Community need: To address recent hate or bias crime events in the community.

Possible Community Partners: Ethnic and religious organizations, Survivors of similar intolerance, Human Rights Commissions, Historical Society

Objective: Acknowledge and commemorate the victims of intolerance past and present through a memorial program.

Objective: To create a Multi-cultural festival involving food, music , dance, and art from various cultures within the school community.

Character

Virtue: Respect

Objective: To foster mutual respect, and acceptance across cultural, ethnic, religious, socio-economic strata.

Virtue: Justice and Fairness

Objective: Create guidelines to enable students to become proactive in combating intolerance in school and the greater community. (ex. Civil Review boards, Petitions, Presentations at School Board or community forums)

Key Activities

Key Planning Activities

  1. Students will research groups and individuals that have been victims of intolerance past and present throughout the world.
  2. Students will initiate a letter to various Ethnic and Religious organizations to identify victims who would be willing to be guest speakers at the school.
  3. Students will create a list of victims and groups that will be commemorated in a memorial program.

Key Service Activities  

  1. Students will create a actual memorial/sculpture depicting those who have overcome intolerance.
  2. Students will plan and implement a memorial program to commemorate victims of intolerance.
  3. Students and faculty will organize, plan, and implement a multi-cultural night.

Key Reflection Activities

  1. (oral) Students will give oral presentations based on interviews of victims and their experiences of intolerances at the Memorial Program.
  2. (written) Student will compile a cookbook based on recipes brought to the Multi-cultural night to be used as a fund raiser to help defer cost for the memorial.
  3. (performance) Students will perform traditional dances, song, and music from various cultures during the memorial performance.

Celebration Activity

Through readings at the memorial program and the multi-cultural celebration. Parents and community members will bring food, recipes, teaching dance, and provide an object unique to their culture to be displayed during events.