If you cover any text from the 1930s and 1940s, you know it can be tricky to find the right Holocaust introduction. On the one hand, you need your students to understand the complexities of the period. But on the other hand, if you aren’t a History teacher, you might be apprehensive about going too deeply.
Your students deserve a Holocaust introduction like the Jigsaw Activity I use consistently with my students. It worked beautifully when I taught 8th grade ELA, and it continues to be a winner with my high school sophomores.
The goal is to find a Holocaust introduction activity that engages your learners by piquing their interests and also holding them accountable. You’ll be amazed at all the success you’ll see with this activity.
An Overview of the Holocaust Introduction Jigsaw Activity
Essentially, this Holocaust introduction is the ideal lesson to prepare ahead of time and then step back in amazement the day of your lesson. Let me provide a little context.
It’s worth noting what units I’ve used this Holocaust introduction activity for. When I taught eighth grade ELA, Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl was part of my curriculum. I used this lesson on the first day of the unit. Now that I’m at the high school level, I no longer teach Anne Frank but Elie Wiesel’s Night instead. This Jigsaw Activity is still perfect for this unit and my older students.
So if you’re an English teacher lucky enough to cover a Holocaust text in your curriculum, you’re going to love this lesson. And if you’re a Social Studies teacher who ended up here on Seize the Day in ELA (
I’m glad you’re here!), this Holocaust introduction activity is perfect for you, too!
Sell It from the Start
I always entice my students with this Holocaust introduction activity by saying, “You’re going to learn a ton of new material today but only have to do 25% of the work.” They’re always intrigued by the idea of doing less work. That’s kind of the inspiration behind the name. Each group member takes a piece of the puzzle to bring it all together in the end.
Once in Groups
So, by the time you’re done with the Holocaust introduction activity, you’ll have been able to expose students to an incredible amount of information in a relatively short amount of time and with little to no complaining about how much they have to read!
Preparing the Activity
Ahead of time, you want to generate four to six rich, engaging, and informative articles related to the Holocaust (read more in this Holocaust introduction to find out about my suggested topics). In the “dark ages” (i.e. before the dawn of AI), I scoured the internet to find age-appropriate yet deep and brief yet thorough articles. Nowadays, I recommend saving yourself time and seeing how AI can help.
Once you have your articles, you want to formulate poignant comprehension questions that will help guide students’ reading but also ensure understanding. If you decide to collect students’ work, you can always grade the accuracy and effort of this portion.
Ahead of time, I suggest putting together heterogeneous groups. I like to start with my stronger students, ensuring they are spread fairly evenly across the groups. Then I’ll weave in other students based on their abilities. Depending on what articles you decide on, some might be more complex or handle more mature content. Go with your gut when assigning which article you feel is most appropriate for each student based on their interests, maturity, and abilities.
Once you have your groups determined, you have a better idea of how many articles to print. If I have the time, I like to handwrite students’ names on their papers so it’s a little more organized when handing out papers for the Holocaust introduction activity (as opposed to handing out blank copies and relying on a master spreadsheet).
I also like to have a ton of highlighters on hand, encouraging my students to take notes on their articles. One of the skills I promote with this Holocaust introduction activity is close reading. A highlighter is a simple but incredibly powerful tool here.
Lastly, I make sure to have a copy of the note sheet for every student. You probably don’t need to worry about writing names on this one as it makes a lot of sense for every student to receive the same handout. This is where they’ll take notes as their classmates share.
Suggested Timing
Before my school transitioned to block scheduling, we had approximately 40 minutes per class period. When that was the case, I assigned articles as homework the night before. To, let’s say, encourage completion, I strongly suggested anyone who did not do the assignment would instead be presented with not one but four articles the next day. That usually did the trick.
Now that I teach in 84-minute blocks, I don’t have to assign anything for homework, which is great. After I preview the Holocaust introduction activity, I give students approximately 20 minutes to read their article and another 5 or 10 to answer the questions.
Then, after a brief intermission to cover expectations, I set a timer. Each person has five minutes to share their article with the group. That amounts to about 25 or 30 minutes (allowing for brief transitions) for the share-out portion.
That then leaves about 10 to 20 minutes to wrap up the Holocaust introduction activity. Depending on the class, we might take a little time to share out what we learned or what most surprised us. I then like to conclude the Holocaust introduction activity with a simple exit slip that asks students to write one fact they learned about each topic.
The Endless Benefits of the Holocaust Introduction Jigsaw Activity
I dreamt up this Holocaust introduction activity in my second year of teaching, and I’ve been using it every year since. This is my tenth year of teaching. This activity is so good it even traveled with me as I transitioned out of middle school and into high school. Of course, I made some age-appropriate changes to the topics and the reading levels, but the overall plan for this Holocaust introduction activity is ironclad. Let me tell you why.
Student Engagement
First off, this Holocaust introduction activity is a goldmine because you can grab students’ attention from the start. As dark of a time as the Holocaust was, it’s a fascinating decade or so for many students to learn about. Usually by their teen years, students have had at least a little exposure to World War Two but oftentimes not enough for them to feel bored by the material.
Another perfect scenario, at least for my curricular timeframe, is that our Holocaust unit falls more than a month into school. It’s definitely after I’ve gotten to know students. So when I sit down to assign articles, I try my best to assign the material based on what I know or think individual students would like.
Student Accountability
Yet another benefit of this Holocaust introduction task is student accountability. Except for a few instances (i.e. severe learning support needs), every student in my class is expected to become the singular expert on their article. No one else has their content. It’s rewarding to watch kids’ body language change when they embrace how much responsibility they have.
When you’re open and honest with your students about their responsibilities, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see them step up to the plate. It’s empowering to know classmates depend on them. And kids are more likely to take the assignment more seriously, in my experience.
Active Listening and Note-taking
The benefits of this Holocaust introduction activity are seemingly endless. And it isn’t just front-loaded. Students get just as much out of the latter stages as they do in the beginning.
Specifically, once they’ve closely read the article and engaged with its content via comprehension questions, they’ll have the chance to practice their active listening and note-taking skills as their classmates share. For this, the note sheet is a great resource. Provide students with a structured space to record what they learn. I don’t usually grade these. If I do, though, it’s based on completion and effort, not necessarily quality or quantity.
Suggested Topics
For this Holocaust introduction activity, the possibilities are endless. I have a few suggestions for how to go about choosing your topics.
First, consider what your students would like to learn about and what they can handle, maturity-wise. If you use this Holocaust introduction activity at the middle level (especially in 6th or 7th grade), you might want to refrain from more gruesome topics like Dr. Mengele and his twin experiments.
Second, think ahead to what your unit will include. Consciously include topics that you know will reappear in your text. When I taught Anne Frank, students had very little background knowledge about the Holocaust, so an article that provided an overview of the Holocaust and World War Two was in the rotation. Similarly, a brief biography of Adolf Hitler was included.
Now that I teach Night, it is vital to cover an overview of the concentration camps since Elie devotes so much of his memoir to them. So now, I include the following topics for my Holocaust introduction: the Jewish Faith; Concentration Camps; Dr. Mengele; and the Nuremberg Trials.
Another reason this Holocaust introduction is so great is you can tailor it at any time, whether you change grades or even if you want to assign different articles based on your classes or students’ needs.
Recommended Accommodations
While it’s fair to say any class is a rich diversification of dozens of students and their individual needs, I find that four particular types of accommodations are most beneficial for this Holocaust introduction activity.
Upper-Level Thinkers
For students who excel in reading and writing, I often assign heavier topics like Dr. Mengele and anti-Semitism. I find their maturity level often warrants this assignment. You can also use AI tools to tailor the article to a higher reading level.
Un-Modified Version
It’s probably worth noting that for this Holocaust introduction activity, I start with the version that is not modified, as most of my students in any given year would fit into this category. Again, using AI tools, I’ll make sure the articles are written on grade level (give or take) as the “general” version of the task.
Learning Support
For my learning support students with reading needs, I use AI to adjust the reading level to something more appropriate and reachable. But something so vital for this Holocaust introduction activity – and any modification, to be honest – is the presentation of it. I do everything I can to ensure the modified version looks just like the un-modified version.
If a learning support student has writing needs, I’ll also accommodate the questions to be more appropriate. Additionally, if I present my students with a suggested list of topics to share with the group, I’ll reduce that number to make it more manageable for my learning support kids.
ELLs
Something I’ve poured my heart into this year is doing a better job of reaching my ELL students. For this activity, I assign an article that very generally covers World War Two, the Holocaust, and the aftermath. Many of my ELLs this year scored between a 1 and 2 overall on their WIDA testing, so a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level is most appropriate for their needs. I use AI to meet those needs.
Then, rather than comprehension questions, I have my ELLs focus on key vocabulary from the article.
Concluding Thoughts
In all, I can’t sing enough praises for this Holocaust introduction activity. It has been a resounding success in my classroom for almost ten years now. And I don’t see myself replacing it anytime soon.
I encourage you to try it out in your classroom. I’d love to know how it goes for you! And if you really want to simplify your life, you can check out my ready-to-go resource that I use in my sophomore English class to introduce Elie Wiesel’s Night.
