Graphic Novels and the Holocaust

Subject Area(s):

• Historical Understanding
• World History
• Visual Arts
• K-12: Language Arts

Grade Level(s):

• 9th Grade

Description:

Learning about history today, especially the holocaust can be uninteresting to many children. So we as teachers and Library Media Specialists should make the process more interesting for them. This can be accomplished through the use of graphic novels..

Goals & Objectives:

Instructional Goals:

1. To analyze usefulness of unusual visual representations when accompanied by narratives.
   
2. To understand the power of suggestion from symbolism.
   
3. To understand how artists use color to convey their message through a graphic novel.
4. To create interest in the subject of the Holocaust.
5. To have each student acquire a critical understanding of the Holocaust as well as gain a universal understanding of prejudice, racism, indifference, propaganda, use and abuse of power, civil rights, and responsibility.

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will be able to highlight the key elements of a graphic novel and then create and construct an innovative cartoon from scratch with the use of other graphic novels.
2. Students will recall and explain important facts and situations from the graphic novels they read.
3. Students will be able to create links with modern time propaganda and civil rights abuse by incorporating them into a cartoon.

Motivational Goals:

1. Build confidence in ability to create a cartoon and orally defend it.
2. Generate interest in moral and ethical issues in today's society and to also provide relevance to the student’s personal experience.

Materials:

See attached lesson plan in Supporting Files

Procedures:

See attached lesson plan in Supporting Files

Assessment:

See attached lesson plan in Supporting Files

Supporting Files:

• Graphic_Novels_and_the_Holocaust.doc
  Complete motivational lesson plan.

Standards:

National Information Literacy Standards (K-12)

Accesses information efficiently and effectively.

• Develops and uses successful strategies for locating information.

Evaluates information critically and competently.

• Determines accuracy, relevance and comprehensiveness.

Uses information accurately and creatively

• Applies information in critical thinking and problem solving.
• Produces and communicates information and ideas in appropriate formats

Appreciates literature and other creative expressions of information.

• Derives meaning from information presented creatively in a variety of formats.
• Develops creative products in a variety of formats.
• Subject: K-12: Language Arts

National Content Standards (K-12)

Writing

• Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Reading

• Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process
• Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts

Listening and Speaking

• Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Viewing

• Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media
• Subject: World History

Era 8 - A Half-Century of Crisis and Achievement, 1900-1945

• Understands the causes and global consequences of World War II
• Subject: Historical Understanding
• Understands the historical perspective
• Subject: Visual Arts
• Understands the visual arts in relation to history and cultures