Lessons
These lessons and units are designed to provide classroom activities based on our resources. They show the application of our Scope and Sequence within a classroom setting and provide examples of how Facing History has been implemented in courses of 6 weeks or more.
Lessons marked private indicate that you must be part of the Facing History network to view the resource. Learn more about how to become a part of the network.
Lessons marked private indicate that you must be part of the Facing History network to view the resource. Learn more about how to become a part of the network.
Lesson | Time and Place | Public or Private |
|---|---|---|
A World Made New: Human Rights After the HolocaustThis lesson encourages students to explore the historical basis for the modern human rights movement born in the aftermath of the Holocaust and deepens understanding of the Charter for the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). | Private | |
American Idealist Lesson 1: What Is an Idealist?This lesson is part of the American Idealist Unit Why should students study the life of Sargent Shriver? While there are many ways to answer this question, one answer that inspired the production of this film was the belief that Shriver's life offers important lessons about the power of idealism to solve social problems such as poverty, to promote peace, and to nurture civic participation. | ||
American Idealist Lesson 2: Sargent Shriver and Public ServiceThis lesson is part of the American Idealist Unit In a speech to university students in 1965, Sargent Shriver remarked, "Built into each individual's experience must be an occasion for giving, a task of humanity, an act of sharing and sacrifice. | ||
American Idealist Lesson 3: Participation through Public PolicyThis lesson is part of the American Idealist Unit There are many ways individuals and groups choose to influence their communities. One way is through working with government to shape and manage public policy. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Eight: Denial and Free SpeechDuring the ninety-one years since the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, officials from the Ottoman government, and later from the Republic of Turkey have refused to acknowledge the mass murder and deportation of Armenians and others constituted genocide. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Five: American Responses to the Armenian GenocideAs American newspapers turned attention to the unfolding horrors within the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the 20th century, leaders in the United States and other countries struggled to find an appropriate response to what was recognized as a massive violation provides an opportunity to recognize the ways people can work today to prevent neighbor from turning against neighbor. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Four: The Range of ChoicesThis lesson looks at the choices made by individuals, groups, and governments during the Armenian Genocide. It addresses the following essential questions: What did individuals and groups do when they learned of the atrocities being committed against Armenians? What choices did they make? What dilemmas do people face as they grapple with how to act in the face of mass violence? | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson One: Identity and BelongingLesson one introduces students to the Armenian Genocide by having them think about the role of history in shaping their own identity. Looking at an autobiographical painting by Arshile Gorky, a renowned American artists and a refugee from the Armenian Genocide, will stimulate students' questions about how his identity was shaped by the past. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Seven: Nation BuildingThis lesson examines the role of the United States in nation building, and specifically the US role in facilitating the establishment of an independent Armenia. After World War I, the "League of Nations" used mandates to rebuild conquered nations (see Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations). | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Six: What is Justice After Genocide?This lesson introduces students to the challenges of seeking justice in the aftermath of genocide. Unlike the Holocaust, most of the primary perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide were not held accountable for their actions. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Three: Analyzing Historical EvidenceThis lesson examines the ways in which historical evidence has been used to construct a narrative of the Armenian Genocide. In 1915, there was no word to accurately describe what the Turks were doing to the Armenians. | ||
Armenian Genocide Lesson Two: We and They, the Armenians in the Ottoman EmpireThis lesson explores the challenges facing Armenians during the second half of the 19th century as they advocated for equal rights within the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the 19th century, Armenians and other minorities struggled to obtain equal rights. | ||
Becoming American: Between Two WorldsThis lesson considers the impact of group membership on identity and explores what it means to be seen solely as a representative of a group rather than as an individual. Students will use a model to create identity poems that examine the tensions between identity and group membership. | ||
Becoming American: Exploring Names and IdentitiesThis lesson is an icebreaker and an introduction to the Becoming American Online Museum for students involved in the project. The lesson also provides a bridge between issues of identity and the Exhibit Hall, "We The People: What Is An American?" Responses to the writing assignments for this lesson may be posted in a designated space on the Facing History and Ourselves "Online Museum" (along with a class photo) and a class identity chart. | ||
Becoming American: Immigration ExperiencesThis lesson considers the process of becoming "American" and looks at what makes someone an American. Is it customs? Language? Traditions? Citizenship? The lesson focuses on the experiences of Chinese and Jewish immigrants in America during the late 1800s. | ||
Building a "Toolbox for Difference"This project helps students connect their studies of race and gender with their sense of civic obligation and their desire to help prevent the reoccurrence of violence and intolerance. In her directions to her students, Adrianne Billingham, an educator at Lexington High School (MA) who developed this concluding activity, writes, ". | Private | |
Can Journalism Kill? The Case of Rwandan Hate RadioThis outline explores the connections between media, propaganda, and mass violence. During the Rwandan genocide, hate radio and music was used to incite violence and atrocities on a massive scale. Recent attempts at seeking justice in the aftermath of these tragedies have resulted in the first prosecutions since Nuremberg of propagandists. | Private | |
Charting Identity: Building Community in the ClassroomThis outline provides an introduction into the creation and interpretation of identity charts, a core activity in many Facing History classrooms. | Private | |
Darfur Now Lesson Four: The Messages of Darfur NowIn the forward to Not on Our Watch, Nobel Prize winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel writes: I am a Jew who remembers when my people in German-occupied Europe were condemned to isolation, hunger, humiliation, unspeakable terror, and death. | ||
Darfur Now Lesson One: Introduction to Darfur NowThis lesson introduces students to concepts and information that will help them better understand the film Darfur Now. The warm-up activity reminds students of the universal capacity we have to act, and to act in extraordinary ways, with the appropriate inspiration and determination. |
