Activities for the First Days of School
These first-week-of-school activities create welcoming learning environments that prioritize care, relationships, and community.
![Students sit around a table working on a big paper activity while receiving feedback from an educator.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/ClassroomImage_StudentDiscussion_FH287359.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=jnyJGnz9)
Back to School: Building Community for Connection and Learning
These back-to-school activities and teacher resources will help you lay a foundation for a reflective and caring community at the start of the school year.
![Students move around the classroom in conversation with each other. One student looks directly into the camera with a smile on their face.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/LA_ClassroomImage_2018_FH287148.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=lbbZPe6H)
Holocaust and Human Behavior
Explore the digital version of our core resource on the Holocaust. Find classroom-ready readings, primary sources, and short documentary films that support a study of the Holocaust through the lens of human behavior.
![Colored painting of trees.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/HHB_HeroBanner_fullcolor.jpg?h=24d1b2c2&itok=sUokn0YL)
Community Matters: A Facing History & Ourselves Approach to Advisory
Our advisory curriculum for grades 8–10 contains a year’s worth of activities, handouts, and best practices for establishing inclusive communities where students can engage in honest discussions and build their voices.
![Students sit in a circle in a library and smile and laugh](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/NewEngland_Classroom_2017_FH256478.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=cHsO4g-T)
Teaching with Testimony
Engage students in personal accounts from survivors with this collection of video testimony, survivor profiles, and a lesson plan.
![Holocaust Survivor Barbara Fischman shares her testimony.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/BarbaraFischmanTraubHolocaustSurvivor.jpeg?h=dec22bcf&itok=WEfh6Znr)
Survivors and Witnesses: Video Testimony
This collection features powerful accounts of the Holocaust, told by survivors, rescuers, and witnesses, selected from USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive.
![Nate Leipciger shares testimony with students.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-08/Nate_Leipciger_Survivor_Testimony_Hero_Banner.jpeg?h=287014c6&itok=PeKyv8aE)
Totally Unofficial: Raphael Lemkin and the Genocide Convention
This unit explores the legacy of Raphael Lemkin, who coined the word "genocide" and drafted the Genocide Convention. A study of Lemkin's work helps students understand traditional world history themes such as sovereignty, diplomacy, and law; as well as deepen students’ understanding of political responses to mass violence.
![1950 --- International lawyer Raphael Lemkin helped draft the Genocide Convention, which maps out prevention and punishment for the crime of genocide](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/U1133580INP_Medium_res.jpg?h=478e0a8d&itok=MAYHZy-W)
Current Events in the Classroom
Explore classroom resources for making connections between current events and your curriculum, including activities and discussion strategies for high school and middle school students.
![A student speaks while another listens attentively.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/2019_classroomimage_nametagsremoved_FH2109026.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=xuOv2CjU)
The Nanjing Atrocities
Explore this collection of lesson plans and student materials that place the Nanjing Atrocities within the larger context of World War II in East Asia.
![Two brothers stand outside of the remains of their house and shop in the southern section of Nanjing, which was badly damaged during the fighting.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1937_TwoBrothersandtheremainsoftheirhouse_FH131054.png?h=b20279bd&itok=XB4BZ_f0)
Introducing Antisemitism and Antisemitic Tropes
Students explore the roots of antisemitism, reflect on its human cost and impact on those who experience it, and start thinking about the process of standing up against antisemitism.
![Picture of students in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/sedgehillY13-021115-nk-HR-32.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=B7u0IQPV)
Haitian Migrants at the US–Mexico Border
This mini-lesson uses images and firsthand accounts of Haitian migrants to humanize the events happening at the US–Mexico border and give shape and nuance to the news.
![A group of adult and children migrants from Haiti stand in line to regularize their migratory situation.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-06/HaitianMigrantsinTijuana_FH2178689.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=84nyyZXu)