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)
Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War
These lesson plans use the Ken Burns’ documentary "Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War" to explore what motivated Waitstill and Martha Sharp to help refugees.
![Picture of Martha and Waitstill Sharp](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Defying_the_Nazis_banner_new_for_Web_or_Office_Use.jpg?h=96b73c84&itok=SAlIA7T0)
Developing Student Agency through History and Literature: Middle School Curriculum
Lead middle school students in an 18-week study of identity, membership and belonging, and civic participation through analysis of historical case studies and literature.
![High school students writing in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-08/_O5A1295_0.jpg?h=b69e0e0e&itok=FK45gLAF)
Ukraine: Discussing the War and Refugee Crisis with Students
Use this lesson to help students process how they are feeling about the devastating war in Ukraine, develop media literacy in what news they consume and how, and explore the mounting refugee crisis.
![Ukrainian Refugees crossing a fallen bridge.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/2022_RussiaUkraineConflict_FH2168262.jpg?h=7fb2964e&itok=suTcwNTN)
Creating Student Projects
Help students develop a larger understanding and appreciation of the Jewish resistance movement during the Holocaust.
![Black and white photograph of six Jewish partisans standing in a forest clearing](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-12/4f728076-da8b-4921-a9c2-26834c0b5d06jpgpagespeedcejNOI-oC_Xq.jpg?h=fff89ad5&itok=PdRWicBS)
Sonia Orbuch: Becoming a Partisan
Explore the choices of Jewish partisan Sonia Orban, and gain a deeper understanding of the complexities that young people faced during the German occupation of Poland.
![Sonia Orbuch, a Jewish partisan in Poland during the Holocaust, and her husband on their wedding day in 1945.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_2016_PartisanSoniaOrbuchafterWorldWarII_FH227675.jpg?h=01b11b5d&itok=fXjQZD3M)
Vitka Kempner: Identity and Resistance
Explore the choices of Vitka Kempner, a Jewish partisan who chose to resist the Nazis.
![Picture of Vitka Kempner](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-12/Vitka_Kempner.jpeg?h=8276ab78&itok=5w9R8E7w)
Frank Blaichman: Ethics in a Time of Genocide
In this lesson, students explore moral and ethical frameworks in relation to teach actions of Frank Blaichman.
![A young, white, mustachioed man wearing a uniform and a hat tilted to the side](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Jewish_Partisan_Frank_Blaichman_FH227676.jpg?h=ad641f7c&itok=o047HoPK)
Understanding Resistance
Understand the many forms that Jewish resistance to fascism, antisemitism, and Nazism took.
![Russian partisans, one of them photographer Faye Schulman, gathering together in the forest, Naliboki Forest, Belarus, December 1944. The Molotava Brigade was a partisan group made up mostly of escaped Soviet Army POWs. The woman pictured is Faye Schulman, a Jewish woman who fled into the Naliboki forest with her camera equipment and joined the Molotova Brigade. For two years in the forest she photographed the partisan's activities, worked as medical aid and participated in the partisans raid's.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/Faye_Schulman_with_Russias_partisans_%2836645181980%29.jpg?h=da8abf78&itok=iIIsrJbR)
Pre-Viewing: “Take This Giant Leap”: Preparing to Teach Schindler’s List
Students prepare for their study of Schindler's List by creating a contract establishing a thoughtful, respectful, and caring classroom community.
![Picture of woman taking a leap.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-12/2216_BW_K5856_05A.jpg?h=d5d02efb&itok=6b8h_xaO)
Pre-Viewing: Establishing the Historical Context for Schindler’s List
Students are introduced to the history of ideas, events, and decisions that shaped the world of Schindler’s List.
![Nazi officers stand guard and march at Wawel Castle in Krakow, Poland.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/1939_OfficersinKrakow_FH291610.jpg?h=e5734912&itok=SddlSAia)