Title of lesson Music as Resistance Grade Cycle 1, Year 2

level
Subject English Language Arts Topic Resistance in the Holocaust
Relevance This lesson is made relevant by the introduction of a type of resistance most students have probably not
encountered before. This should help them in considering the many ways Jewish people resisted in a time
when physical and political resistance would almost certainly get them killed if they even had the strength to
participate in such actions.
Resources Required Smartboard, devices (laptops/tablets), paper, writing materials, a copy of ‘Night’ for every student
QEP Subject Area C1 – Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn
Competencies - Students will be expected to contribute to a classroom discussion about the song they heard, how it
applies to resistance in the Holocaust, as well as the reading we do in class.
C3 – Reads and listens to written, spoken, and media texts
- Students will be expected to engage in the reading we do and be able to identify important ideas
and moments from that section of the text. We will also be discussing emotion in the text as that is
what their next comprehension activity will revolve around
Learning Objectives Students will understand how music was used as a form of resistance during the Holocaust, specifically in
ghettos. They will also apply those ideas about covert or non-explicit resistance to the reading of the text,
among other ideas we have been discussing throughout the unit. By the end of the lesson they should be able
to identify important moments from our reading.
Essential How did Jewish people resist, if not in the ways that we necessarily would today?
Question(s) What was life in the ghettos like?
How do these ideas apply to Wiesel’s story?
How do authors create emotional responses in their writing?
Learning Plan: ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY1
Lesson Introduction (hook): Students will know:
Timing 1. The students will begin the class with their daily spelling - That Jewish people wrote and
word: “untenable”. (The word will show up in their performed songs in the ghettos.
reading.) - That art was a major form of
10 min a. Search the definition and write a sentence. resistance.
2. We will discuss the definition and how it could be used in a
sentence.

Development (Learning activities – step by step sequential Students will understand:

procedure): - The danger behind traditional
15 min resistance under an oppressive regime.
Journal Prompt:
3. Students will be asked to close their devices as I open - That they have to think creatively to
identify the many ways that Jewish
www.holocaustmusic.ort.org and get the chosen song ready.
people resisted present in the novel.
4. The journal prompt will be described: “Listen to this song
- Some of the ways authors generate
and react to it like you have with others in the past. What
emotions in their work.
emotions do you feel listening to it? What does it make you
think of? Do you like it?”
5. Students will be asked to share their initial reactions and
Students will do:
impressions.
6. I will give them the history behind the song and discuss how - Contribute to filling out their ‘timeline’
its composition was another form of resistance during the activity by identifying important
Holocaust. moments in reading we completed
today.
Reading:
7. Students will be asked to put away their journal prompt and Cross-Curricular Competencies:
take out their novel. - Exercises critical judgement
30 min o Students will be expected to
8. Volunteers will read, ideally to page 57 but if not then as far
as we can before the end of our time. analyze the reading we have
done and identify what seem

1
Based on a simplified version of Understanding by Design (UBD) and the IB Middle Year Program Planner
 a. I will stop and discuss a possible incidence of like important points using
resistance around page 53 as well as periodically to their critical thinking.
clarify events and discuss emotion. - Cooperates with others
b. This slide show (pg. 5-6) will be present on the o As they will be doing the
screen to give them visuals of some of the places timeline in small groups
and things mentioned in the book. before coming back to a class
discussion, students will need
to cooperate and compromise
to choose one or two of the
most important parts of their
assigned section.

Broad Areas of Learning:

- Citizenship and community life
o As the lesson revolves around
ways to stand up for what you
believe in, students will be
learning about their options
and responsibilities in the face
of injustice.

Universal Design for

Learning/Differentiation:
While this class has no official codes, there are
some mostly French students and others with
reading difficulties. That is why the unit has
been designed around class reading. This way
those students who struggle can hear as well as
see the words from the text and are thus
scaffolded. Comprehension difficulty is also
why I added the ‘timeline’ to the unit. This gets
students thinking about what is important in the
book, but also allows struggling students to
have any gaps in understanding filled in.
Additionally, I have provided them with a link
to a website with summaries of each chapter to
read on top of our class readings and
discussions if they are still struggling to
understand the novel.
As for the different types of learners, this lesson
incorporates music to help auditory learners on
top of the out-loud reading of the novel, images
to maintain the attention of visual learners and
help them to picture what is being read (the
timeline is also a visual tool to aid
comprehension), short group work to scaffold
interpersonal learners, and individual work for
those more intrapersonal learners. Not only
should all students feel like their learning has
been somewhat accommodated, they are also
pushed to practice other types of learning and
hopefully get more comfortable with them.

Closure (transition): FORMATIVE – Assessment FOR learning:

9. I will pull up our ‘Night Timeline’ on the board, and student My feedback and our discussions throughout the
will be split into groups. reading should serve as assessment for learning
10. Each group will be assigned a page or two from the day’s as it helps to guide students in their analysis of
reading and will be asked to pick out what they felt was the book, and to allow them to work on
 most important from that section. expressing their ideas and viewpoints. If we go
11. We will reconvene as a class; each group will share what off track, I will direct us back towards more
they felt was important and we will pick out ~4 of the most relevant points. Naturally this depends on
crucial ones as a class. student engagement in the class.
10 min a. This is how I’ve started checking for and enhancing
comprehension. FORMATIVE – Assessment AS learning:
The timeline serves as a form of assessment as
learning as the students are expected to take an
active role in their comprehension of the novel.
It pushes them to make sure that they
65 understand what’s happening as they are
minutes accountable for picking out what is significant.
total
SUMMATIVE – Assessment OF learning:
There is no summative assessment in this class.
The work we are doing is in preparation for a
comprehension activity, a reading response, and
a final project.

Further considerations (follow up activities)

Students will have a group comprehension activity in a few classes to test their understanding and push them to think about and
discuss Wiesel’s writing. That comprehension will also be tested with a short response essay once we finish the novel. Finally, their
understanding of resistance in the Holocaust will be assessed with a project at the end of the unit.

Reflection:
- Class 1, Nov 3: Though I had to push the reading so that students could finish their comprehension
activity from last class, I still think this lesson went well. Students’ journals showed that they were thinking
about the song I presented and making connections. I rushed through the discussion a bit so that they would
have more time to work but I think they understood the basic idea of what I was saying. We will go over music
as resistance briefly before reading next class.
- Class 2, Nov 9: This class went fairly well. This group always has high energy, but we were able to have
a good discussion about music in the holocaust. That did cut into our reading a little, but they presented
interesting ideas about music, its purpose, and its role in the Holocaust. I was very happy with how things
turned out.

Professional Competencies:
PC1 – I’m hoping to get students connecting the ideas presented in this class to their own ideas and beliefs. I’ve
been trying to develop this competency over time, and I think I am getting better at asking good questions that
lead to interesting points brought up by students. Hopefully I can develop this further in this lesson. Obviously,
this would have to build off a strong presentation of the content to give students a good understanding of the
material.