April is Genocide Awareness Month in the US and Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month in Canada. We recommend the following film and teaching guide pairings to support you in teaching genocide education this month and all year round.
Big Sonia is about Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski, who was a Jewish teenager living in Poland when the German army invaded in the 1930s. She’s a woman who speaks to students and prison inmates about her story of unimaginable suffering — and she’s also a beacon of hope and resilience For grades 7-12.
Defiant Requiem: The Film is about a unique chapter in Holocaust history when prisoners used music and the arts to sustain their spirits and resist oppression at Terezín concentration camp. This film can be difficult to find but it makes a powerful teaching tool when it is available. For grades 9-12.
Schindler’s List includes our newly updated lesson about anti-semitism in the contemporary world. The Antisemitism Today lesson works as a standalone teaching resource and can also pair with other Holocaust and Genocide Education resources. You can download on its own from our Schindler’s List page and also from Share My Lesson. For grades 9-12, Higher Education and Adult Education.
Our guide for The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Project features an engaging lesson on cultural preservation that is relevant to Holocaust and Genocide discussions. For grades 7-12.
We also offer Facilitation Guidelines to create safe discussion spaces and lead productive explorations of difficult topics. These guidelines pair well with our film guides for classroom use. The guidelines work well in a wide range of settings and are free for everyone.
In addition, we recommend our webinar about Anti-Bias Education: Using Media to Foster Critical Thinking and Combat Antisemitism and Islamophobia. The session provides an overview of anti-bias teaching tools and as well as strategies for dealing with difficult classroom situations around these topics. This webinar is available free and on-demand through Share My Lesson. Participants can quality for one hour of PD-credit. Learn more about our Anti-Bias Education Webinar.
