Holocaust Instruction in Port Washington Schools

The New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework requires instruction in the Holocaust at specific grade levels. While instruction of human rights and the Holocaust is discussed and taught throughout K-12, it is more explicitly taught in the 8th, 10th, and 11th grades when students learn about the horrors of the Holocaust, the Nuremberg Trials, and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Holocaust Education resources can be found below and on the NYSED Social Studies webpage.

Weber Middle School

6th Grade CORE
As part of the sixth-grade curriculum, students learn about world culture and religions, with a focus on both the similarities and differences that make each unique with the emphasis on tolerance and acceptance of all.
As a culmination of the unit on culture there is a celebration with a multicultural feast where students present research on their own culture and bring a dish that is significant to their culture.

Topics also include: civil rights, etc. through No Place for Hate lessons as well as discussions around MLK Day.

6th Grade CORE EXTENSION
In Core Extension, students read a book titled, Linked, to emphasize tolerance and the Holocaust.

7th Grade CORE

Religious freedom and multiculturalism are included during the third (13 Colonies), fifth (U.S. Constitution), and sixth (U.S. Government) units. Special emphasis is placed on one of the main principles that our nation was built on was freedom of religion.

7th Grade CORE EXTENSION

Students conduct a lesson for International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Core Extension. Students watch a BrainPop, take part in a class discussion, and analyze two primary sources related to the liberation of the concentration camps.

-Students watch and discuss the documentary Paper Clips.

8th Grade CORE

Tolerance and Holocaust education are included as part of the regular curriculum and human rights is an Enduring Issue in the course. In addition, all 8th grade students attend a field trip to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center. Lastly, students also attend a presentation by a Holocaust survivor.

The fight for civil rights for African Americans, women, Native Americans and Latino Americans are also addressed throughout the year and exclusively in a Civil Rights Unit.

Activities related to the Holocaust include but are not limited to:

-Holocaust essays/research papers
-Paint and hang butterflies around the school with signs explaining what the butterflies represent.
-Read Holocaust poetry

8th Grade CORE EXTENSION

Activities related to teaching tolerance in CORE EXTENSION include but are not limited to:

-Watch the documentary Hitler and Stalin: Roots of Evil and complete a graphic organizer activity.
-Read novel Ground Zero which focuses on perspective and cultural differences
-Read materials provided by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and answer study guide questions.
-Watch film and read informational text about the Tuskegee Airmen
-Speak to Alejandro Chavez (Cesar's grandson)
-Write to a woman who was a migrant worker turned Stanford student
-Write to Navajo students on the Navajo reservation

Schreiber High School

9th Grade

Social Studies

Global History 1 the curriculum includes multiple Human Rights abuses and issues that arise from intolerance. It is one of the key Enduring Issues throughout the course. Antisemitism is also addressed as it is related to periods of the Roman Empire and the European Middle Ages.

English
All 9th grade students read Night and watch Life is Beautiful. Students also can independently read Sarah's Key.

10th Grade

Social Studies

Global History 2/AP European History/AP World History extensively focus on the Holocaust as a topic that is integral to the overall narrative. Human Rights is an Enduring Issue in the course. This includes a 2-day Holocaust lesson developed by the Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center.

11th Grade
Social Studies

US History the Holocaust is addressed through the discussion of the impacts of World War 2.

12th Grade
Social Studies

Participation in Government the curriculum includes units on the Civil Rights, Equality movements and 1st Amendment speech issues (hate speech specifically) are addressed.

English
Facing History and Ourselves students read the graphic novel Maus.