What It Means To Be a Jew Continued....

Jewish Tradition

What role does tradition play in a person's identity? How important is it to the person they are or become? Do you have any family traditions that are important to you?

The basic definition of tradition is: the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc. from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice.

Today, your task is to research some of the traditions of the Jewish people. We want to discover the importance of tradition to one's personal identity. Here are your requirements:


1. In your group, choose one of the following terms to research. Make sure everyone in the group
    has a different term:
             a. Kabbalah/Jewish Mysticism
             b. Rabbi
             c. Zohar
             d. the Passover

2. Each person in your group will write a half page summary on a sheet of paper for the term they
    have. When your group is finished, share what you found.

3. Discuss the following question afterwards and write the answer your group comes up with on your
    sheet of paper: How would these traditions affect a Jewish person's personal identity?

Grading Rubric

I will handout a more detailed grading rubric soon, but for now here is how you will be graded on your assignment:


30%     1 Page Historical Report
             * One page length requirement
                    * MLA format
                    * Two authentic sources and parenthetical citation
                    * Focused on topic
                  
10%     Opening Activity
             * Clear connection to your lesson
                    * Focuses the class' attention and thinking to your topic at hand
                    * Involved and well planned - more than just showing a clip, etc.

30%     Keynote Presentation
             * Contains the information of your group's reports 
                    * Slide design keeps in mind PICTURES vs WORDS
                    * Presentation is prepared, smooth, and well planned
                    * Eye contact with audience, asking questions, etc. 

10%     Summarizing Activity  
             * Summarizes the main points of your lesson
                    * Involves the class in thinking, writing, speaking, etc.
 

20%     Group Accountability 
                   * Your other group members will decide 20 points of your final grade. Any disputes will 
                      be discussed and handled.

Exploring Personal Identities in a Time of Devastation and War

Your first group project will be to research the different personal identities during the Holocaust. The next book we read in class will be Night by Elie Wiesel - a memoir about a young Jewish teenager's experience during the Holocaust. Your group will explore the history of the Holocaust behind our novel:

1. STEP ONE: Written Report
A. Each member of the group needs to write a 1.5 page report
B. Each member will choose one of the sub-topics underneath the major topic given to each group
C. Report needs to be MLA format (Times New Roman, Font 12, Double Spaced)
D. Report needs two authentic sources AND have parenthetical citation throughout

2. STEP TWO: Class Presentation/Lesson
A. There are three parts of your class lesson your group needs to create based on the information in
     your reports:

     * Part One: Activator - You need to come up with an opening activity to do with the class that
                                           prepares them for your lesson. This can involve writing, discussion,
                                           brainstorming, etc. Perhaps there are pictures/clips you want to use to
                                           stimulate the class' thinking. However, it needs to be more than just
                                           showing a video clip.

     * Part Two: Main Lesson - Your main lesson should be a Keynote presentation of your group's
                                                 reports. Work on becoming familiar with your information so you are
                                                 not reading off of your paper the entire time. Keep in mind slide
                                                 design (PICTURES vs WORDS). Practice speaking loudly, clearly,
                                                 and to the audience, maintaining eye contact throughout. Ask
                                                 questions to involve the class throughout.

    * Part Three: Summarizing Activity - After your main lesson, your group should have a follow up
                                                                 with the class that summarizes the important points of your
                                                                 Keynote presentation. This can be involve a handout that the
                                                                 class has to fill out during your main lesson that you
                                                                 follow-up on afterwards, etc.

 1. Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust
 A. Resistance in the Ghettos
      1. Who were these people? What was their plan of resistance? How did they resist? Were they
      successful or unsuccessful? Did they make a difference? Why do you think Elie Wiesel and his
      people did not resist in the same way?

B. Resistance in Nazi Camps
     1. How did these people try to resist in the Nazi camps? Were they successful or unsuccessful?
     What did they try to do? Did they make a difference? Why do you think Elie Wiesel and the other
     prisoners did not resist in the same way?

C. Spiritual Resistance in Nazi Camps
     1. How did these Jews try to overcome the evil of the camps? What was their way of resistance?
     How did they try to survive oppression? Did they make a difference?  Did Elie Wiesel resist the
     same way? Did the others around him?

D. Resistance in Nazi Germany
     1. How did Jews in Nazi Germany try to resist the Nazi oppression? Were they successful or
     unsuccessful? What were some of their tactics? Did they make a difference? Why do you think
     Elie Wiesel and his village did not try similar tactics?

2. Holocaust Survivors
Your group's job is for each member to research three Holocaust survivors. You want to find out about their lives before and after the Holocaust. The three survivors each group members research should be different types of people. (For example, a doctor, a teenage boy, and a mother.) Here are some questions each member need to answer in their reports:

1. Who was this survivor? What was their occupation before the Holocaust? How did they survive the Holocaust? What was their life like after the Holocaust? Is there anyone in our novel that reminds you of this particular survivor? Why? What are some similarities and differences?

3. Life in Concentration Camps
A. Types of Nazi Camps in the Holocaust
     1. What were the different types of camps that the Nazis had during the Holocaust for the Jews?
     What was unique about each one? The purpose for each one? In our novel, what is the type of
     camp that Elie and his family are sent to? What are similarities/differences?

B. Life in the Nazi Camps
    1. What was life like for the Jews in the camps? What did they have to do? How were men and
    women and children treated? The same or differently? What was life like in the different types of
    camps? How does Elie Wiesel's life in the camp compare to what you researched?
    Similarities/differences?

C. Rescue from the Camps
     1. When were Jews finally rescued from the Nazi camps? How were they rescued? What did the
     soldiers find at the camps? What was the condition of the survivors in the camps? What did the
     Nazis do in the camps when they realized they were going to lose the war?

4. Hiding Jews
Your group's job is for each member to research two famous/well-known people who hid Jews during the Holocaust. There are plenty to choose from; if you are having trouble, ask me for help. Here are some questions each member need to answer in their reports:

1. Who was this person who hid Jews? What was their occupation/job/status? Why did they decide to risk their lives and career to hide Jews? How did they hide Jews? Did they get caught? How many people did they save from the Nazis?

5. Hitler / Nazi Ideology / Peoples Targeted 
A. Other Groups of People Targeted by Hitler
     1. What other people groups were targeted by the Nazis? (It wasn't only the Jews) What happened
     to them? How were they treated? Why were they targeted by the Nazis? Were they immediately
     killed by the Nazis? etc.

B. Nazi Ideology / Aryan Race
    1. What did Hitler and the Nazis believe in? What was their mission and goal? What was their
    belief about the "Aryan Race"? What did their beliefs result in?

C. Hitler
    1. Who was Hitler? What type of person was he? How did he create the Nazi belief system? Why
    did he hate other races? Why did the German people follow him so quickly? What made them love
    and worship him? How did he die?

Potential Paper Topics

Theme
Clash of Culture
Cultural Identity
Personal Identity
Colonialism 

Characters
Okonkwo
Nwoye

Analyze, Summarize, Moralize

"Search for My Tongue" by Sujata Bhatt

You ask me what I mean
by saying I have lost my tongue.
I ask you, what would you do
if you had two tongues in your mouth,
and lost the first one, the mother tongue,
and could not really know the other,
the foreign tongue.
You could not use them both together
even if you thought that way.
And if you lived in a place you had to
speak a foreign tongue,
your mother tongue would rot,
rot and die in your mouth
until you had to spit it out.
I thought I spit it out
but overnight I dream,
it grows back, a stump of a shoot
grows longer, grows moist, grows strong veins,
it ties the other tongue in knots,
the bud opens, the bud opens in my mouth,
it pushes the other tongue aside.
Every time I think I've forgotten,
I think I've lost the mother tongue,
it blossoms in my mouth.

Identity Crisis

Children of a Stolen Generation

The change - and death - of culture brought by the white missionaries and government drove Okonkwo to take his own life. Sadly, just as many other aspects of this novel are reflected in our lives today, so does the tragic end to Okonkwos' life. Today, we want to explore a similar tragedy occurring in today's world with the Native Americans:

Native American Youth Suicide Crisis (READ BOTH PAGES OF ARTICLE)

Life or Death: Teen Suicide on American Indian Reservations