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LESSON PLAN (Grades 8-10) - GENOCIDE DEFINED
This short activity gives students a chance to contextualize the creation of the term genocide and to see the specific language that defines that term.
OBJECTIVES
By completing this activity, students will be able to:
Define the term “genocide.”
Identify the individual elements of a genocide.
Explain when and why the term “genocide” was coined.
RATIONALE
To be able to learn about genocide, students need to understand what it is.
TIME EXPECTATION
20-40 minutes. Students will need about 15-20 minutes to read the page and answer the questions. You may wish to plan another 10 minutes to either discuss as a whole class or have students discuss in small groups. Consider adding more time to review any unfamiliar words or words that stand out.
LESSON
Click on the following link to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s webpage to discover the background and definition of the word genocide:
Hand out the Genocide Defined Worksheet. Have students find the answers to the following questions:
In the first sentence, what is "genocide"?
How many categories do the acts fall into?
Copy these categories. Make note of unfamiliar words or words that stand out. When finished with the rest of the questions, look those words up in a print or online dictionary.
What are four of the crimes that do not fall under this specific definition?
When was the word “genocide” coined?
What was the name and background of the person who coined the term "genocide"?
What was he trying to describe?
What do the prefix “geno-” and the suffix “-cide” mean?
When was the agreement known as the "Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" approved by the United Nations?
What did this convention do?
What is a continual challenge that nations, institutions, and individuals continue to face?
Review/Discuss answers. Review/Discuss unfamiliar words and/or words that stand out.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS » READING: INFORMATIONAL TEXT » GRADE 8-10
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS » HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES » GRADE 6-8
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS » HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES » GRADE 9-10
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS » LANGUAGE » GRADE 8
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.4.B
Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.4.C
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS » LANGUAGE » GRADE 9-10
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.9-10.4.C
Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, or its etymology.