Genocide in the 20th and 21st Centuries

Objectives of this WebQuest:

At the end of this Web Quest, students will be able to:

1. Define genocide and the punishment for this crime as defined by the United Nations and the eight stages of genocide.

2. Identify incidents of genocide within the last one hundred years.

3. Recommend action for government officials, international organizations, or individuals.

4. Communicate findings and opinions about genocide with classmates or the online community.

About this WebQuest:

Each student or team of students who participates in this Web should have the opportunity to develop his/her/their own question related to genocide. These questions will help students focus their inquiry. Students' questions may change over the course of the inquiry. Students will use the Internet resources provided on the Genocide WebQuest Resources page as well as the resources students locate independently. Classroom-library collaboration is highly recommended.

Are their experts in your community who could further students' study? Holocaust survivors, political and social scientists, and international law attorneys would be powerful additions to print and electronic resources.

As students begin the WebQuest, review notemaking and bibliographic recordkeeping. This is an excellent opportunity for classroom teachers and school librarians to coteach. Giving students a framework for their inquiry is important. Your school, district, or school librarian may have a model students are required to follow. The book Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Your School (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, and Caspari 2012) explains one such process.

Students will also need instruction in conducting database and Web searches, evaluating Web sites, understanding and using multimedia ethically and may also need support in learning Web 2.0 tools for their presentations. Two or more educators will be able to provide team conferences more easily as students conduct their inquiries and prepare their presentations.

Teams of students will negotiate and select the audience for their findings and think about their presentation format before, during, and after their research process. At the conclusion of their inquiry, students may present their work in a number of formats, but they should select a format suitable to the audience. Educators will support students in selecting appropriate audiences for their work and presentation formats.

It is recommended that students review and use the Genocide WebQuest Presentation Rubric provided or that you and your students develop a rubric for evaluating this learning experience before students begin to conduct their study. Halfway through the process, revisit the rubric and revise it as necessary. Students can be asked to self-reflect on their process as well as their final product.

Additional Educator Resources:

Films:
Sometimes in April
This is one of several excerpts from the film.

Hotel Rwanda
This trailer provides an introduction to the film.

Steven Spielberg Film Archive at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
This site offers a catalog and many films are available online.

Educator Workshops and Materials:

Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum on the Holocaust
These excellent materials were developed by the Anti-Defamation League, USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martrys' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority.

Online Workshop Teaching about the Holocaust
This worthwhile workshop is sponsored by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D. C.

Southern Povery Law Center
Teaching Tolerance offers free materials to educators, including "One Survivor Remembers," which tells Gerda Weissmann Klein's story of surviving six years in Nazi labor camps.

About Web Quests:
The WebQuest found on this site is intended as an inquiry-oriented Web-facilitated learning experience for high school or college students. After participating in the Genocide in the 20th and 21st Centuries WebQuest, students can demonstrate their learning in one of the suggested products/presentations or in any way you feel appropriate. 
 
A WebQuest addresses the AASL Standards for the 21st-Centurey Learner, a document of the American Association of School Librarians. WebQuests are an electronic learning experience that can also thoroughly address technology standards for students as outlined by the NET*S (International Society for Technology in Education - ISTE) and well as your state standards in the areas of social studies, research, technology, and language arts (in this case the Texas TEKS).

Word Cloud. Wordle.net. Web. 13 May 2016. http://www.wordle.net/

Standards

AASL Standard Indicators (selected)

Standard 1.3.3: Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information.

Standard 2.2.1 : Continue an inquiry-based research process by applying critical-thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge.

Standard 2.1.5: Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems.

ISTE NETS*S 2016!
#6 Creative Communicator
Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

Texas High School Standards (TEKS) addressed in this WebQuest:

World History
(17) Citizenship. The student understands the significance of political choices and decisions made by individuals, groups, and nations throughout history. The student is expected to:
(A) evaluate political choices and decisions that individuals, groups, and nations have made in the past, taking into account historical context, and apply this knowledge to the analysis of choices and decisions faced by contemporary societies; and
(B) describe the different roles of citizens and noncitizens in historical cultures, especially as the roles pertain to civic participation.

(18) Citizenship. The student understands the historical development of significant legal and political concepts, including ideas about rights, republicanism, constitutionalism, and democracy. The student is expected to:
(C) identify examples of political, economic, and social oppression and violations of human rights throughout history, including slavery, the Holocaust, other examples of genocide, and politically-motivated mass murders in Cambodia, China, and the Soviet Union;
(D) assess the degree to which human rights and democratic ideals and practices have been advanced throughout the world during the 20th century.

English Language Arts and Reading
(20) Research/Research Plan. Students ask open-ended research questions and develop a plan for answering them. Students are expected to:
(A) brainstorm, consult with others, decide upon a topic, and formulate a major research question to address the major research topic; and

(21) Research/Gathering Sources. Students determine, locate, and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the information they gather. Students are expected to:
(A) follow the research plan to compile data from authoritative sources in a manner that identifies the major issues and debates within the field of inquiry;
(B) organize information gathered from multiple sources to create a variety of graphics and forms (e.g., notes, learning logs); and
(C) paraphrase, summarize, quote, and accurately cite all researched information according to a standard format (e.g., author, title, page number).

(23) Research/Organizing and Presenting Ideas. Students organize and present their ideas and information according to the purpose of the research and their audience. Students are expected to synthesize the research into a written or an oral presentation that:
(A) marshals evidence in support of a clear thesis statement and related claims;
(B) provides an analysis for the audience that reflects a logical progression of ideas and a clearly stated point of view;
(C) uses graphics and illustrations to help explain concepts where appropriate;
(D) uses a variety of evaluative tools (e.g., self-made rubrics, peer reviews, teacher and expert evaluations) to examine the quality of the research; and
(E) uses a style manual (e.g., Modern Language Association, Chicago Manual of Style) to document sources and format written materials.

Technology Applications
Desktop Publishing
(4) Information acquisition. The student uses a variety of strategies to acquire information from electronic resources, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:
(A) use strategies to obtain print and digital information from a variety of electronic resources including, but not limited to, reference software, databases, and libraries of images, citing the source; and

Computer Science
(11) Communication. The student delivers the product electronically in a variety of media, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:
(A) publish information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, printed copy and monitor displays; and
(B) publish information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, software, Internet documents, and video.