Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Teaching Unit

Laura Friedman Patton
Indian Woods Middle School
Overland Park, Kansas

Grade Level
7th-8th grade

Subject
Language Arts/Reading
Designed for remedial readers

Time Needed
Recommend 36 class periods for remedial readers
Quicker completion for faster readers

Introduction
My name is Laura Patton. I am a secondary-certified language arts teacher and reading specialist. I’ve taught 7th and 8th graders in the Shawnee Mission School District for the past 20 years. I taught this unit as I was writing it during the 2004-2005 school year. It was impossible for me to write in formal, 3rd person language. Therefore, I have written the materials in my natural voice – informal and 1st person. I would not begin to think that this unit is the best way to teach either a Holocaust memoir or reading skills. It’s just one way I tried to help my students become better readers during one particular school year. For me, teaching has always been an act of continuous improvement. I am always looking for new and better ways to help my students learn. I intended this unit to be used primarily by language arts teachers who had never taught the Holocaust before. I wanted it to be a way for teachers to dive in to this challenging subject matter and feel some degree of comfort. I encourage any teacher who uses these materials to adapt them as they see fit.

Entire Unit as single document
Introduction
Entire Lesson Overview
Entire Educational Standards
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Main Ideas Map with directions
Main Ideas Map with blanks
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Lesson 9
Lesson 10
Lesson 11
Lesson 12
Lesson 13
Lesson 14
Lesson 15
Lesson 16

Lesson 17
Lesson 18
Lesson 19
Lesson 20
Lesson 21
Lesson 22
Lesson 23
Lesson 24
Lesson 25
Lesson 26

This teaching unit was designed by a member of the Isak Federman Holocaust Teaching Cadre through MCHE’s Masters and Mentors Program.
The Masters and Mentors Program is funded by the H&R Block Foundation, Bertha S. and Ida E. Adelson Memorial Fund, the Legacy Fund, and the Flo Harris Supporting Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the Jewish Heritage Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and the Oppenstein Brothers Foundation.

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