Night Genocide Project

1. First, you will research one of these examples of genocide: Darfur, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Syria. You will submit
your top two choices to me and I will assign you one of those two. Then on your own, throughout the course, you will need
to collect information. This will start with some generic information, but should progress to detailed understanding that also
identifies the impact of this event on the population/people groups. This will be explored through more in-depth research, so
you need to find at least 3-4 sources annotated and highlighted and create a bibliography.
2. Second, you need to choose how to demonstrate your understanding: write a memoir or write a newspaper article. It needs
to be 2-3 pages long, double-spaced, MLA style and you need to cite information from your articles using 3-5 quotes. If you
are doing the memoir, this can be information stated by the narrator or things characters state. It should still be in quotes
and cited in-text, but should flow naturally as if it were your own words. Remember a memoir is a first person narration of
someone that has experienced an event. In this case your event is the genocide. You can be the victim or the perpetrator. If
you are doing a newspaper article, you need to be a local newspaper not someone that is removed from this and you need
to support either the victims or the perpetrators. You need to separate yourself from your individual voice and incapsulate
the characters voice and perspective. Dont forget that the setting is important here as well, because the setting generates
the conflict.
3. Third, you will write an authors note that is a minimum of one paragraph at the end of your article or memoir that
answers one of the following two questions:
a. How does this genocide dehumanize people groups (victims or perpetrators) and how is that similar to Night (using
specific examples or quotes? These dont count in your 3-4 quote total.
b. Why did this genocide occur and what could have stopped it? Explain the same things with regards to Night using
specific examples or quotes from the text (these dont count in your 3-4 quote total).
Make sure to compare the two instances and how each either dehumanizes or occurs.
Evaluation Categories
4 3 2 1
Critical Thinking Students are not only
thoughtful and not only
use specific examples
from their genocide, but
their examples from
Night are specific and
show the parallels
Students answer one of
the authors note
questions thoughtfully
using specific examples
from their genocide and
using examples from
Night, but these example
Students answer one of
the authors note
questions and
demonstrate a basic
understanding of their
genocide and a basic
understanding of Night,
Students answers lack
depth and demonstrate a
lack of understanding
about both their
genocide and Night.
Again, they dont link the
two occurrences.
between the two
scenarios clearly.
could use elaboration or
specificity. Student
explains how the two
examples are similar or
different.
but lacks specificity and
does not link the two
occurrences.
Creativity Students not only step
effectively into the voice
of their main
character/reporter, but
also depict the setting in
such a way that adds to
the readers
understanding of the
genocide event.
Students step away from
their own voice in writing
and into the voice of a
character or reporter.
They include description
of the setting to establish
the place.
Students make an
attempt to create a
characters voice, but
ultimately still sounds like
themselves reflecting
their style and
personality. Their
description of the setting
doesnt adequately led to
understanding why
genocide occurred there.
Students do not attempt
to write in a different
voice and do not describe
the setting at all. They
still tried to write
creatively about their
genocide however.
Expectations Students go beyond the
expectations including 4
or more sources. They
use 4 or more quotes in
their article or paper
without only borrowing
anothers ideas.
Students write 2-3 pages,
use MLA appropriately in
the header, page number
and in-text citations.
They have an
appropriately formatted
bibliography with at least
3 sources. They use at
least three relevant
quotes.
Students write less than 2
full pages, make errors in
one of the following: MLA
header/pg # or in-text
citations. Their
bibliography has a few
formatting errors, but not
glaring ones. They use
less than 3 sources and 3
quotes.
Students write less than a
page, make errors in both
MLA header/pg # and in-
text citations.
Bibliography has glaring
errors. They use one
source or less. They use
one quote or less.
Research Research is not only
included in the article or
story but demonstrates
detailed understanding of
the stages of genocide
Research is appropriately
included (it adds to the
story/article and is
seamless not choppy).
Their use of research
Research seems thrown
in and doesnt add to
the article or story. It is
choppy. It also seems
that they are unclear on
Research indicates that
they did not understand
their topic appropriately
or enough to go on to
explain it.
and their impact to the
people groups.
demonstrates that they
can identify the 8 stages
of genocide for their area
of study.
all 8 stages of their
particular genocide and
the subject in general.


Reflection

As scaffolding requires that you start at a more basic level and move to a more complex level of understanding, it naturally
follows that students would move from a 1 to a 4 on the scale ideally. For this particular unit, we will start with a simple WebQuest
that requires the students to find one article about their assigned genocide. Because this article can be used in their bibliography, I
will also need to explain how a works cited page is used (depending where in the year this unit falls). One of the ways I do this is by
showing them an example and helping them identify things like the publisher, author, date, and sponsor. This can be difficult for
students to find on websites since they can be in different places. After they can figure that part out, I show them how to use
easybib.org and I teach them how to manually enter the information into the form. Then I will explain that they should be able to
find most of the information that the easybib form calls for or they should question the reliability; I will also ask them to avoid
Wikipedia, Yahoo! Answers and the like telling them that these are good jumping off points, but cannot be one of their sources.
Then I have them do this for their first article. Then they will write a summary of the genocide on the first blank in the WebQuest.
Then they will look up the 8 stages of genocide. As this is a beginning stage, I will give them the site to find information about the 8
stages of genocide. I then want them to list the stages and then from what they know at the moment about their genocide, I want
them to list next to the stage, how that happened in their particular case. Then I will give them one-two days in the computer lab to
research their genocide. They will save the useful articles and enter them into easybib.org in order to keep track of these. I then will
teach them how to annotate and highlight important pieces. The main thing to teach them with this is to write their own thoughts
next to the things they highlight so that they can go back later and see their rationale for marking that. This is also a step towards
metacognition. This will be much more student-driven with teacher assistance as needed; they will be primarily self directed in
finding their research. Some students will need to be guided to more reliable articles. In the course of these 2 days, they should be
able to find all 3-4 sources. Then I will ask those that have the same genocide to join a group together and discuss what they have
learned from their research. Then I will have these students report back to a mixed group so that they have to synthesize
information theyve learned and prioritize pieces of particular importance to share with the group. Then I want them to compare
their examples and see how they are similar and different. The next day I want the same mixed group to use their compare/contrast
skill to compare all of their genocide examples to Night/the Holocaust. These discussion will help them compare and exchnge ideas
as they work independently on writing their memoir or news report. After they write these reports, then they will be due in class for
peer editing after which they will revise and turn in their final copy. Their mixed groups will not only include a student from each of
the different genocide examples, but will also have mixed abilities and learning styles. That way students can benefit from different
perspectives as well as different readiness levels. The same genocide groups will also be a mix of different learning styles so that
they can compare their different perspectives on the same topic. Peer editing will also be assigned by similar ability level so that one
student is not helping the other and receiving no feedback of their own. I will employ the paper shuffle method instead of the
partnering method as there is anonymity there which allows for good constructive feedback. I will also ask them to evaluate their
peers level according to what skills they meet on the rubric. The scaffolding or build of the unit will allow for students to work at
different rates of independence and will allow students at a higher aptitude to move on faster (at least until group discussion time).
This would allow me to push these students to do some research into the Holocaust that goes beyond what they learned in Night.
Ultimately, the learning objectives would be achieved by moving them from basic to complex understanding of their topic and
piecing out parts of the final assessment to be teacher-led/assisted and moving towards self-directed and allowing for differing rates
of movement.