Colors and Symbols of Stigmatization

This lesson is an introduction to the reading of NIGHT by Elie Wiesel, which students will read independently. The students will do research to discover the different colors and symbols used to symbolize the Nazi party's list of undesirable people. The students will gain an understanding of how other people can arbitrarily judge other people as inferior.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 English Language Arts and English Language Development

By Sandra Hurd and Wilma Gale

About the authors

Sandra Hurd is an ESL teacher from Cumberland County. She has been teaching ESL for 15 years. Yvonne has been teaching English for 28 years.

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Related topics

• Learn more about Elie Wiesel, English language learners, hands-on, holocaust, language arts, literature, novels, racism, and writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• demonstrate comprehension of the identification process of colors and symbols used in the Nazi concentration camps to label people as undesirables to the Third Reich.
• demonstrate analysis of how these “undesirables” were stripped of their individual rights and humanity.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 week

Materials/resources

• Construction paper for yellow stars
• Construction paper for booklet cover. One sheet of paper will be folded to make cover and back.
• Computer paper for identification, explanations, letter, and bibliography. Paper will be folded to go inside construction paper. Booklet will be typed on the side.
• Different color markers to display colors and symbols inside booklet.
• Internet access to find web sites for research

Technology resources

Computer lab access with students verified to use Internet

Pre-activities

• Teacher will provide brief background information about how World War I set the stage for World War II.
• Teacher will ask questions of students to determine how much they know about the Jewish religion. Examples: What classifies a person as a Jew? Do you know anything about the history of the Jewish people?
• Students will make a yellow star to wear at the beginning of the class period. The word “Jude,” the German word for Jew, will be at the top of the star. Under the word “Jude” the following quote will be written: “He who wears this symbol is an enemy of our people.” (quote by Hitler)
• Write on the board a list of stereotypical and derogatory words and expressions describing groups of people by race, sex, religion, and ethnicity.
• Distribute critical term vocabulary to prepare students for the reading of NIGHT by Elie Wiesel.

Activities

1. Students will become aware of the stigma of a yellow star by wearing the star and by listening to specific derogatory comments directed to Jews. (The teacher will give a few comments that were directed toward Jews by the Nazis such as “dirty kikes.”
2. Students will go to the computer lab to do research to identify the different colors and symbols for the categories of undesirable people identified by the Nazis.
3. Students will also do research to find the reasoning behind why these people were considered inferior to the Ayran race.
4. Students will continue to research to discover how one particular individual from the undesirables list besides Jewish suffered during his time in a concentration camp (Cannot use Jewish since NIGHT is a personal account of a fourteen-old-year Jewish boy.)
5. Write a letter entitled: “This is My Letter to the World… That Never Wrote to Me.…(Emily Dickinson) explaining to an adolescent of today what this person suffered. Letter should be three to four paragraphs and should be written in the writer’s own words.
6. Students will compile their researched information and letter into a booklet form. The booklet will include the following:
   • Colors and symbols for identification for “undesirables.”
   • Reasons for categorizing each group “undesirable.”
   • Personal account letter
   • Bibliography of web sites using correct format

Assessment

• Test on vocabulary before reading NIGHT.
• Completed research in computer lab with printouts and web sites.
• Letter written for booklet.
• Completed booklet which counts as two grades - One grade will be for research/bibliography, and one grade will be for content and visual presentation.

Supplemental information

None

Related websites

Use the information contained on the page about the Holocaust explaining the categories of undesirables and the color symbols located on the Fact-index.com website: http://www.fact-index.com/h/ho/holocaust.html

To write letter from a personal story, use the following web site:
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/people/LIEBSTER.HTM

Modifications

• List of ten vocabulary words with definitions one week prior to lesson.
• Sample letter with labeled parts of a standard letter for LEP student to use as reference.
• Written and simplified step-by-step directions for completing research and booklet.
• Provide two web sites for LEP students. (See web sites at the bottom.)
• Pairing LEP student with more technically advanced student in computer lab.

Alternative assessments

• Different test for the ten required words using matching and visuals.
• Write a one to two paragraph letter.
• Simplified explanations for the information required in the booklet such as simple sentences and simple verb tenses.

Critical vocabulary

Streamline Vocabulary for LEP (Limited English Proficient)student. Ten words as opposed to twenty words:, concentration camp, Nazi, Yellow star, genocide, undesirables, stigma, stigmatize, Auschwitz, crematoria, Holocaust, Aryan race

Comments

My inspiration for this lesson plan was a poster on the door of a professor at Greensboro College.
I saw the poster while attending an ESL Language Institute during the summer of 2004.

This lesson plan was developed during the English Language Development Standard Course of Study lesson planning institutes hosted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and LEARN NC, June and July, 2004. It includes specific strategies, instructional modifications, and alternative assessments which make this lesson accessible to limited English proficient students. Please note that this lesson has been aligned with the goals and objectives of the N.C. English Language Development standards.