The Holocaust: Schindler's List

This lesson aims to help students to write descriptively, using a range of descriptive writing techniques. Students also learn how to incorporate the five senses into their writing. Furthermore, students explore social and moral issues such as 'swimming against the tide' and 'being different,' through the story of Oskar Schindler.

Informative and engaging, this lesson follows a clear and logical learning journey. Students learn to:
- Define the key term 'humane'
- Understand the story of Oskar Schindler, and consider the social and moral dilemmas that he faced;
- Consider decisions that they have had to make which contrast to popular opinion;
- Remember the five senses, and discuss why they are important to descriptive writing;
- Use the five senses to create descriptive sentences based on scenes from Schindler's List;
- Write a descriptive piece about a difficult decision that they have had to make;
- Peer-assess each others' learning attempts.

Resources included are: A whole-lesson PowerPoint, that guides the teacher and learners throughout the entire lesson, an engaging worksheet, a writing to describe help-sheet, and a teacher guidance sheet.

Note: I'm aware that this is a 15 film - however the clips that I have selected are not amongst the most graphic, and so I feel that the lesson can be used with students younger than 15. You will need a Youtube connection for the links to work.

All images are cited at the end of the PowerPoint presentation, and are licensed for commercial use.