Voices of Change: Ireland and the Wider World · 6th Year

Active learning ideas

Life in the Ghettos and Concentration Camps

This topic is emotionally complex and requires careful scaffolding for students to engage deeply without becoming overwhelmed. Active learning turns abstract facts into human stories, letting students process the material through analysis, empathy, and historical reasoning rather than passive absorption.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Eras of change and conflict
• NCCA: Primary - Story

• 25–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Fishbowl Discussion
• 35 min · Small Groups

Document Analysis: Ghetto Posters

Provide replicas of Nazi ghetto notices on rations and curfews. In small groups, students decode language for control tactics, note impacts on daily life, and share findings on a class chart. Conclude with a brief group reflection on isolation strategies.

Analyze the strategies used by the Nazis to isolate and control Jewish communities.

Facilitation Tip

During Document Analysis: Ghetto Posters, have students first describe what they notice before interpreting meaning to prevent immediate assumptions.

What to look for

Facilitate a small group discussion using the prompt: 'Imagine you are a journalist in 1943. Based on survivor accounts, write a brief (3-4 sentence) news report describing one specific daily challenge faced by someone in the Warsaw Ghetto. Share your report with the class.'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Fishbowl Discussion
• 30 min · Pairs

Survivor Story Pairs

Pair students to read two survivor accounts from ghettos and camps. They identify common challenges like hunger and resistance acts, then present key quotes to the class. Follow with a paired discussion on story importance.

Explain the daily challenges and horrors faced by those imprisoned in ghettos and camps.

Facilitation Tip

For Survivor Story Pairs, assign partners deliberately so students with stronger reading skills can guide others through difficult text.

What to look for

Present students with a map showing key ghettos and camps. Ask them to label three locations and write one sentence for each explaining its primary function (e.g., isolation, forced labor, extermination).

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Fishbowl Discussion
• 45 min · Whole Class

Resistance Timeline: Whole Class

As a class, construct a timeline of ghetto and camp resistance events using printed cards. Students place cards chronologically, add notes on methods like uprisings, and discuss evaluation of their significance.

Evaluate the importance of remembering individual stories of survival and resistance.

Facilitation Tip

In Resistance Timeline: Whole Class, pause after each event to ask students how they think others might have reacted to build emotional context.

What to look for

On an index card, students should answer: 'What is one strategy the Nazis used to control people in ghettos or camps? Name one specific type of hardship prisoners faced.'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 04

• Fishbowl Discussion
• 25 min · Individual

Empathy Mapping: Individual

Students individually map a day's routine in a ghetto or camp based on sources, noting physical, emotional, and social elements. Share select maps in small groups to build collective understanding.

Analyze the strategies used by the Nazis to isolate and control Jewish communities.

Facilitation Tip

While doing Empathy Mapping: Individual, provide sentence stems like 'I feel... because...' to help students articulate complex emotions.

What to look for

Facilitate a small group discussion using the prompt: 'Imagine you are a journalist in 1943. Based on survivor accounts, write a brief (3-4 sentence) news report describing one specific daily challenge faced by someone in the Warsaw Ghetto. Share your report with the class.'

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Start with concrete, visual materials like posters or maps before introducing survivor accounts, to ground the discussion in what students can see and touch. Avoid overwhelming students with graphic details upfront—instead, build toward heavier content after establishing historical context. Research shows this gradual approach reduces emotional shutdown and increases analytical engagement.

Successful learning looks like students connecting evidence to human experiences, identifying patterns in Nazi strategies, and recognizing both the oppression and resilience in these spaces. They should move beyond memorization to analyze primary sources and survivor testimonies with nuance.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Document Analysis: Ghetto Posters, students may assume posters only served informational purposes. Watch for students who overlook how posters used language, imagery, and layout to isolate and dehumanize residents.

  After examining posters, ask students to describe which words or images might have made residents feel less than human, then compare their findings to Nazi propaganda posters targeting non-Jewish Germans to highlight the difference in purpose.

• During Survivor Story Pairs, students may assume prisoners had no agency or control over their lives. Watch for generalizations that overlook secret acts of resistance or small daily choices.

  Ask pairs to identify any moments in the survivor stories where the narrator made a personal choice or resisted quietly, then discuss how these actions might have affected morale or survival.

• During Resistance Timeline: Whole Class, students may assume all camps functioned the same way. Watch for oversimplified labels when describing locations.

  Have students compare the locations and functions of three camps on the map, noting differences in size, purpose, and layout to challenge the idea of uniformity.

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Methods used in this brief

• Fishbowl Discussion