Teach global awareness of poverty, war, pollution, sustainability for World Month

Hello my friends of the Omschool. April is Earth Month and this year I'm thinking of it as World Month too. With terrible wars in Ukraine, Palestine and now the US in Iran, our earth and the people who live on it, face devasting circumstances and consequences of the circumstances. Consequences that will not go away when the guns are silent. I just watched a documentary on Fleury-devant-Douaumont, one of many "ghost cities" obliterated in WW1 in battles such as the Somme, Ypres and Verdun. It is a cemetery and the ground is too toxic ever to rebuild anyway. These cities bear the distinction "mort pour Le France (died for France). There are countless others around the world, from countless wars, disasters, impoverishment, disease, all man-made, destroyed or with lasting, extensive damage. Pripyat, Biafra, Hiroshima, Chechnya, Warsaw, Carthage, Nagasaki, Aleppo, Gallipoli, Lebanon, Palestine the list goes on. 

And it's not just war that injures and kills. Exploitation of natural resources by consumer driven societies do just as much harm. In many industrialized 'first world' countries, we live in insular communities which have little or no contact with global issues. So we think it doesn't affect us. We think wrong. 

We consume grotesque quantities of natural resources. We use goods wantonly, we burn vast amounts of fossil fuels every second. We let good clean water run down the drain endlessly. We cram miles of good fertile land with plastic, paper, yard waste, glass, metal. We pay billions of dollars to watch idiots and buffoons entertain us. We are a glutted society, drowning in our own waste. There are beaches in China that appear sandy but are in fact composed entirely of microplastic from global waste. There's a trash island TWICE the size of Texas and growing, called GPGP (the Great Pacific Garbage Patch) floating in the Pacific ocean. 

So what's the point of this discouraging review? That all is not lost. We have a generation of citizens who are forced to sit in our schools every day listening to talk on all sorts of subjects. What if we were to bring this captive audience global awareness of the world around them?  Not just latitude and "name the capital of Tibet" and drawing maps. I'm talking real lessons about real people around the world, 3/4 of which live below the poverty level.

Obviously we can't end the suffering. But we can raise global awareness to the plight of poverty, illness, starvation, lack of literacy and dreadful environmental issues, much of the world lives with. I have interacted with hundreds of students of all ages and I have rarely found any so hard-hearted that they did not show concern when presented with the face of poverty, hunger, disease and want. Knowledge is power and we can empower this generation to go and make a difference in whatever way is right for them. Perhaps a student will join the Peace Corps, write a news expose that touches the public, find a cure for illness, sponsor a child, who knows?

So how do we raise awareness? Here are some websites with resources to educate and inspire students on the needs of the world.

Greater Good. You'll find all sorts of teaching resources for geography, science, demographics, culture and reading. There are map activities, lesson plans, literature links, and more. There are web pages on rain forests, global health care and literacy also. Each link has teacher resources and lesson plans to help students understand the factors contributing to poverty. There are lessons on climate, harvest, natural disasters, politics, disease prevention, vitamin and nutrition deficiencies, dehydration, land mines and disease in general. The rain forest page lists science lessons on water and water shortages, biome and habitat health, symbiosis, etc. The literacy link shows ways to improve literacy, communication and interaction.

World Health Organization Search this informative site for ways to improve and explore health. You'll find statistics, charts, graphs that can be useful in math and science also.

UNICEF The United Nations developed UNICEF (UN Children's Fund) to bring resources to nation's in need. It's primary focus is on children. Click this link to find out more about what educators and students and do to help or be informed.

Peace Corps This site is filled with lesson plans and teacher resources all about global issues. You'll find many lessons for grades 3-12. There are lessons in many different world regions. There are language, literature, environment, health, cross-culture, social studies, geography, service learning and more.

TheWorldWar has free printable World War One resources to teach students about the scope of this "war to end all wars." If only...

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial site, has a wealth of lesson plans to help students begin to conceptualize the horror of genocide. I find the Hall of Names and their personal stories on YouTube Yad Vashem the most profound. Especially the children. 

Let's bring about some real global awareness of issues that affect us, our world and our neighbors in it.

Holocaust Remembrance Day activities to commemorate Yom Hashoah January 27

 January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day says the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. On this day, Allied forces in WWII liberated the Jewish concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau. We've heard of the 6 million Jewish souls perished in these death camps. But countless others died including Roma and Sinti (Gypsies), Slavs, Poles, those with disabilities, gay and lesbian and anyone deemed by Nazis to be inferior.  

As the world mourns, it's time also for ora et labora--prayer and work--to end antisemitism, bigotry, discrimination and persecution. How? By looking to children, the hope for the future. Use these activities in your classroom, homeschool, worship group or family, to raise awareness, educate and inform on Holocaust (Shoah). 

Visit a Holocaust museum. Yad Vashem (Jerusalem), one of the Martyrdom Museums at preserved concentration camps, USHMM in Washington DC., the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich. Yad Vashem offers many virtual tours and activities. Visit if just digitally, the Hall of Names. I was heartbroken to learn that as of 2023, only about half of the Jews murdered had been traced and those were only thanks massive research and outreach work on the part of Yad Vashem.

Use Holocaust lesson plans to teach about pogroms, Hitler's Final Solution, Goebels' anti-Semitic propaganda campaign, concentration camps, ghettos, ethnic cleansing and atrocities wreaked on the Jews, Roma (Romani), Sinti, Slavs, Poles, Catholics, gay and lesbian and others deemed "undesirable by Hitler and the Nazi party. 

Share stories. Most children probably didn't know anyone who was in the concentration camps. But they can write about how they would feel if it happened to them. Use Torah Tots Holocaust remembrance page for younger children. Evaluate the maturity of children. 

Raise awareness. Talk about why a Holocaust Memorial was defaced. Observe Yom Hashoah, Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day in April. Download free printable Holocaust posters or these printables for discussion. Use as writing prompts and story starters. 

Design Holocaust Memorial Posters. Encourage students to design posters or infographics to commemorate the lives lost. Write eulogy poems to honor the dead. Or students might compose a song to sing for January 27. 

Read books and watch movies on the Shoah or Holocaust: The Diary of Anne Frank, Life is Beautiful, The Hiding Place, Schindler's List, Number the Stars, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Night, The Book Thief, I am David, Sarah's Key, Woman of Gold. There is a documentary Final Account made of interviews with Germans who had lived during these times. It is shocking and disturbing and I believe should be viewed by all teens and adults. Use discretion. Amazon Prime has an extensive collection of Holocaust related films and documentaries and Yad Vashem's Youtube channel features stories of Shoah survivors. 

Visit a cemetery. Look for a Star of David to denote a Jewish grave. Place a rock ( a Hebrew memorial). Leave flowers on any grave if you can't find a Jewish one. A tribute to one is a tribute to all. Or plant a tree as a sign of life.

Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day lesson plans, Holocaust Remembrance Day activities

Remember, remember the 17th day of Shevat. This day, which is January 27 on western calendar is one of days of yom hashoah "days of remembrance." It isn't a holiday, but it is a holy day and commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day, said International Business Times on Jan. 27. Jews observe Yom Hashoah, Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day, on the 27th of Nissan (April to May in the Western calendar). January 27 is the day the world remembers (or should) when it stood by while millions died--Pole, Slav, Catholic, Russian, red, disabled, dissident, gypsy, gay, and many, many Jewish--in the World War II Nazi genocide. The theme for International Holocaust Memorial Day 2016 is "Don't Stand By" and it comes from a confession of Pastor Martin Niemoller.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me."

"Don't Stand By" if you see injustice, persecution, bullying or marginalization. Speak out, whether you identify with those you are speaking out for or not. Don't stand by because an injury to one is an injury to all, says the union slogan. On Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day and all year long, fight against acts of anti-semitism, anti-life, anti-humanity. Don't stand by and let a great injury be repeated. Talk about it and educate yourself. Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has a free activity pack for educators and individuals, to remember.

Don't stand by--share the love. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers ways to share stories online and in person. Oral tradition is a time-honored way of preserving memories. Don't stand by and let the flame die. On Yom Hashoah, let the the voices of the dead speak. Most everything that remained of those horrible days are gone. Many holocaust survivors have passed on. But memory is enduring voice, if it's not shushed. Let Holocaust Remembrance Day be a song that keeps on playing your head, long after the music has died. Look at the Holocaust Remembrance Day poster from 2012. It shows, in shadow, the loved ones lost. It's evocative and eerie. It makes you wonder who these shadows were. Don't stand by and let them be forgotten.

Don't stand by--watch movies and read books for Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day. "Sarah's Key" is a translation of "Elle S'appellait Sarah" by Tatiana de Rosenay. It tells of a little girl taken in the Jewish Vel' D'hiv roundup in France and the journalist who uncovers her story. Read or watch "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas"--that will put a face on Holocaust for you. Or how about "The Book Thief?" Children can watch this one and empathize. Don't stand by--teach your children that untold numbers of other children perished in the Nazi holocaust and stories like this are their voice. For a non-fiction Yom Hashoah read, try "Night" by Elie Weisel. But be prepared to be haunted for the rest of your life. Read Viktor Frankel's "Man's Search for Meaning"for a Holocaust Remembrance Day you'll never forget.

Free Printable Jewish Holocaust Memorial Lesson Plans

January 27 on western calendar is one of days of yom hashoah or "days of remembrance." It isn't a holiday, but it is a holy day and commemorates International Holocaust Remembrance Day, sJews observe Yom Hashoah, Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day, on the 27th of Nissan (April to May in the Western calendar). January 27 is the day the world remembers (or should) when it stood by while millions died--Pole, Slav, Catholic, Russian, red, disabled, dissident, gypsy, gay, and many, many Jewish--in the World War II Nazi genocide. 

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has a free activity pack. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers ways to share stories online and in person. Oral tradition is a time-honored way of preserving memories.