IWitness Activities for American Black History Month — Day 3

Editor’s Note:

February is Black History Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate the central role African Americans have made in the United States. In honor of this special time, we invite educators and students to remember history in their classrooms, utilizing this year’s thematic lens, “African Americans in Times of War.”

This series will highlight ten teaching activities, pairing eyewitness testimony with standards-aligned lessons that transform learning.

Day 3

Faces of Intolerance

Author: USC Shoah Foundation

Grade Level: 8-9

During this activity, students will explore the concept of intolerance by looking at definitions, examples and clips of testimony from survivors and witnesses to genocide. They will consider the ways in which intolerance is perpetuated and determine its impact. They will have the opportunity to construct a word cloud detailing their understanding of how prejudice is occasionally justified by those who are intolerant of difference.