USING THE FILM IN SCHOOLS
The creation of a curriculum guide to accompany TAK FOR ALT reflects the desire of the film’s co-directors, Laura Bialis, Broderick Fox and Sarah Levy, to bring Judy Meisel’s inspiring story directly to educators and students. They had observed the profound impact Judy’s story has in the classroom and knew that a curriculum would help make her story accessible to a broader audience.
The curriculum guide accompanying TAK FOR ALT is suitable for use in the upper high school grades and at the college level. The curriculum is consistent with many states’ standards for grades 10, 11 and 12 in history, social science, writing, listening, and speaking and is designed to provide teachers with multiple measures of assessment for student learning in these areas. Although suggested activities are based on specific grade standards, many parts of the curriculum are appropriate for a wider range of viewers, from middle school through college and continuing education for adults. It is our hope that teachers will feel free to use those parts of the curriculum that are appropriate for the age group with which they work.
The curriculum guide divides TAK FOR ALT into four sections that will enable teachers to guide student learning about the Holocaust, personal ethics, the Rescue of the Danish Jews, and the United States Civil Rights Movement. Each part includes section summaries, viewing objectives, key term definitions, historical background, discussion questions, and post-viewing activities. Teachers may use the entire guide to structure a multi-week unit on the Holocaust, or they may use TAK FOR ALT in shorter teaching units focused on one of the major issues in the film. Judy’s story would work especially well as a supplement to an English, history, or Ethnic Studies curriculum.
If students are to derive maximum benefit from their viewing of TAK FOR ALT, Judy’s story must be contextualized in the history of the Holocaust. For this reason, the curriculum guide includes relevant historical context for Judy’s story that is intended to provide teachers with sufficient background to teach the film. The guide’s Bibliography and list of Additional Resources provide supplementary information for teachers interested in learning more about teaching the Holocaust. Teachers are encouraged to photocopy and distribute the Viewing/Discussion questions to their students before they view TAK FOR ALT. Having the viewing questions and the relevant key term definitions before them as they view the film will enhance students’ ability to engage actively with Judy’s story. The post-viewing activities are varied and invite further discussion, discovery, and application of the material students learn.
Click here to download the curriculm rationale.
Click here to download examples of discussion questions from the curriculum.
Click here to download examples of post-viewing activities from the curriculum.