Instructions & Best Practices
Elementary Schools: SB 1828 calls for age-appropriate instruction, as determined by each school district. Please note that the THGAAC, like the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, does not recommend explicit Holocaust instruction before 6th grade. Elementary schools are advised to choose their own materials that cover broader themes. These include:
- Community
- Tolerance (fighting prejudice)
- Responsible citizenship (being an upstander)
- Anti-bullying
- Who the Jews are. (This way, when Holocaust instruction occurs in the upper grades, it is not the students' first introduction to Jews or Judaism. This is key to making sure that students do not perceive Jewish identity solely through the lens of victimization.) Educators may note that many younger readers have enjoyed Sydney Taylor's All of a Kind Family series. Often compared to the writings of Louisa May Alcott and Laura Ingalls Wilder, these books do not depict the Holocaust or antisemitism, and instead provide a positive portrayal of a Jewish family in New York City during World War I.
Elementary school educators seeking more detailed materials, including lesson plans, can find them at the specific links from our museum partners:
- ELEMENTARY student resources are found in the Upstander Education Database and include the "I Am Human" Lesson (lower elementary), "I Am Anne Frank" Lesson (upper elementary), "Hidden Children-Secret Sanctuaries" Lesson (upper elementary), and elementary morning announcements.
- ELEMENTARY student resources can be found among the other HMH resources, but the museum's Young Upstanders Toolkit is specifically designed for this age group.