Comic Preparation

In this lesson, students will practice planning out a comic based on a Holocaust survivor’s testimony before they start their own visual narrative assignment. Students will adhere to the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies while planning out their practice comics. Finally, students will be given time to work on their Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet, which they will use to plan out their Testimonial Visual Narrative Assignment.

Lesson aim: To break down and retell survivors’ testimonies respectfully and effectively while adhering to the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies.

Guiding Questions

• What techniques should be used in comic writing to ensure that a work adheres to the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies?
• What key details from a survivor’s testimony must be preserved to ensure historical accuracy and respect?

Materials

• copies of the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies
• copies of the Example Testimony Handout_ExampleTestimony
• white board and dry-erase markers
• copies of the Visual Narrative Planning Practice Worksheet Handout_ExampleNarrativePlanningPracticeWorksheet
• copies of the Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet VisualNarrativePlanningWorksheet
• school computers, if necessary

Preparation

Create a list of all the survivors documented in the Azrieli Foundation archive found here: https://memoirs.azrielifoundation.org/recollection/#home|view-all.

Print off the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies based on the responses you recorded from your students in the last class. On this sheet, ensure that you clarify what you expect from your students in terms of accuracy. Due to the nature of this project, it may be challenging to incorporate every detail of the students’ chosen testimonies into their visual narratives. Therefore, it is necessary to include a section on the sheet where you clearly explain which details should be emphasized in their visual narrative. The recommended guidelines are as follows:

1. Include key facts from the testimony, such as events, names, locations, and the timeline/sequence of events. Key facts should not be adapted or removed from the visual narrative.
2. The emotional and historical weight of the events should be respected. Avoid humour, exaggeration, or fictionalized drama that minimizes the survivor’s experience.

In addition to this, ensure that your students have some way to access the internet, as they will be required to conduct their own research. Finally, print off copies of the Example Testimony, the Visual Narrative Planning Practice Worksheet, and the Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet.

Lesson Activities

Introduction

Hand out the Guidelines for the Respectful Retelling of Survivor Testimonies. Direct students to the section outlining expectations for accuracy, and take a moment to review and clarify these standards together.

Planning Visual Narratives Practice

Put students in groups of four and hand out copies of the Example Testimony and the Visual Narrative Planning Practice Worksheet. Students will practice breaking down the testimony into a 10-panel comic using their guidelines as a reference. Briefly explain the instructions and ask the class if they have any questions before they start. When a group finishes, review their work to ensure that it follows the assigned guidelines. Once they have your approval, assign each group member a Holocaust survivor from the Azrieli Foundation archive.

Research and Planning Visual Narratives

Hand out the Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet to those who have completed Activity 1 and have been assigned a survivor. Put the link to the Azrieli Foundation website on the board and have students use their phones or school computers to access the archive. They will explore their survivor’s testimonies and choose one story to retell in their visual narrative. Tell students that they must choose a testimony by the end of class and share their choice with you. Record their choices. Allow students to work on their Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet for the remainder of the class while you circulate and provide guidance as needed. Encourage them to keep the guidelines in mind as they work.

You may decide to assign the worksheet for homework or give your students a work block next class. Regardless, their worksheets must be completed before the next lesson.

Conclusion

Let students know that they will be peer reviewing each other’s Visual Narrative Planning Worksheet next class and to have it completed by then. Additionally, ask students to bring rulers and pencils for the next class, as they will have allotted class time to begin working on their visual narratives. Ensure that you have spoken with each of your students and have recorded the name of their chosen testimony.