Here’s how our third graders are learning with heart and understanding
By Tamar Lasure-Owens and Triumphant 3rd Grade
As educators, we often wonder: Can elementary students truly grapple with history’s darkest moments? Can they face stories of injustice and loss without fear—only curiosity and empathy?
The answer is a resounding yes—when we guide them with care, truth and age‑appropriate strategies.
A Journey of empathy
This Jewish American Heritage Month, our third-grade class is reading What Was the Holocaust? by Gail Herman. In Chapter 4, we meet Gerda Weissmann, a 20-year-old Holocaust survivor who weighed only 65 pounds at liberation. To help students grasp the severity of her ordeal, our school nurse collaborated on the project by gently weighing each student and sharing their weight. Students then compared their own age and weight to Gerda’s. The experience was solemn, powerful and opened a door to deep empathy and real understanding. Students also learned that the Holocaust was not just a Jewish tragedy but a human one: twelve million people perished—including six million Jews, as well as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, Black people and others the Nazi regime targeted. Our children are honoring every life lost by learning the truth with compassion.
Making the abstract concrete
- Holocaust —Children discovered that the word means great destruction and loss of life.
- Jewish diversity —Through a short video, they met Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and Beta‑Israel Jews who are Black, white, and brown, living all over the world.
- Hate symbols —They now understand why the swastika and the Hitler salute are deeply offensive and must never be used or tolerated.
- Antisemitism & unjust laws —We explored how Nazi legislation stripped Jews of land, rights, and citizenship and forced Jewish children to the back rows of classrooms.
Drawing connections to what they know
When they heard about Jewish children being segregated at school, students immediately linked that injustice to moments in other histories we’ve studied:
- Civil Rights Movement (January)—They remembered Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, who defied bus segregation.
- Hispanic Heritage Month (October)—They recalled the school‑desegregation victories of Roberto Alvarez ( Lemon Grove Case, 1931 ) and Sylvia Mendez ( Mendez v. Westminster, 1947 ), which struck down laws that forced Mexican‑American children into “separate” schools.
- Asian American civil rights—They connected the Nazi internment camps to the U.S. incarceration of Japanese Americans and the courage of Fred Korematsu, who challenged that injustice all the way to the Supreme Court.
These links were entirely student‑driven—proof that children, when trusted, can weave a rich tapestry of understanding across cultures and eras.
Conversations that continue at home
Families have told us how surprised—and proud—they are of the insights their children now bring to the dinner table. We’re not just building readers; we’re building upstanders who question injustice, value diversity, and speak with empathy.
So, can you do this too?
Absolutely. You don’t need to be a subject‑matter expert—only intentional, caring, and courageous.
- Start with a powerful, age‑appropriate book. What Was the Holocaust? balances honesty and sensitivity.
- Make it tangible. Comparing students’ weights to Gerda’s turned empathy into something they could literally feel.
- Invite reflection and connection. Encourage students to link new learning to prior knowledge—Civil Rights, Native nations, immigration stories, their own family histories.
- Hold space for brave conversation. Establish norms that let children ask tough questions safely.
- Partner with families. A quick email home primes household discussions and reinforces learning.
In our Triumphant Third Grade, we believe children are ready for truth—told with care and guided by love. The Holocaust is not an easy subject, but it is a necessary one. And yes, even eight‑ and nine‑year‑olds can rise to the occasion.
Because when we teach history with heart, we shape a future filled with hope.