Overview
Students will learn about Rwanda survivor Gakire Dieudonne. Dieudonne survived the genocide as a young child. Now as a young man had dedicated his life to sharing the remembrance of the genocide. Students will explore what memory means to them on a personal level. They will then read the quotes by Gakire Dieudonne, or watch his video clip, and reflect on how sharing memories can hold power to impact the world community.
Student Ages or Grade Level
✔ 9th ✔ 10th ✔ 11th ✔ 12th
Essential questions the lesson will address:
● Why do we choose to capture memories in tactile forms?
● Why is it important to remember events that can be described as atrocities?
● Does remembering have the power to not repeat dreadful actions of the past?
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to . . .
● Define genocide as written in the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
● Investigate why they capture their memories in physical forms such as photos, writings, etc.
● Analyze why Gakire Dieudonne thinks it is essential to include the memories of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide in the education system.
Common Core State Standards (11th grade)
● CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
●CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.C Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions; and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
●CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.D Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
●CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.
●CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Curriculum Glossary and Key Concepts and Ideas
● Remembrance: The act or process of remembering an event in the past or a person who is dead Oxford
● Memorial: A statue, stone, etc. that is built in order to remind people of an important past event or of a famous person who has died. A memorial to somebody/something a memorial to victims of the Holocaust. A memorial to somebody/something a thing that will continue to remind people of someone or something. Oxford
● Genocide: The deliberate and systematic extermination of an ethnic or national group. Oxford
● Reconciliation: The action of restoring estranged people or parties to friendship or harmony. Oxford
● Dialoguing: a conversation between two people or discussion between representatives of parties to a conflict that is aimed at resolution. Merriam Webster
Formative assessment strategies
The teacher can make a note of…
● Individual participation in discussion and written reflection about capturing memories
● Class engagement with video and reflection on remembering
Materials for Instructor
● Video Clip of Gakire Dieudonne TO COME
● Laptop
● Projector
● Speakers
Materials for Students
● Imagine Journals
Lesson Plan
I. Opening Discussion (10 min.)
Open up the class by asking students if they have any questions or thoughts to share that came up after the last class. Genocide is such a difficult concept it can leave students at a loss of immediate words, but after they have had time to process the information it is in best practices to go back and review in order to deepen the conversation. Spend a few minutes discussing the vocabulary from the last class:
● Genocide: The deliberate and systematic extermination of an ethnic or national group. Oxford
● Reconciliation: The action of restoring estranged people or parties to friendship or harmony. Oxford
● Dialoguing: a conversation between two people or discussion between representatives of parties to a conflict that is aimed at resolution. Merriam Webster.
Then share with students that in this class they will learn about Gakire Dieudonne, a young Rwandan man who survived the genocide as a young child, and dedicates his life to remembrance and memorial.
II. Capturing Memories (15 min.)
Step One:
Have students partner with each other. Tell students to brainstorm ways in which they choose to ‘capture’ memories. Examples may be:
● Photos, diaries, sticky notes, letters, social media, websites, conversations, etc.
Have one student use their Imagine Journal to write down their thoughts.
Step Two:
Ask students to choose one example off their list that they feel is most important to them. Let them know their preference may change in the near future and that this choice is based on their first choice now. Have them take out their Imagine journals and spend a few minutes writing a reflection on their choice. They can use the following prompts:
● Do you use this method of capturing your memories often? If so, why do you think you choose it?
● Why do you think remembering in this way is important to you?
● Do you wonder how your memories serve you as you grow older? If so, what is an example of a memory that has impacted your life decisions?
Close the activity by having students popcorn share aloud items from their list and have a few students read their reflections. Follow up with any needed or inspired discussions.
III. GakireDieudonne and the Importance of Memory (25 min.)
Step One:
Play the video clip of Gakire Dieudonne reflecting on the importance of remembering. Below are the quotes if streaming the video is not an option:
“Thank you so much for sharing that and thank you for all these, you know, powerful thoughts conveyed. And I was I mean, I wanted to ask you, perhaps as a concluding question, not to take too much of your time, because you emphasize on many occasions the importance of remembering of not forgetting about the past but also drawing the important lessons from it. And so I was wondering, what is remembrance to you? And what forms do you think remembrance with regards to the genocide should take?
“It’s not an easy question. Here when militia killed the Tutsis there is thisprocess in the state of the genocide, there's a step called the humanization. And for them, they're not killing the human being, but maybe animals or cockroaches. And now remembering it's remembering these people as human beings. And for me, it's also often reminding me that there is a reason I'm here in this world, or there isn't, that I survived. So I think it's important to remember. And, of course, nobody could choose this to happen. But it's, I think it's also important for the world. So because when, you know, when the genocide was happening, you know, people could, you know, ignore that, you know, like making that simple thing, you know, it's, it's maybe 10 people, it's a batch. But when you have examples of how human beings can be terrible, can do such actions, I think it's important for education. And in personnel, it's remembering, it hurts. It hurts, it's not to hurt, of course, you have to find these strategies. Remember these people and the good things they did in their small backyards. But the reason why I have to do it, it's because we have this chance to offer the world this lesson. It's the same as how we also decided to forgive for instance, it was not a nice and easy thing to do. But also the good side of it was kind of like a priceless gift to society to the country. Yes, it's hard for me, but if I do it, I'm offering something back and good to the country, to the future generation, and to society.” Gakire Dieudonne
Step Two:
If needed, take a few minutes to have students share their thoughts on the video clip.
Step Three:
Have students reflect in their Imagine Journals. They can write in a stream of consciousness format or use the following prompts:
● Can remembering the past prevent violence from reoccurring?
● What did Gakire Dieudonne mean when he shared that remembering hurts?
● Is it possible that sharing a memory can impact the world and bring about both small and huge changes?
Step Four:
Close the class by having students share their written reflections.