skateboarding…..

By Nick C.

Hannah B.

And Daniel N.

We created a “commercial” using certain symbols, images and sounds to create something that would tell people about the true horrors of the Holocaust. Here we’ve described them:

Symbols:

Barbwire: symbolizes that the Jews had no freedom in the concentration camps as this barbwire surrounded the entire camp. Barbwire also symbolizes the concentration camps themselves in which many Jews suffered and died.

The dove:  the universal sign for peace and harmony but we felt that it should also symbolize hope, as we did not have a symbol for hope.

The Star of David: symbolizes the Jewish religion and also the persecution of all Jews in Europe at the time of the Nazi occupation. This symbol is both good and bad as it represents the Jews being persecuted but it also represents a religion that some people were very proud to belong to.

Images:

The Jewish persecution is symbolized with the Star of David the Jews had to wear. This image is portrayed in not a very graphic way but it still has a meaning that will show us how wrong we were to treat these people like that.

Death is symbolized by the concentration camps in which most Jews were killed. It is also symbolized by the mass graves that the Germans had the Jews dig before they were killed and buried with hundreds of others.

The Final Solution is symbolized the death in the concentration camps. Hitler called this the final solution because his dream of a final solution was to have no more Jews left in
Europe.

Anne Frank is a symbol of hope to all. She gave hope that they were going pull through. She symbolizes this because of her bright, optimistic character and her belief in the good inside of her.

Sounds:

We used two pieces of music. One had singing, but it was wordless. This was better because it was more of a universal song. It was also very depressive and sad, and at the same time reflective. The second song we used was a song by Enya that had a lot of meaningful words and that went with the last few bits of the “commercial” well. Both were composed by Enya and conducted by Howard Shore of the LOTR the Return of the King album.

Most powerful:

After comparing all of our symbols, images and sounds together, we’ve come up with some of the most powerful. We believe that the most powerful symbol we used was the dove. It was powerful because it was something white and pure amidst the black background. It’s also so powerful because it known world-wide and needs no explanation. The most powerful images we think we used were the concentration camp pictures. These images were filled with death and the horror that was the Holocaust. Those pictures were the real eye-poppers of the “commercial”. And finally we believe that the first song we used was the most powerful because it was universal and it all flowed smoothly together. Because it was wordless, people could really use their own imagination and put the words in themselves, or just listen to its beauty and its sorrow.

ESLR’s:

While doing this project, I believe we improved on some of the ESLR’s. The first ESLR we improved on was the Self-Directed Learner ESLR. We identified our needs and applied appropriate learning skills, or in other words, we took the time to figure out what we needed for the project and we did it. We also took creative risks in developing untried ideas by communicating our ideas correctly and creatively. However, we didn’t demonstrate competency in organizational skills because we all didn’t exactly know what we were doing until Saturday, and even then we were still debating and bickering. We would give ourselves a B+ for this part of the project because of our lack of organization. During the making of this “commercial” we were also definitely hitting the Critical Thinker ESLR. We built meaning and understanding using prior and new information. We achieved this skill by using new signs and old images and sounds to make a project that communicated meaning and understanding. We would give ourselves an A- on this ESLR. Unfortunately however, we didn’t demonstrate very good Concerned Citizen skills. We didn’t show responsibility in active decision making because we couldn’t really ever agree on anything. We switched from commercial to memorial to commercial again. On the other hand, we did exhibit awareness for the religion of others, which was quite a big part on this project. We did this because we didn’t reveal any images, sounds or symbols that in any could offend someone because of their religion or race. For this, we would give ourselves an A. The next ESLR we achieved was the Effective Communicator ESLR. Of course, we did have our occasional fights, which meant that we weren’t demonstrating the skill of effective collaborators, but despite all this bickering, we also incorporated technology as a tool for communication. We used the internet and our thumb drives to get our information to each other and we even used PowerPoint to convey our ideas better. We also wrote this reflection, which shows that we were able effectively communicate how well we thought we did. Anyway, we would give ourselves a B for this ESLR.

Individual work:

Working as a group was not a difficult task for us. We just did not find the right way to organize ourselves. Every one contributed fairly to the project. Nick did the entire PowerPoint presentation while Daniel and Hannah split the write up in two. Four bullet points for each person on the checklist.  Then later on Nick checked the write up to see if it was ok.

Summary:

We created a short “commercial” in order to commemorate the victims of the holocaust or remember Anne Frank. We incorporated specific images, sounds and symbols that would give the audience a deeper understanding and get them thinking. We went through the process of planning, arguing, switching, arguing some more, then switching back again, and then doing the actual project and write up. Group wise, we think we did ok, even though we had our little occasional argument. But project wise (write up included), we think we delivered a great project that incorporated relevant symbols and images and good music to go with it. It was meaningful and it makes you reflect a while before going back to your daily life. Because of this, we think we deserve an A-.