Dutch Resistance Webquest: For Students: Your Assignment

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

For Students: Your Assignment

You have an opportunity to create a video game for Nintendo about the Dutch Resistance during World War II. You will be working in a 5-person design team, and your team will be competing with several others for the contract with Nintendo. For your first meeting with the company, Nintendo has asked your team to research the role of the underground Resistance in the Netherlands during World War II and to come up with a game design proposal. Your proposal should include:

A. Dutch Resistance Dossier*
B. Game Planning Sheet
C. Storyboard** (minimum 8 panels)
D. Full-Page (81/2" x 11") Sketch of your Main Character

There are several design teams vying to win this contract with Nintendo, so be sure to follow these important stipulations:

* This will be rated E for everyone, which means no nudity, inappropriate
language, or violence.

* This will be a single player game, so only one person can play as the main
character at one time.

* A dossier (DOSS-eeh-ay) is a file or collection of documents and information about a person or group of people, and a synopsis of the research. Web links for your historical research have been provided in Process. Your Dutch Resistance Dossier will consist of a written summary of your research on your Dossier Sheet and printouts of 3 photos.

** What’s a Storyboard? A series of sketches showing how the characters and plot develop in an animated series, t.v. show, film, video game, etc. The images are often accompanied by written notes about the action, camera shots, and other technical notes. Find info and examples at Ohio State’s Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design Storyboarding Webpage.

For Teachers

Smuggling a baby in your handbag, stealing bridge passes from a German officer, secretly delivering counterfeit identification to refugees in hiding, riding past the authorities in the dark of night with contraband hidden under your coat—these were just some of the acts of bravery of the Dutch Resistance during World War II.

This WebQuest was designed for students in grades 7 – 12 in conjunction with Passing on the Comfort, an exhibit featuring World War II aid quilts. The exhibit tells the story of An Keuning-Tichelaar, a member of the Dutch Resistance who sheltered many refugees in her home in the Netherlands during and after the war. Inspired by An, her husband Herman, and other members of the Dutch Resistance, this WebQuest can complement a visit to the exhibit, and works just as well on its own.

Nazi German forces invaded the Netherlands in May of 1940, and within several days had taken control of the country. The Netherlands remained under Nazi control until 1945. It was not easy to fight against the Germans, who took control of much of the country’s resources and sent many Dutch men out of the country to labor in German work camps. Many people just tried to get along as best as they could without placing themselves in danger.

However, An and her husband Herman were among a small group of brave people in an underground network called the Resistance who secretly worked against the German authorities and risked their lives to help other people in need. As Mennonites, a Christian faith that practices non-violence, An and Herman found many ways to fight the Germans that did not involve weapons or violence.

You can read more about An's story in her book, written with Lynn Kaplanian-Buller, Passing on the Comfort.

Evaluation
Here is a rubric to use with your students.

How's It Work?
We're interested in hearing how this webquest works with your students. Please email us at linda@riverhillpartners.com.

Resources for Service Learning

How To Get Involved

Not only does service learning make the world a better place, it provides unique learning opportunities. Service learning involves teamwork, community involvement, intergenerational interactions, and the complexity of real-life problem solving. Service projects allow students with diverse skills and backgrounds to shine. They can motivate students to apply and deepen core academic knowledge and skills while meeting new challenges.

Not sure how to begin? Here are some specific examples to get you started. At the bottom of this section, you’ll find links to guidelines and tools to help you custom-design a service-learning project tied to the specific needs of your students, curriculum, and community.

Service Learning Project Examples

Oral History Projects
Oral History Project Guidelines:
Oral History Project Lesson Plan
A lesson plan from the University of Illinois connecting oral history projects with the objectives of day-to-day classroom learning.

Library of Congress: Sample Interview Questions for Veterans
This helpful website also includes guidelines for submitting your interviews to the Library of Congress Archives!

Examples of Transcribed Interviews with World War II Survivors:

Teen Ink: An Interview with World War II Veteran Angelo Abruzzi

Novi High School Interviews

Examples of High School Service Learning Projects
Brief overviews of several excellent high school projects that have been implemented in history, computer, English, biology, accounting, civics, forensics, and speech classes.

Education Beyond the Classroom
Many examples of K-12 service learning projects related to environmentally responsible solid waste management (reducing garbage, reusing, recycling, and composting). Each of the project summaries includes contact information for project coordinators, from teachers to waste management companies, park service educators, composting experts, and others.

Service Learning in Action
Many examples of successful K-12 service learning projects from Learning In Deed, a national initiative launched by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Learn and Serve Clearinghouse
A searchable database of K-12 service learning projects. Find ideas across the curriculum or submit your own success story to share with others.

Start a Disaster Preparedness Team
Information about creating a school or community disaster preparedness team, including training recommendations.

Service Learning Lessons: Hurricane Katrina Relief
Service learning lessons and projects related to Hurricane Katrina.

Work with an Established Aid Agency

Working with an established aid agency is a great way to get started. Organizations like MCC and the Red Cross have decades of experience. They have many service programs already underway, and are always looking for more volunteers.

Mennonite Central Committee Website
MCC is the Mennonite aid agency that organized the collection and distribution of aid quilts, along with food and other emergency supplies to refugees and devastated communities during and after World War II. Visit their website to find out about their many ongoing projects in the U.S., Canada, and around the world. Click on “Get Involved” to learn how you can participate. The site provides clear and simple directions for making a variety of relief kits, a project accessible to every grade level. You’ll also find challenging volunteer, internship, and scholarship opportunities.

American Red Cross Partners
This listing of the Red Cross’s partner organization provides links to many great organizers of youth volunteer effort.

DESIGNING YOUR OWN SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT

Planning, Implementing, and Assessing Service Learning Projects
Developed by the Corporation for National & Community Service, these guidelines are useful for those who want to custom-design a rich, student-centered, need-driven community project.

Service Learning Toolbox
An in-depth packet of checklists and worksheets to guide you through the process.

CREDITS

This WebQuest was created by Education Consultant Joann Harnden, in conjunction with Riverhill on behalf of the Mennonite Central Committee in 2008.

Image Credits
Title Bar, left to right
Attic, Netherlands Institute for War Documentation
Members of the Dutch Interior Forces eating, The DI played an important part in welcoming and guiding allied forces into the country. Historisch Adviesbureau
Bicyclist in Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for War Documentation

For Student Section, top to bottom:
DIF Forces, Historisch Adviesbureau
German soldiers checking identity papers, Historisch Adviesbureau
Checkerboard with hidden identity papers, Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
Typewriter used by Amsterdam housewife Coba Veltman to type the call for the February strike, 1941. Resistance Museum, Amsterdam
Child eating during Hunger Winter, Netherlands Institute for War Documentation
Dutch children with relief supplies after the end of the war.
Mennonite Archives

Last updated 11/13/08

Conditions for Use and Modification
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is granted for others to use and modify this WebQuest for educational, non-commercial purposes as long as the original authorship is credited.

Dutch Resistance Webquest is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.riverhillpartners.com.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

For Students: Your Assignment

For Teachers

Resources for Service Learning

CREDITS

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