State of Deception: Nazi Propaganda

LESSON PLAN

Methodological Considerations for teaching Propaganda:

  1. As with any Holocaust topic, adhere to the USHMM Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust (CTRL + click to activate the hyperlink and see the full list of Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust)
  2. Make sure you define “Propaganda.”
  3. Provide some historical context for the propaganda that you teach.
  4. Use media literacy questions and processes to have students critically analyze and deconstruct propaganda.
  5. Avoid having students create their own propaganda.

Technological Considerations for using the State of Deception Online Exhibit in your classroom or computer lab:

In order for you to experience the full power of the State of Deception website, you have to have the most recent Adobe Flash player downloaded on your computer. If not, you will only see the text version of the website and will not be able to view the majority of the activities in this workshop. To check and see if you have the most current Flash player, follow these steps:

  1. Go to
  2. Click on the timeline link at the top of the page.
  3. If the webpage says “Text Version” and gives you a message that you need the latest version of Adobe, click on the link provided to download the Adobe player.
  4. Follow the instructions for downloading Adobe. *

*If you take a class to the computer lab to explore this site, you will need to make sure that all of the computers in the lab are updated with Adobe. You may also need a class set of headphones if you want them to hear the videos and other commentaries.

Downloading images from the State of Deception Online Exhibit:

To use images from the website, you can download them through the Text Version of the site. Here are the instructions for finding and downloading those images:

  1. Go to the home page at
  2. At the bottom of the home page, click on “Text Version” (right next to “Contact Us”)
  3. The next page will have three options. To see a gallery of all of the images available for download, click on the “Artifacts Gallery.”
  4. There are 11 pages of images for you to look through. When you choose one, follow these steps:
  5. Click on the image icon on the Artifacts Gallery page.
  6. Right click on the image that pops up and choose to either copy the image to a program or save the image by clicking on “Save Picture As…”
  7. Make sure you copy the caption and credit information as well when you use it.

Time recommended for lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes

Materials needed for Lesson Plan: Student handouts for introduction, station movement, and homework; printouts of the propaganda pieces; large, poster-sized post-it notes or white butcher paper; markers for writing comments around the propaganda pieces; six laptops (if possible---only one station absolutely needs a laptop) with internet access; and computer and projector (if possible to project at beginning and end of lesson—adjustments can be made to teach lesson without a computer and projector).

Preparation needed before lesson: Print out propaganda pieces for five of the six stations in the lesson. If possible, laminate the propaganda pieces so that they can be reused for different classes. For each theme, there are four pieces of propaganda; tape them down to large poster-sized post-it notes or butcher paper so that students can write comments about the pieces as they progress through the groups.

Arrange your desks into six groups and put a different theme at each table. Also put markers at each table. If possible, also put a laptop at each table with internet access available. Group six needs a laptop as they will be analyzing staged propaganda films. Make sure all laptops work and that Flash player is downloaded to each so that the interactive version of the website is available. If you have laptops for each station, go ahead and cue up the right page on the theme for each group (directions are in the student handout as to where they can be found) and bookmark each part of the website in case the students get on the wrong page accidentally. You can also use the bookmarks for each group posted on the Lesson Study website at: This way, students can just click on the links that they need for each task at each group. Also, if you have power cords running across the room for laptops, make sure that they are taped down. Finally, you may want to remind students to not let the computer go to sleep at each station so that a user name and password don’t have to be re-entered by the time they get to the computer portion. Tell students to assign someone to occasionally move the mouse to keep the computer “awake.”

The Deceiving the Public group is the only one that needs a laptop or desktop for sure. You will probably also need some external speakers since the video commentary is very important for this group over all of the others. External speakers would also help with the other groups, but often turning up the volume to its highest on the computer was enough for students to hear. It is okay if all of the commentary on the exhibits at each group are going at the same time as long as they can all hear, so put them as far apart as possible in groups to help facilitate that. When this happens, it actually sounds like an exhibit in the room, so this is a desired outcome of the activity. This lesson may be ideal in a media center with tables and more space than a classroom, but can be easily done in a classroom, too.

If you have access to a computer and projector, also have the PowerPoint ready to use at the beginning of the lesson. Photocopy the student handouts. It would be best if they could all be copied in a packet, using the front and back of each page.

Lesson Plan:

30 minutes:

  1. Students come in and sit in six pre-arranged groups.
  2. Have students analyze the definition of propaganda on the first page of the Introduction packet and narrow it down to the most important 3-5 words in the definition. Have them discuss their choices in their groups and then as a class.
  3. Have students use highlighters to highlight all statements about propaganda with which they agree. To the right on the handout, they should explain why they disagree with those statements that they don’t highlight. Have them discuss the statements that they believe are wrong in their groups and then as a class.
  4. Have students narrow the characteristics of propaganda that they highlighted down to five key vocabulary words that would accurately describe propaganda. Discuss with group and class, perhaps making a list on the board of those key terms that they want to keep in mind for their study of propaganda.
  5. Use the example on the PowerPoint slide of The Eternal Jew poster to analyze together as a class a piece of propaganda. Use the second page of the Introduction handouts to walk through all eight questions as a class for an example of a thorough analysis of this piece of propaganda.

46 minutes:

  1. Students will rotate through all six stations, starting with their pre-assigned group. Using the handouts provided for the stations, they will analyze pieces of propaganda and access the online State of Deception exhibit when possible if technology is provided. (If technology is not available, then have them skip over the sections where you will see a laptop icon printed on the handout. You can do some of these as a whole group if you have a computer with access to the internet that you can project for the class to see.) Have them rotate in a clockwise fashion, staying with their group to analyze the propaganda at each station together.
  2. The first rotation is 8 minutes long to give everyone time to adjust. Each rotation after the first one is 7 minutes long. It is recommended that you project an online stopwatch (just Google it and click on the hyperlink to make it full-screen) to count down for each rotation to keep everyone moving and time-conscious. Keep the volume up on your computer since a bell will go off when the time is reached and everyone will know to rotate. Even a kitchen timer would be helpful if you don’t have the capability to project for the class. You can adjust the time in each group according to each class’ ability level and the time you have available to devote to this lesson.
  3. Walk around and remind students to make comments with either sticky notes or on the large poster paper behind the propaganda pieces. You can also remind them of what they are to do, answer questions, and join in the discussion where needed. Keep track of technology and remind students to keep computers “awake” if you are using a laptop at every station. Different stations often have different levels of tasks and so sometimes groups don’t get to the technology piece every time. Remind that that this is okay, but that they need to try to make sure that they get all of the propaganda pieces analyzed first before doing the online exhibit activities.

14 minutes:

  1. When students have rotated through all groups, have them return to their original group. They can read any comments left by the other groups who rotated through.
  2. Have them discuss as a group or with the class what they have now learned about propaganda and the one piece of propaganda that most impacted them and why. If time permits, ask for a few examples from the class. Discussions about current-day connections to propaganda, inclusion and exclusion, and free press could also take place at this time.
  3. Assign the homework piece to have them compare a modern-day news item, or take them into the computer lab the next day to complete the research for the assignment. Discuss their findings in groups and as a whole class after this activity has been completed, either for homework or in class.