Alabama Social Studies SS24.HOS.6a

Social StudiesGrades 9–12The Rise of Hitler and the Nazis

The Standard

SS24.HOS.6: Explain how Nazis’ racial beliefs were representative of their overall worldview.*

Describe the concept of the “Aryan Race” in Nazi ideology.

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · The Rise of Hitler and the Nazis

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students describe how Nazis falsely claimed that people of Germanic ancestry belonged to a superior “Aryan” race. They explain how this racist idea was used to exclude Jewish people and other groups.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain the Nazi claim without treating it as fact. They can show how the 1935 Nuremberg Laws used ancestry rules to strip Jewish Germans of citizenship.
Common Misconceptions: Some students think “Aryan” was a real biological race or meant every white person. Others think Nazis targeted Jewish people only for their religion, missing how Nazi rules classified people by family ancestry.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: In two sentences, explain what Nazis meant by “Aryan” and how ancestry rules affected Jewish Germans under the Nuremberg Laws.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a printed excerpt from the 1935 citizenship rules; have them highlight ancestry terms and circle who lost citizenship.
Ask students to write: Why did Nazis classify Jewish people by ancestry, even when a person did not practice Judaism?
Run a true-or-false quiz with these claims: “Aryan was a biological race” and “Nazis used family ancestry to deny citizenship.”
Show a current ancestry DNA ad; ask what ancestry estimates can suggest and what they cannot prove about human worth.

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