>>>I teach communism in my publik hi scewl class. I tell my students that their assignment is a two page paper about communism. Then I tell them that everyone will be given a C+. Each year, only one or two students figure it out and simply hand in a piece of paper with their name on it. There are always the overachievers who actually write the paper. It provides a great learning experience!<<<
I have an even more unnerving experience for my little high schoolers. (We read “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” so they can understand the pleasantries of socialism.)
One day, when the students walk in, I grab all the backbacks as they enter the room. Private property has been banned, of course. Then I distribute the wealth found in those backpacks, to each according to their need. Those who resist are immediately sent out of the room and shot (so to speak - the assistant principal is in on the act).
It always provokes good discussion afterward.
Cool lesson!
One book some of your students might find interesting is, "How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed", by Slavenka Drakulic. It's an autobiography from a woman's perspective about the last 20 years under communist rule in Eastern Europe.