Hi Everyone!
May, for me, is teaching The Diary of Anne Frank. This is one of my favorite units, not only because of the diary, because I get to teach empathy, perspective, and "walking in someone else's shoes".
Because of the timing and many interruptions in May, I teach through many medias and excerpts from Anne's diary. I incorporate poems, videos, Power Point presentations, pictures, and other pieces to give my students the full effect of the diary.
DAY # 1-This year, I started off the an Anticipation guide which asks students to share their opinions on general statements. For example, students have to agree, disagree or neutral a statement like, "A leader should be kind, gentle, and understanding." The students then have to support their claim with their own opinions and feelings. Check out my free anticipation guide:
DAY 2 & 3-After the Anticipation Guide, I teach the students about stereotypes, racism, prejudices, and discrimination. I begin by reading the allegory, The Terrible Things with the students. We then compare it to the poem, "First They Came for the Jews". Following, we speak about what happens if one does not speak out, and discuss common stereotypes that are used on a daily basis and how dangerous they can be to a specific group. I also clarify the definition of racism and prejudice with them.
DAY 4, 5, & 6-I show students the documentary by Steven Spielberg called, The Last Days. The Last Days is about five Hungarian Jews who survive concentration camps, and they talk about their eye-witness accounts about the last days of the war. This is a phenomenal piece, and it truly gives the students the perspective of a Jewish person during WWII.
DAY 7-I hand out the 20-page Resource Guide. This packet contains the foreword of Anne's diary, as well as an array of Anne's diary entries, along with journal/reaction entries I created for the diary entries I selected. You can find the journal/reaction entries here:
This is where! To be continued!
~Kim