A Child of the Holocaust Speaks

Using the video Anne Frank "Speaks," students will be introduced to the life of a child of the Holocaust via video. After watching the video, students will be asked to begin to make connections of all the information that has thus far been presented. Students will be asked to begin a "Child of the Holocaust" journal. In this reflection and journaling piece, students will be asked to journal in response to the novel that they will be reading in literature class as well as the literature circle books they will be reading in library class. These journal responses will be first person responses as students "adopt" a name of the child of the Holocaust and begin to response to all the reading and information through that child's eyes.

Anne Frank "Speaks"+Holocaust Documentary: Click the video link below

Anne Frank "Speaks"+Holocaust Documentary

Historical Overview

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum offers a plethora of resources for students and teachers alike. To access the site, go to www.ushmm.org and click on teacher's or student's link. As the next step in my study, I plan to do a broad overview of the rise of Hitler, the oppression of the Jews, and the plight, particularly of children in the Holocaust. Afterwards, students will be placed into groups of four and assigned an historical section of the Holocaust to research using the www.ushmm.org website. Studies will click on the "student's link" and go to A Learning Site for Students. Each small group will choose a section to explore. Students will spend one class period exploring their information and preparing to synethsize and present the information in a multiple intelligence choice format to other groups. The following class period, students will present the information and use large group discussion to draw connections to the down fall of Germany in WWI, the rise of Hitler, and the oppression of the Jews.

Writing Prompt

After reading the poem "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," write a one paragraph response to what emotions and thoughts were evoked as you read the poem and looked at the cooresponding images. In addition, answer these questions: How could a child find any joy in such deplorable circumstances? Have you ever found yourself in a devasting situation, but found ways to see elements of goodness and joy? After writing the prompt, go to the following link and click on the names of at least three children of the Holocaust, read their biographies and jot down five biographical facts about at least one of the children. The link is: www.graceproducts.com; click on the Forget Me Not--Anne Frank box.

I Never Saw Another Butterfly by Pavel Friedman

The last, the very last
So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun's tears would sing
against a white stone...

Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly 'way up high.
It went away I'm sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I've lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto. But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterfies don't live in here, in the ghetto.

Where Shall I Begin

After searching several websites, I have determined that the best place to start the introduction of the Holocaust with 6th graders would be through the children's poem "I Never Saw Another Butterfly." The poem written by 20 year old Pavel Friedman while interned at the Terezin Concentration Camp is a true testament to the spirit and pain of the more than 12,000 children who were imprisioned in the camp between 1942 and 1944. More than 90% of these children died. I think is very important to help my students see the Holocaust through the eyes of those close to their ages. There is significance in the empathy that can grow between today's children and those in history. I have developed a short writing prompt that incorporates the words of the poem and visuals that I feel would prove stimulating and moving to my 6th graders. I do not plan to go "overboard" with graphic visual images, rather focus on the individuals in this horrific time in the history of our world. Students will also be reading Number the Stars in their literature classes while I am leading some historic research on the children.