...I finally realized
that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant, to get on in life, to
become a journalist, because that's what I want! I know I can write... it remains
to be seen whether I really have talent...I need to have something besides a husband
and children to devote myself to!...I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to
all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!
And that's why I'm so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can
use to develop myself and to express all that's inside me!
When I write
I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But,
and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will
I ever become a journalist or a writer?
—Anne Frank, Wednesday, 5
April,1944
Introduction
In its online introduction to Anne Frank, the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum states,
"Anne Frank was one of the hundreds of thousands of Jewish children who died in
the Holocaust." In that sense, she is not unique; however, through the very ordinary
act of writing a diary, through her youthful wisdom and budding literary talent,
Anne remains today an extraordinary "symbol for the lost promise of the children
who died in the Holocaust." This lesson invites
you to supplement your students' reading of The Diary of a Young Girl by connecting
the diary to the study of history and to honor the legacy of Anne Frank, the writer,
as she inspires your students to use writing to deepen their insights into their
own experiences and the experiences of others.
Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons
in this unit, students will be able to:
Discuss
how Anne did or did not change during her two years in the Secret Annex
Take
a stand on how much Anne has in common with contemporary young people
Use
specific examples from first-hand accounts to draw conclusions about one aspect
of human behavior.
Guiding Questions
For
what purposes did Anne Frank use her diary? What are some writing strategies Anne
employed? How can students apply these and similar strategies in their own writing?
Preparing to teach this Lesson
Lesson 1,
Anne Frank: One of Hundreds of Thousands,helps
students put Anne Frank in a historical context. It begins with a broad overview
of the map of World War II in Europe, continues with a look at what happened to
a selection of countries, and ends with a lens on the Netherlands and Anne Frank.
Lesson 2, Anne
Frank: Writer,concentrates on the diary with a look at Anne Frank the adolescent
and Anne Frank the writer. Students then practice one of Anne's writing strategies—self-imposed
rules about how she would compose a particular entry--with material from their
own lives.
A
free online resource is available from the EDSITEment-reviewed United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum website, Teaching
about the Holocaust: A Resource Book for Educators provides guidelines
for teaching about the Holocaust, a historical summary and chronology, and an
annotated bibliography and videography on Holocaust-related topics. It also describes
information about programs offered by Museum educators and additional resources
for teachers. To view or print the entire resource book go to the page, "For Teachers."
Part III lets teachers receive, at no charge, an introductory packet of resources
from the Education Resource Center; it also contains an extensive, annotated bibliography
with sections for middle school students, high school students, and adults.
Material
about the Holocaust must be presented to young people with great sensitivity.
An excellent list of methodological considerations is available on page 13 of
Teaching about the Holocaust: A Resource Book for Educators; guidelines may also
be found in the online workshop "Teaching
about the Holocaust".Though the web pages
and other items specifically featured in this lesson plan have been selected with
care, they inevitably contain-as they relate to the Holocaust-potentially disturbing
material. Should students explore the website on their own, they may come across material of a graphic nature. The teacher should set guidelines for the class and be prepared to help students.
To learn more about Anne Frank,
go to:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Anne
Frank
Review the lesson plan. Prepare copies of the chart, as
necessary. This lesson is intended for students who have completed or are completing
The Diary of a Young Girl.
The chart of Anne's reflections on different feelings, relationships
and behaviors could be distributed to students before they read the diary.
1If desired, review with
the class some basic background information about Anne
Frank and the Holocaust from the EDSITEment resource United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum. How old was Anne (born June 12,
1929) when the Frank family went into hiding? (She was 13.) How old was she when
she died? (She was 15.) Share with the class this quote from the Anne
Frank House website, a link from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
"Because she has to keep going under trying circumstances she quickly becomes
more grown-up than other youngsters of the same age." Though
Anne lived under trying and unusual circumstances, what would your students say
Anne has in common with contemporary young people.? In what ways is she different?
Assign students (working alone or in groups) a particular
half of the diary (by length, the first half would be up to about January 6, 1944).
Students will read the diary in search of quotes that indicate Anne's reflections
on different feelings, relationships and behaviors that she noted while her family
was in hiding. A PDF worksheet, The Diary of Anne Frank: A Changing record is provided for students
to fill out as they work. If desired, each group
could transfer its findings to a poster serving as the basis of a short presentation
to the class.
2As
students share their findings, they should compare the items found in the first
half of the diary and the second half. Is there any evidence of change in Anne's attitudes
from the earlier entries to later entries? Based on Anne's writing--and setting
aside for the moment the trying circumstances under which she lived—how would
students say Anne is like young people today? How is she different? Poll the class.
Do class members believe Anne is like or unlike young people
today? Now that the students have looked at Anne,
the person, and come to some conclusions about the changes she did or did not
undergo during her time in hiding, they are ready to look at Anne, the writer.
Her Tales from the Secret Annex (published in 1983) attested to the seriousness
of Anne's desire to be a writer. Anne regarded her diary as practice for her future
career, a means toward personal development and an attempt to keep up her spirits
in difficult times. Share with the students the
page "First
Diary" from Anne
Frank House, a link from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Anne
used her diary for many purposes. In a number of
the diary entries, Anne used some strategies—self-imposed rules about how she
would compose a particular entry--to challenge herself to compose something beyond
a conventional diary entry. Below are some examples:
Wednesday,
4 August, 1943: "A Description of an Ordinary Day" (ASSIGNMENT: Describe what
is happening around the writer at specific intervals of time.)
Monday, 9
August, 1943: "The Secret Annexe Daily Timetable Continued" (ASSIGNMENT: Note
each person's actions during a communal meal.)
Wednesday, 18 August, 1943:
"The Communal Task of the Day: Potato Peeling" (ASSIGNMENT: Depict an activity
in detail.)
Thursday, 11 November, 1943: "Ode to My Fountain Pen: In Memoriam"
(ASSIGNMENT: Describe a personal object in detail and relate its history.)
Note:
Students interested in this kind of writing might want to read some of Pablo
Neruda's odes to commonplace objects, such as "Ode to Tomatoes" and "Ode to Salt"
by Pablo Neruda which are available on Elementary
Odes (a link from the EDSITEment resource The
American Academy of Poets).
Tuesday, 16 May, 1944: "A Little Discussion"
(ASSIGNMENT: Transcribe a conversation with "stage directions.")
Tuesday,
1 August, 1944: "A Little Bundle of Contradictions" (ASSIGNMENT: Compose a warts-and-all
self-portrait.)
Review one or more of the
entries cited above to see how Anne applied the strategy. Once students are familiar
with the writing strategies from Anne's diary, they can now apply one to material
from their own lives by composing a personal narrative. Assign
students the writing of a brief essay based on one of the strategies identified
above. So, for example, a student could choose to describe what is happening around
him/her (in the lunchroom, for example) at five-minute intervals. For a pre-writing
activity, that student might make notes every five minutes on paper previously
divided for the purpose. Later she would shape the pre-writing material into
an essay. The best essays will explore one specific aspect of human behavior.
Students should strive to draw conclusions by citing examples from specific
incidents until, in the end, they move from specific examples to generalizations
about the behavior.
Extending the Lesson
1. When learning about
Anne Frank, students were acquainting themselves with only one of many individuals
whose lives were affected by events in Europe before and during World War II.
Through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum site, students can read (and
even view video of) a number of first-hand accounts in which people dealt with
intense aspects of human behavior.
Begin by reading or viewing and then
discussing one or more accounts such as:
Have students read and/or view eyewitness accounts with a lens on
one specific aspect of human behavior such as those explored above for Anne Frank.
Many first-person
accounts are available through the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website.
The articles on the countries occupied by Germany used in Lesson 1 (also from
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website) also contain links to personal stories:
If desired, students can be asked to compare these eye-witness accounts
to Anne Frank's writings.
2. Students interested in learning more about
The Holocaust can explore The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's The
Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students: "Organized by theme, this site
uses text, historical photographs, maps, images of artifacts, and audio clips
to provide an overview of the Holocaust. It is the first step in a growing resource
for middle and secondary level students and teachers, with content that reflects
the history as it is presented in the Museum's Permanent Exhibition, The Holocaust."
3. Students can read authentic stories of some Dutch citizens in Netherlands
Stories, from U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Included are four brief videotaped
accounts of eyewitnesses.
4. Students can read and react to a contemporary
diary written by a young woman in a war torn part of the world through Zlata's
Diary, by Zlata Filipovic. (Viking Press, 1997. Grade levels: 6-12.)
5.
Students can use the resources of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
to research "Blacks
During the Holocaust", including learning about Joseph
Nassy, "a black expatriate artist of Jewish descent. Nassy was living in
Belgium when World War II began, and was one of about 2,000 civilians holding
American passports who were confined in German internment camps during the war."
The site also includes examples of works by Nassy.
8. Have students
read (or read to them from) Tales from the Secret Annex by Anne Frank (Doubleday
Books: 1983. Grade levels 9-12.).
9. Students who want to learn more about
Anne Frank can view some photos of the rowhouse and the attic in which Anne spent
two years confined with her family and four other people , available from the
website Anne Frank House
, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum. As one recent visitor to the house described
it: "Amsterdam rowhouses are very tall, very narrow, with incredibly steep staircases.
You walk up the steep narrow stairs, go through the secret doorway behind the
bookcase, then all of a sudden there's this surprisingly large space.… From the
windows of the Anne Frank House… you can look out and see the windows of other
houses and of the street and canal below; for us this was a picaresque detail,
but for Anne and her family it presented an incredible danger, as their eventual
betrayal by a Dutch neighbor attests." Some editions of the diary include a sketch
that Anne herself made of the rooms in the house.
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