1 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13, 1999 AFTERNOON SESSION A 14:00-15:30 Jewish Life Under Nazi Rule Literature of the Ghettoes and Camps by: Hene Kelly Educational Unit Classroom use of the literature of the ghettos and camps as reflected through diaries and personal testimonies: This unit is appropriate for use with students in grades 6-12. Objectives: To have students understand the concepts of "choiceless choices" and the will to live through close reading of five diaries of children who died in the Holocaust To personalize the Holocaust To present the history of the Holocaust through individual experiences of children close to the ages of the students To give a broad picture of what it was like to be a teenager during this historical time period To show how these young people managed to cling to their humanity despite the torments descending upon them and their families Texts for grades 6-9: We Are Witnesses: Five Diaries of Teenagers Who Died in the Holocaust by Jacob Boas, published by Scholastic, 1995. Play version of We Are Witnesses by Jacob Boas Texts for grades 10-12: Translations of the original diaries of: David Rubinowicz Yitzhak Rudashevski Moshe Flinker Éva Heyman Anna Frank
Play version of We Are Witnesses by Jacob Boas 2 Teaching Strategies: 1. Dialectical or Double Entry Journals 2. Visual Learning 3. Literature Circles 4. Dramatic Reading The Texts: The text used for the middle school grades will be We Are Witnesses, the shortened version of five diaries of children who died in the Holocaust tied together by a historical narrative, by Jacob Boas and the play version of this book. Based on excerpts from the wartime writings of five Jewish Children, We Are Witnesses chronicles the disintegration of daily life as ordinary families were persecuted, then murdered, under Hitler s Final Solution. The story of each child is set in relation to the others and to the larger historical picture. Together, the young diarists present a more rounded view of what it was like to be a teenager than one based solely on the account left by Anne Frank. With their joy of living, their sharp observations, and the power of their experiences, the three boys and two girls in We Are Witnesses testify to the best in the human soul. David Rabinowicz, the son of a dairyman in the Polish countryside, struggles against fears and terror in Poland. Yitzhak Rudashevski, from Lithuania, shows how Jews clung to culture and learning. Moshe Flinker, a deeply religious child, seeks answers from G-d for this relentless tragedy. Eva Heyman, from an assimilated family in Hungary, demonstrates the unquenchable hunger for life that sustained all of these children. Through Anne Frank, isolated in an attic in Amsterdam, we look back at the other four, and from our broadened perspective, take another deeper look at Anne as well. High School students will be given complete diaries of one or more of the same five children as well as the play. Not all students in a single high school class will read the same diaries. Students will read their chosen diary in a "Literature Circle". Group reports of each" Literature Circle" will be employed to make sure that all students learn the stories of all five children. A play version of We Are Witnesses can be used in conjunction with the book or the complete diaries. Note: Although this workshop refers to specific texts, teachers can use the teaching strategies with any diaries, testimonies, or memoirs.
3 Materials Available to Participants: 1. A copy of We Are Witnesses 2. Double entry journals for We Are Witnesses 3. Sample dialectical journals 4. Open Head worksheet 5. Literature Circle group worksheets 6. Play version of We Are Witnesses
The Teaching Strategies: 4 1. Dialectical or Double Entry Journal The dialectical or double entry journal is a type of two-column double-entry note taking which students use while reading literature. It helps students construct meaning from a text or event, to personalize what they read, and to write down the insights gained from the reading. Readers respond in writing to a quotation or to their own summary of what they have read. This type of journal allows students to question, elaborate, make personal connections, evaluate, reflect upon, make predictions, analyze, or interpret what they have read. The directions for dialectical or double entry journals can be as simple as a sheet of paper folded in half with these instructions: Fold a piece of paper in half vertically. On the left hand side of the paper, write a summary of what you read last night. On the right hand side of the paper, write about: 1. how what you read makes you feel; 2.what you think is going to happen to the diarist next, or 3. questions you have about what is happening. Another type of dialectical or double entry journals allows students to record their responses to what they read. On the left side of the paper, the student copies text which is intriguing, puzzling, or moving, or which connects to a previous entry or situation. On the left side of the paper, the student reacts to the quotation or summary. The entry may include a comment, a question, a connection made, an analysis. Entries are made whenever a natural pause in the reading occurs, so that the flow is not interrupted constantly. These directions can get the journal under way: Fold a piece of paper in half vertically. Choose a passage from the portion of the diary that you read last night. Write the passage on the left side of the paper. On the right hand side of the paper, write about 1. how the passage makes you feel, 2. what you think is going to happen to the diarist next, or 3. what questions you have about what is happening.
For students who are not self-starters, a prepared Double entry journal can be assigned. This is a double entry journal where the teacher has chosen the passages for the student. Double Entry Journal The left hand column contains quotations from We Are Witnesses. In the right hand column, write your ideas about each of the quotations. You might consider what the quotations say about the feelings of the characters or what they remind you of in your own life. You can write any questions or make any comments about the quotations. 5 Quotation from We Are Witnesses Ideas about the quotation David Rubinowicz When you hear endlessly of such atrocities, how can you live calmly, without fear? When you hear such things you really do get very frightened. (P. 21) Everyone goes around frightened, wondering where can hide and find somewhere safe. But where can one feel safe nowadays? Nowhere at all. (P. 28) But we live in a time when you can t speak out; all you can do is keep quiet and swallow everything. (P. 32)
2. Visual Learning 6 Some students learn best when they visualize what they read. Techniques using art to help students react to and learn from diaries will be discussed. Open Mind This strategy is designed to assist students as they focus on character analysis while reading a selection. Students are given a sheet with an outline of a head drawn on it that represents the diarist s mind. Students are asked to draw symbols or use words or phrases to tell what is going on in the diarist s mind at a particular point in the diary. An example of an Open Mind assignment sheet is reproduced below. THE OPEN MIND FOR
7 Other Visual Learning Techniques 1. Students are asked to picture the story just as it sounds. After the students have read an entire diary, the teacher passes out construction paper and markers and asks the students to visualize one moment from the diary. Then the students draw a picture of what they remember most or what affected them the most. Then the students can help the teacher hang the pictures around the classroom in chronological order. Sometimes there will be two or more versions of the same scene, and the class can discuss how responses differ. 2. Another use of art is to ask students to draw a scene from the day's reading. When students share their drawings, others who may have missed key points understand them more clearly. Some reluctant writers are enthusiastic artists and can show what they know more effectively through illustrations than through words. 3. Literature Circles Literature Circles are small, temporary discussion groups comprised of students who have chosen to read the same story, poem, article, or book. While reading each selected portion of the text (either in or outside of class), each member takes specific responsibilities in the upcoming discussion, and everyone comes to the groups with the notes needed to help perform that job. The Literature Circles have regular meetings, with discussion roles rotating each session. When they finish a book, the members of each Literature Circle plan a presentation to share highlights of their reading with the rest of the class through oral reports or posters. In Literature Circles students exchange perceptions, interpretations and questions about the literature they read. Students who are reading the same literature gather to discuss the selection and work together to construct meaning from the text, and students who are reading different books gather to compare themes, writing styles, and selections by the same author. Personal responses, insights and questions can be recorded in logs or journals during reading, then shared during group sessions. Initial Literature Circles may be teacher-led, but students who are truly engaged in the literature selection can conduct their own sessions. Literature Circles offer readers the opportunity to become literate. We want our students to think actively and critically about what they read. In literature circles readers become critical thinkers as they engage in ongoing dialogue about their reading. Readers begin to see pieces of literature as part of a larger whole and become aware of diverse perspectives on similar topics in their search for connections among the books which literature circle members have read.
8 Group Formation and Size Literature Circle groups are formed around several people's shared desire to read the same book or article - not by reading level, ability grouping, teacher assignment, or curriculum mandate. These groups are temporary and task oriented. They often mix children of different "abilities." Once they have finished reading and discussing a book of common interest, the group disbands and individuals find their way into new, different groups by picking their next book. Role of Students Students participating in Literature Circles can be assigned definite roles. The following are examples of the roles. 1. Illustrator (makes a graphic representation to represent a selection from that day s passage.) 2. Discussion Director (constructs questions to bring to the Literature Circle for discussion) 3. Word Wizard/Literary Luminary (locates a few special sections of the text that the group reads aloud and talks about) 4. Summarizer (gives a brief overview of the reading assignment and points out the main ideas of the portion read) It is very important for the teacher to properly model each of these roles so that students have a thorough understanding of what is expected of them. Many teachers introduce each role on a separate day as they read a novel to the students. Using an overhead of the role sheet, they model the completion of the role sheet. They 'think out loud' about their own thinking as they complete the sheet. Group members are encouraged to change roles each day, rotating the jobs among all the group members. Each day each student completes a role sheet. Role sheets are kept in English Language Binders and form a record of student work and can be used for assessment.
9 An example of a Literature Circle worksheet follows: Discussion Director Name Group Book Date Assignment: Pages to Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don't worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the "big ideas" in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings and concerns as you read, which you can list below, during or after your reading. Possible discussion questions or topics for today: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Connections: What are you reminded of by today s reading?
4. Dramatic Reading 10 When students (grades 6-9) have finished reading either We Are Witnesses or the complete diaries, they can perform a concert version of the play that has been written from the book. This will help them visualize and personalize the diarists. Students can perform the play for other classrooms. They may decide to do a full production of the play for their school and community.