Taking a Journey in WWII: Diary of Anne Frank

Funded Feb 25, 2016

Dear Burch Family Foundation,

Our classroom has had such a fun time learning about Anne Frank, Holocaust, various genocides and extremities of propaganda. At the beginning of our journey we had discussed what we knew about the various topics that were going to be mentioned in Frank's book and learned that we did not know enough to teach the topic to someone, which became our mission. We needed to know more about the Holocaust.

Our goal as a classroom was to see firsthand how autobiographies are written, their focus and variations. We also set out to learn more about our history prior to the civil rights movement and how war, Anti-Semitism, political views can drastically change a way of life, given in Anne's life and the Jewish people.

During our thematic unit on genocide which consisted of the use of propaganda, leaders in charger and their background, reasons for the extremity of genocide, summary of the country in which the genocide occurred, mainly focusing on the political views, wars or indifference that were occurring at the time. Another lesson that took part in our unit was the use of concentration camps during the Holocaust. We learned about Treblinka, Auschwitz, Belzec and Dachau.

Along our journey, curiosity became of us and we had a rising question, "does genocide still occur today or has it occurred in the past with other populations?" We had ignited a fire to embark on genocide occurrences around the world, which led to group projects, use of technology for research and classroom discussions. Our classroom consisted of 5 different groups and with that each had their own assigned genocide. We studied the genocides in Armenia, Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and even American Indian.

Another small project I decided to include was assigning each student a victim of the holocaust. I wanted to mimic the process that the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, California creates for their attendees for their Holocaust exhibit. Each attendee is given a victim at the beginning of their tour, then at the end they would receive information about their victim and if they survived. I was able to find a resource that allowed this and gave students their own victim to carry with them as we read, The Diary of Anne Frank. When we came to the end of the book I had left a notification on each desk about the fate if their victim. As victims ranged in age from toddlers to elderly, students were devastated. This concluded our journey.

We concluded our journey with the thought of how simple a genocide can be started. We reflected in how mindfulness of others and their cultures should be key in our lives.

Once again thank you for your kind investment to our classroom and education. This project was much more than a general subject taught in language arts and social studies for us. It has shaken our fixed mindsets to growth, awaken more empathy and passion to change the world. Thank you from all of us.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Rubio-Valle