Viewing: Number the Stars
February 2, 2020
Learning About Civil Rights
Martin Luther King Day is such an important day in our country, and in our class, it kicked off our informal unit about Civil Rights. On the Friday before Martin Luther King Day, we read the first half of a wonderful book called As Good As Anybody. This book tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr., starting from his life as a young boy. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to talk about the concepts of discrimination, segregation, separate-but-equal (and the inherent flaw in that idea) and more. I’m always glad to see how confused kids are by this – The idea of treating someone unkindly because of their skin color was totally alien to the kids, and they couldn’t fathom how someone would do this to another person. This launched us into our continuing study of diversity and civil rights.
Leaders of the protest, holding flags, from left Bishop James Shannon, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath.” Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery, February 6, 1968. Published February 7, 1968. (Photo by Charles Del Vecchio/Washington Post/Getty Images)
This past Friday, we finished reading As Good As Anybody. The second half of the book taught us about Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish man who fought for the rights of Jews who were being persecuted, much as Dr. King did for African Americans. The two men teamed up and worked together to accomplish their shared goal of earning equal civil rights and fair treatment for ALL.
While the kids were, of course, familiar with Dr. King, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a new name to them. The book hints at how Jews were treated unjustly in Europe during World War II, and it lets us add to our previous understanding of discrimination by race or gender by understanding the idea of discrimination by religion. This transitions perfectly to an activity we’re starting this Monday.
On Monday, fourth graders at PGS will start a unit of study about an incredible novel called Number the Stars. Throughout the week, theater educators from the Hartford Stage will join our class to teach the kids about the novel Number the Stars, which tells the story of a fictional family in Denmark that helps to hide a Jewish family that tries to escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Following the Hartford Stage residency, we will begin reading this novel as a class.
This will be an advanced unit that touches on mature content matter. Fourth graders at PGS have had this unit for many years, and I’m always impressed by how maturely students are able to participate in the lessons.
When we teach this unit, our focus is more on characters and situations in the novel, with general background information provided to students. We do NOT discuss any of the graphic or gory details of the Holocaust, and we always work very hard to make the unit “kid-friendly” and age-appropriate for fourth graders. We focus more on challenges that characters faced and understanding the feelings they had, rather than the facts of what took place during the time period (although some general ideas are introduced during the unit). Think of it as a book that takes place during the Holocaust, not a book about the Holocaust itself.
As the unit progresses, I will be in contact with you to keep you informed about class discussions and content so that you can be prepared for follow-up discussions at home. And as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
April 23, 2019
Blending Geography with Literacy and Technology
We first made this MyMap, in which students brainstormed different landmarks and classified them as local, regional, national, or international landmarks.
In our class, we’ve been blending one of our social studies focus areas (map skills) with our various reading units. Many of you are familiar with Google Maps, which many of us use for GPS navigation or to plan routes. But you may not be familiar with Google MyMaps. MyMaps is a tool available to educators that lets students and teachers build their own custom maps. In these custom maps, users can pin locations, link to photos and information available online, write their own custom content, measure distances, show routes, and much more. In the fall, we first used MyMaps to learn about the difference between local, regional, national, and international landmarks. Students brainstormed different landmarks and classified them based on how well-known they were. This also helped students to become familiar with the idea of MyMaps.
Students shared information about their Connecticut landmarks, including both photos and text, in order to create a virtual tour of the state.
Shortly after, we used MyMaps to create a virtual showcase for the students’ Connecticut Landmark Advertisement Projects. We scanned in the students’ advertisements, and they found the locations on the map, wrote a few sentences to introduce us to their landmark, and embedded photos of their advertisement as well as other found photographs of that landmark. For privacy reasons, an interactive version of this map is not available here. (It has student names included.) But students can always share this with their families from their Google Classroom page.
This image shows the heritage of members of the PGS community.
In January, in preparation for our annual multicultural fair, students in our class mapped out communities from which members of our PGS community originally came. Sometimes we knew specific cities, and in other situations, we knew only the country. While this may sound like a massive undertaking, we quickly built this map, thanks to the students’ proficiency with MyMaps. At the multicultural fair itself, students and families got to enjoy an animated tour of each of the 604 locations as we used Google Earth to zoom in and out of each community.
Also in January, our class started a study of the outstanding novel Number the Stars. As we read the book, which teaches students about life in Denmark during the German occupation in 1936, we found that many real-world landmarks were included in the book (which is considered to be realistic, historical fiction). As we read, we plotted the locations on a MyMap and have been able to better understand the text by learning about many of the places. For example, in the book, the narrator and character Annemarie tells the reader that they can see across the water to Sweden. By measuring, we discovered that it is about 10 miles from the shoreline town of Gilleleje to the closest part of Sweden. Students found their own homes and measured to locations that were a comparable distance away. (They discovered, for example, that seeing the Hartford skyline while driving over Avon Mountain is probably similar to the sight of Sweden from the harbor town of Gilleleje.) Other students learned about Amalienborg, the beautiful palace home to the former King Christian X of Denmark, who is included in the novel. A 360-degree tour of the palace courtyard gave students a glimpse into this far away land. Students are now pulling together the information they’ve learned and are going to embed these facts into our MyMap, which will create a virtual tour of the country of Denmark, as it relates to Number the Stars.
I’m excited to share that we’ve been accepted to share our work with MyMaps at the State Capitol next week! Four students will have the opportunity to join me to showcase our work with this creative resource! If you have any questions about this event, or about our use of MyMaps in general, please feel free to contact me.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 27, 2019
Learning about Civil Rights
Martin Luther King Day is such an important day in our country, and in our class, it kicked off our informal unit about Civil Rights. On The Thursday before Martin Luther King Day, we read the first half of a wonderful book called As Good As Anybody. This book tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr., starting from his life as a young boy. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to talk about the concepts of discrimination, segregation, separate-but-equal (and the inherent flaw in that idea) and more. I’m always glad to see how confused kids are by this – The idea of treating someone unkindly because of their skin color was totally alien to the kids, and they couldn’t fathom how someone would do this to another person. To better illustrate this, we discuss the idea of gender-based discrimination: Are boys better at math than girls? A lot of people think so, so what happens when a male and female are applying for a job at an architectural firm? We discussed how some people might make an unfair decision, and we extended this to form a concept about racial discrimination. Helping kids to build a frame of reference better enables them to understand these ideas. This launched us into our continuing study of diversity and civil rights.
Leaders of the protest, holding flags, from left Bishop James Shannon, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath.” Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery, February 6, 1968. Published February 7, 1968. (Photo by Charles Del Vecchio/Washington Post/Getty Images)
On Friday, we finished reading As Good As Anybody. The second half of the book taught us about Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish man who fought for the rights of Jews who were being persecuted, much as Dr. King did for African Americans. The two men teamed up and worked together to accomplish their shared goal of earning equal civil rights and fair treatment for ALL.
While the kids were, of course, familiar with Dr. King, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a new name to them. The book hints at how Jews were treated unjustly in Europe during World War II, and it lets us add to our previous understanding of discrimination by race or gender by understanding the idea of discrimination by religion. This transitions beautifully to an activity we’re starting on Monday.
On Monday, fourth graders at PGS will start a unit of study about a wonderful novel. Throughout the week, theater educators from the Hartford Stage will join our class to teach the kids about the novel Number the Stars, which tells the story of a fictional family in Denmark that helps to hide a Jewish family that tries to escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Following the Hartford Stage residency, we will begin reading this novel as a class.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 25, 2018
Number the Stars – Day 4
Monday’s lesson focused primarily on dramatic terms and activities to help the kids to get prepared for the rest of the week. On Tuesday, students learned more about the character of Ellen Rosen, a young Jewish girl living in Copenhagen, whose life has changed because of the Nazi presence. The kids learned a bit about what was happening during the Holocaust, and particularly how it affected Ellen’s relationship with her non-Jewish friend, Annemarie. These programs tend to progress through key parts of the book, so Wednesday’s activity focused on a section that took place later on in the novel, where Ellen’s family learned that they must leave in order to avoid being captured by the Nazi soldiers. The kids learned that Annemarie’s family willingly accepted Ellen to stay with them, in hopes of protecting her, while Ellen’s parents sought protection in some other way (that we don’t yet know about). As they had in previous days, the kids participated in some dramatic activities to act out some of the conversations and situations that the young girls found themselves in.
Today’s activities were the most dramatic and revealing. This morning, the kids were invited to role-play what it would be like for them, playing the role of Ellen’s parents, to say goodbye to their daughter who was staying with another family for her own protection. This was a very dramatic activity for the kids, as they had to explain to Sara, who was playing the role of Ellen, their daughter, why they could not stay with her, and why it was not safe for her to come with them. They did a wonderful job thinking about what the parents would actually say to their daughter in that situation, and they showed their understanding of what they had been taught on previous days.
The final activity from today, however, was the most emotional, and, I think, eye-opening for the kids. By moving desks and chairs, our class was transformed into a train traveling out of Denmark. A Nazi soldier, again played by Sara (the theater educator), boarded the train and began to interview the passengers (the kids in our class). The kids were all assigned different roles, such as being a member of a Jewish family, being a member of a group of non-Jewish colleagues who were traveling for business, and other various roles. As they were questioned by the Nazi soldier, the kids did a very impressive job sticking to their characters as they tried to prove that they should not be targets of the soldier’s investigations. As really happened in history, the soldier identified many people, Jews and non-Jews, that she thought needed to be taken off the train. Passengers (the kids) were forced to quickly think on their feet and to come up with explanations to try and save themselves and their companions. This sparked a rich discussion later on as we discussed what the kids were thinking about during the activity.
There is no doubting that this is a very realistic activity. One of the challenges in teaching kids about the Holocaust is helping kids to develop a frame of reference. Here, fortunately, the kids in our class do not generally have any basis for understanding the concepts of hatred and Anti-Semitism. We work very hard to give the kids an understanding of what happened, and an ability to relate to the experiences of people who lived during that time, while not putting the kids under undue stress. To reiterate a point from an earlier post, however, we discuss the feelings and challenges that people faced during this time, without delving into the more graphic parts of the Holocaust. If you’re feeling worried about this unit, please understand that the alarming concepts that you’re probably imagining in your head (which I won’t list here in case students are reading this) are most likely not being discussed or even mentioned in class.
Following these activities, the kids and I always have follow-up conversations, and I encourage kids to share their feelings and their concerns. I always reassure the students that these are events that happened long ago, and that they are safe here in their homes, in Connecticut. When the kids share how sad it is to learn about this, I remind them about the importance of learning about these historical events, among other reasons, so that we can make absolutely sure that nothing like this ever happens again. We had a wonderful conversation about the challenges that people in Europe (Jews and non-Jews) faced in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and I was really impressed by the kids’ mature contributions to the discussion.
Some of the kids may come home and start discussions about these activities. I encourage you to continue to have these discussions with your children, as I try to avoid going into some of the more graphic details with kids. (How far you take the conversation is, of course, a family decision.) Students are explicitly asked to avoid discussing these topics during lunch and recess so that they can benefit from having an adult to facilitate the conversations.
If your son and daughter seems concerned or stressed by what they’ve learned, I encourage you to remind them, first and foremost, that their feelings are understandable and valid! I never tell kids “not to be upset” because the material we are learning about is, in fact, unpleasant. It’s understandable for kids to feel upset and saddened by the events, but if they are afraid, I remind them that these are events from long ago, and that they are safe in their own communities. I also remind them that the police in their community are very different from the Nazi soldiers who patrolled the streets in Copenhagen, and that the police officers in their community are trustworthy, safe people who really are there to help and protect them.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the role playing activities. They will learn about some of the later events in the text, and at the end, the students will receive copies of the novel, which we will read in school together. This week’s activities will serve as a framework for when we read the novel together. I ask that you continue to discourage your kids from reading or learning about the book until we read it in class together.
Please continue to be in touch with me if you have any questions as we continue this important unit.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 24, 2018
Number the Stars (Day 2)
Yesterday, Sara from The Hartford Stage came for our second day of learning about Number the Stars. The kids began by pantomiming several scenes, such as acting in a school play, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, etc. The kids really enjoyed figuring out how to act out those scenes, especially since these moments were so familiar to them. Following these tableaux, Sara led the students in a safe discussion about what was happening in and around Copenhagen (the setting of the story) in the 1930s. She introduced the concept of the Holocaust, and I was surprised by how much many students already knew. She explained that Hilter looked for someone to blame for the problems happening in Germany and that the Jews were made into scapegoats. She shared that, eventually, many of the Jews were rounded up and sent to camps where many worked and many perished. The kids took this topic seriously, and I admire their maturity during the discussion. I should say that there are times when students have additional prior knowledge and may start to share more sensitive information than what we’d normally choose to include. Sara and I both redirect the conversation when this happens, and we remind kids that some things are best discussed with families at home. This hasn’t happened yet this week. In the event that something particularly sensitive is shared by a student in front of the whole class, I’ll, of course, give you a heads-up so you can be prepared for questions at home.
Toward the end of the activity, students thought about what sounds they’d hear in a war zone. Ideas included explosions, gun shots, car engines roaring, people shouting, etc. Students made a “sound circle” where they created a cacophony of the sounds they’d expect to hear during a time of war. Finally, one group of four students recreated the previous tableaux of those familiar moments, but this time, with the “soundtrack” of the sound circle. This helped the kids to imagine how so many of these familiar moments would be different during wartime. Kids shared how they’d feel if they had to live during these situations, and their comments were deep. As I said in a previous message, these students don’t have much understanding of ideas like war, persecution, or hatred, and activities like these help them to understand these concepts a bit better.
Following these activities, I always remind students of a few things: (1) They are completely safe. We’re studying events from our world’s history, and by learning about them, we can work to ensure that they never happen again. But they are absolutely safe in their homes, school, and community. (2) These topics should be discussed when there’s an adult there to facilitate the conversation. So this isn’t appropriate conversation for the lunchroom, playground, bus, etc. (3) There are some things that might be upsetting or alarming. Kids can always come to me if they’re feeling worried or anxious, and they can talk to their grownups at home as well.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 19, 2018
Diversity and Civil Rights – Part 2
Pictured: Martin Luther King (2nd from left) and Abraham Joshua Heschel (right)
Yesterday, we finished reading As Good As Anybody. You may remember that the first half of the book introduced us to Martin Luther King, Jr., starting from when he was a young boy. The second half of the book taught us about Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish man who fought for the rights of Jews who were being persecuted, much as Dr. King did for African Americans. The two men teamed up and worked together to accomplish their shared goal of earning equal civil rights and fair treatment for ALL.
While the kids were, of course, familiar with Dr. King, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a new name to them. The book hints at how Jews were treated unjustly in Europe during World War II, and it lets us add to our previous understanding of discrimination by race or gender by understanding the idea of discrimination by religion. This transitions beautifully to an activity we’re starting on Monday.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 26, 2017
Update on Number the Stars (Day 4 of 5)
Last Friday’s lesson focused primarily on dramatic terms and activities to help the kids to get prepared for the rest of the week. On Monday, students learned more about the character of Ellen Rosen, a young Jewish girl living in Copenhagen, whose life has changed because of the Nazi presence. The kids learned a bit about what was happening during the Holocaust, and particularly how it affected Ellen’s relationship with her non-Jewish friend, Annemarie. These programs tend to progress through key parts of the book, so Wednesday’s activity focused on a section that took place later on in the novel, where Ellen’s family learned that they must leave in order to avoid being captured by the Nazi soldiers. The kids learned that Annemarie’s family willingly accepted Ellen to stay with them, in hopes of protecting her, while Ellen’s parents sought protection in some other way (that we don’t yet know about). As they had in previous days, the kids participated in some dramatic activities to act out some of the conversations and situations that the young girls found themselves in.
Today’s activities were the most dramatic and revealing. This morning, the kids were invited to role-play what it would be like for them, playing the role of Ellen’s parents, to say goodbye to their daughter who was staying with another family for her own protection. This was a very dramatic activity for the kids, as they had to explain to Aurelia, who was playing the role of Ellen, their daughter, why they could not stay with her, and why it was not safe for her to come with them. They did a wonderful job thinking about what the parents would actually say to their daughter in that situation, and they showed their understanding of what they had been taught on previous days.
The final activity from today, however, was the most emotional, and, I think, eye-opening for the kids. By moving desks and chairs, our class was transformed into a train traveling out of Denmark. A Nazi soldier, again played by Aurelia (the theater educator), boarded the train and began to interview the passengers (the kids in our class). The kids were all assigned different roles, such as being a member of a Jewish family, being a member of a group of non-Jewish colleagues who were traveling for business, and other various roles. As they were questioned by the Nazi soldier, the kids did a very impressive job sticking to their characters as they tried to prove that they should not be targets of the soldier’s investigations. As really happened in history, the soldier identified many people, Jews and non-Jews, that she thought needed to be taken off the train. Passengers (the kids) were forced to quickly think on their feet and to come up with explanations to try and save themselves and their companions. This sparked a rich discussion later on as we discussed what the kids were thinking about during the activity.
There is no doubting that this is a very realistic activity. One of the challenges in teaching kids about the Holocaust is helping kids to develop a frame of reference. Here, fortunately, the kids in our class do not generally have any basis for understanding the concepts of genocide, hatred, and Anti-Semitism. We work very hard to give the kids an understanding of what happened, and an ability to relate to the experiences of people who lived during that time, while not putting the kids under undue stress.
Following these activities, the kids and I always have follow-up conversations, and I encourage kids to share their feelings and their concerns. I always reassure the students that these are events that happened long ago, and that they are safe here in their homes, in Connecticut. When the kids share how sad it is to learn about this, I remind them about the importance of learning about these historical events, among other reasons, so that we can make absolutely sure that nothing like this ever happens again. We had a wonderful conversation about the challenges that people in Europe (Jews and non-Jews) faced in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and I was really impressed by the kids’ mature contributions to the discussion.
Some of the kids may come home and start discussions about these activities. I encourage you to continue to have these discussions with your children, as I try to avoid going into some of the more graphic details with kids. Students are explicitly asked to avoid discussing these topics during lunch and recess so that they can benefit from having an adult to facilitate the conversations.
If your son and daughter seems concerned or stressed by what they’ve learned, I encourage you to remind them, first and foremost, that their feelings are understandable and valid! I never tell kids “not to be upset” because the material we are learning about is, in fact, upsetting. It’s understandable for kids to feel upset and saddened by the events, but if they are afraid, I remind them that these are events from long ago, and that they are safe in their own communities. I also remind them that the police in their community are very different from the Nazi soldiers who patrolled the streets in Copenhagen, and that the police officers in their town are trustworthy, safe people who really are there to help and protect them.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the role playing activities. They will learn about some of the later events in the text, and at the end, the students will receive copies of the novel, which we will read in school together. This week’s activities will serve as a framework for when we read the novel together. I ask that you continue to discourage your kids from reading or learning about the book until we read it in class together.
Please continue to be in touch with me if you have any questions as we continue this important unit.
Posted in Class Updates, Student News|By Jon Moss
January 23, 2017
Update on Number the Stars (Day 2 of 5)
Today, Aurelia from The Hartford Stage came for our second day of learning about Number the Stars. The kids began by pantomiming several scenes, such as acting in a school play, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, etc. The kids really enjoyed figuring out how to act out those scenes, especially since these moments were so familiar to them. Following these tableaux, Aurelia led the students in a safe discussion about what was happening in and around Copenhagen (the setting of the story) in the 1930s. She introduced the concept of the Holocaust, and I was surprised by how much many students already knew. She explained that Hilter looked for someone to blame for the problems happening in Germany and that the Jews were made into scapegoats. She shared that, eventually, many of the Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps where many worked and many perished. The kids took this topic seriously, and I admire their maturity during the discussion. I should say that there are times when students have additional prior knowledge and may start to share more sensitive information than what we’d normally choose to include. Aurelia and I both redirect the conversations when this happens, and we remind kids that some things are best discussed with families at home. There were a few instances of this today, and we were able to shift the focus back to what we were trying to address. In the event that something particularly sensitive is shared by a student in front of the whole class, I’ll, of course, give you a heads-up so you can be prepared for questions at home. On that note, today, a student brought up the idea of gas chambers. I tried to quickly move past this comment, as it’s not something that needs to be a focus in our unit.
Toward the end of the activity, students thought about what sounds they’d hear in a war zone. Ideas included explosions, gun shots, car engines roaring, people shouting, etc. Students made a “sound circle” where they created a cacophony of the sounds they’d expect to hear during a time of war. Finally, one group of four students recreated the previous tableaux of those familiar moments, but this time, with the “soundtrack” of the sound circle. This helped the kids to imagine how so many of these familiar moments would be different during wartime. Kids shared how they’d feel if they had to live during these situations, and their comments were deep. As I said in a previous message, these students don’t have much understanding of ideas like war, persecution, or hatred, and activities like these help them to understand these concepts a bit better.
Following these activities, I always remind students of a few things: (1) They are completely safe. We’re studying events from our world’s history, and by learning about them, we can work to ensure that they never happen again. But they are absolutely safe in their homes, school, and community. (2) These topics should be discussed when there’s an adult there to facilitate the conversation. So this isn’t appropriate conversation for the lunchroom, playground, bus, etc. (3) There are some things that might be upsetting or alarming. Kids can always come to me if they’re feeling worried or anxious, and they can talk to their grownups at home as well.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 18, 2017
Diversity and Civil Rights – Part 2
Pictured: Martin Luther King (2nd from left) and Abraham Joshua Heschel (right)
Today, we finished reading As Good As Anybody. You may remember that the first half of the book introduced us to Martin Luther King, Jr., starting from when he was a young boy. The second half of the book taught us about Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish man who fought for the rights of Jews who were being persecuted, much as Dr. King did for African Americans. The two men teamed up and worked together to accomplish their shared goal of earning equal civil rights and fair treatment for ALL.
While the kids were, of course, familiar with Dr. King, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a new name to them. The book hints at how Jews were treated unjustly in Europe during World War II, and it lets us add to our previous understanding of discrimination by race or gender by understanding the idea of discrimination by religion. This transitions beautifully to an activity we’re starting on Friday.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 28, 2016
Recreating the Train: Number the Stars
Monday’s lesson focused primarily on dramatic terms and activities to help the kids to get prepared for the rest of the week. On Tuesday, the learned more about the character of Ellen Rosen, a young Jewish girl living in Copenhagen, whose life has changed because of the Nazi presence. The kids learned a bit about what was happening during the Holocaust, and particularly how it affected Ellen’s relationship with her non-Jewish friend, Annemarie. These programs tend to progress through key parts of the book, so Wednesday’s activity focused on a section that took place later on in the novel, where Ellen’s family learned that they must leave in order to avoid being captured by the Nazi soldiers. The kids learned that Annemarie’s family willingly accepted Ellen to stay with them, in hopes of protecting her, while Ellen’s parents sought protection in some other way (that we don’t yet know about). As they had in previous days, the kids participated in some dramatic activities to act out some of the conversations and situations that the young girls found themselves in.
Today’s activities were the most dramatic and revealing. This afternoon, the kids were invited to role-play what it would be like for them, playing the role of Ellen’s parents, to say goodbye to their daughter who was staying with another family for her own protection. This was a very dramatic activity for the kids, as they had to explain to Aurelia, who was playing the role of Ellen, their daughter, why they could not stay with her, and why it was not safe for her to come with them. They did a wonderful job thinking about what the parents would actually say to their daughter in that situation, and they showed their understanding of what they had been taught on previous days.
The final activity from today, however, was the most emotional, and, I think, eye-opening for the kids. By moving desks and chairs, our class was transformed into a train traveling out of Denmark. A Nazi soldier, again played by Aurelia (the theater educator), boarded the train and began to interview the passengers (the kids in our class). The kids were all assigned different roles, such as being a member of a Jewish family, being a member of a group of non-Jewish colleagues who were traveling for business, and other various roles. As they were questioned by the Nazi soldier, the kids did a very impressive job sticking to their characters as they tried to prove that they should not be targets of the soldier’s investigations. As really happened in history, the soldier identified many people, Jews and non-Jews, that she thought needed to be taken off the train. Passengers (the kids) were forced to quickly think on their feet and to come up with explanations to try and save themselves and their companions. This sparked a rich discussion later on as we discussed what the kids were thinking about during the activity.
There is no doubting that this is a very realistic activity. One of the challenges in teaching kids about the Holocaust is helping kids to develop a frame of reference. Here, fortunately, the kids in our class do not generally have any basis for understanding the concepts of genocide, hatred, and Anti-Semitism. We work very hard to give the kids an understanding of what happened, and an ability to relate to the experiences of people who lived during that time, while not putting the kids under undue stress.
Following these activities, the kids and I always have follow-up conversations, and I encourage kids to share their feelings and their concerns. I always reassure the students that these are events that happened long ago, and that they are safe here in their homes, in Connecticut. When the kids share how sad it is to learn about this, I remind them about the importance of learning about these historical events, among other reasons, so that we can make absolutely sure that nothing like this ever happens again. We had a wonderful conversation about the challenges that people in Europe (Jews and non-Jews) faced in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and I was really impressed by the kids’ mature contributions to the discussion.
Some of the kids may come home and start discussions about these activities. I encourage you to continue to have these discussions with your children, as I try to avoid going into some of the more graphic details with kids. Students are explicitly asked to avoid discussing these topics during lunch and recess so that they can benefit from having an adult to facilitate the conversations.
If your son and daughter seems concerned or stressed by what they’ve learned, I encourage you to remind them, first and foremost, that their feelings are understandable and valid! I never tell kids “not to be upset” because the material we are learning about is, in fact, upsetting. It’s understandable for kids to feel upset and saddened by the events, but if they are afraid, I remind them that these are events from long ago, and that they are safe in their own communities. I also remind them that the police in their community are very different from the Nazi soldiers who patrolled the streets in Copenhagen, and that the police officers in their town are trustworthy, safe people who really are there to help and protect them.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the role playing activities. They will learn about some of the later events in the text, and at the end, the students will receive copies of the novel, which we will read in school together. This week’s activities will serve as a framework for when we read the novel together. I ask that you continue to discourage your kids from reading or learning about the book until we read it in class together.
Please continue to be in touch with me if you have any questions as we continue this important unit.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss