- 1. Please include a detailed description of the text. Take into consideration that your colleagues might not be familiar with the text that you have chosen. A detailed description will include everything necessary for your classmates to gain an understanding of the text without reading it. Your job is to introduce the text in a complete way so that it is possible for others to decide when, where, and how this text might be appropriate.
This is the story about a young Jewish boy who was taken along with his family to a Nazi camp. This story is a harrowing account of what the Nazis did to people during the Holocaust. The young boy is a very observant practicing Jewish person that eventually wants to become a rabbi. His family is very religious as well. The account is about them being captured as a family and seperated, as was the procedure for the Germans. He travels to various camps as the war is being won by the Allies. Throughout the experience, everything that is important to Elie is questioned by him due to the extreme torture he is going through.
- 2. Please explain why you chose this text. What was your rationale? For whom is this text appropriate? Please consider age, ability, and any other factor you find important. Why is it appropriate for this group of students?
If I did indeed choose this text, I would want to teach it to show students how horrible this experience is. I believe everyone should know the history of the event and how terrible humanity can be. Any highschool grade can benefit from this. The read itself is easy and short, but the background knowledge needed to fully grasp this text is an obstacle that can be removed with some help from history class.
- 3. Please include some teaching ideas. How do you envision this text being used in a secondary classroom? Provide at least 3 specific ideas for what is possible with this text.
The most common one would be to include it in a Holocaust lesson package with the history teachers at your school. With most historical events, I believe the double dose of literature about the event and the details provide students with a lot of background information and leads to more understanding about the event. A second one would be to explore the "crazy" man and how the people ignored his repeated warnings of the danger that was approaching the town. How would the student react to the crazy person yelling at them? Or, how can we parralel this to our own lives? Lastly, maybe track the travel that the characters had to do on a map. In novels, I feel like poeple do not grasp the extensive amount of travel that the characters go through.
- 4. Please consider some challenges to using this text. What are the potential issues that may arise from using this text? Predict an administrator’s response to the use of this text. Predict parents’ responses. Predict students’ responses.
Some challenges are the graphic nature of some of the scenes. It can be a touchy subject, but the historical significance should outweigh the bad parts of doing a unit off of this book. It should be taught to give the students perspective from someone around their own age.
