One of the most well-preserved, important and haunting cultural artifacts of Western civilization, Anne Frank's diary has captured the attention of people around the world since it was first published in 1947.
In 2012, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of its publication in English, which has put the book into the hands of millions of people the world over.
Bringing The Diary of a Young Girl into your classroom is as simple as assigning the book for reading.
However, you can do so much more with this special book.
Assign the book during a unit on the Holocaust.
Have students read a few chapters each night, and discuss the story as a class each lesson.
Create a semi-permanent timeline on the board or with butcher paper on your wall, and map out the events in Anne's life along with the movement of the Nazis and World War II.
Set up a projector and show students photographs of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Visit the museum's website to see an interactive timeline and photographs of the Secret Annex.
To build interest in the film, show students a film about Anne Frank.
Bringing the terror of the Nazi occupation of Holland to life with film is important and the following films can be a powerful way to help students understand the Holocaust.
These movies will expand upon what you are teaching in class and will provide students with monumental imagery to hammer home the lessons behind the unit.
Anne Frank-The Whole Story (2001), Anne Frank Remembered (1995) and Anne Frank-The Life of a Young Girl (1998) are all highly recommended movies suitable for showing before students read the Diary.
Each of which provides a slightly different perspective about Anne Frank.
The Diary of Anne Frank is also good to show after the book has been read.
Anne B.
Real, a fictional film that showcases a young female rapper inspired by Anne Frank, makes a great companion piece to this unit as well.
There are a number of other truly great films that depict the horrors of the Holocaust.
Schindler's List is perhaps the most well-known, and with good reason.
The White Rose portrays the lives of young Germans who dared to oppose Hitler and publicize what was going on in the death camps.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a newer release, focusing on the relationship between two children, one of whom is in a concentration camp.
Europa! Europa! tells the true story of a Jewish boy who looked German and passed for German during most of the war, being impressed into service with the German army and, as a reward for his service, being sent to an elite Nazi training school.
All of these films can be used in your classroom to help children emotionally understand this era.
As horrendous as the Holocaust was, it is hard to comprehend, especially for students.
The numbers are enormous and it can be impossible to wrap one's mind around them.
This is why The Diary of a Young Girl has been so celebrated; it humanized an epically horrific event through the voice of a child.
It makes the tragedy accessible, tangible, and real.
This is why it is important to share the words of Anne Frank, and to celebrate the dark days of history she documented, unaware that she would become the voice for millions.
In 2012, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of its publication in English, which has put the book into the hands of millions of people the world over.
Bringing The Diary of a Young Girl into your classroom is as simple as assigning the book for reading.
However, you can do so much more with this special book.
Assign the book during a unit on the Holocaust.
Have students read a few chapters each night, and discuss the story as a class each lesson.
Create a semi-permanent timeline on the board or with butcher paper on your wall, and map out the events in Anne's life along with the movement of the Nazis and World War II.
Set up a projector and show students photographs of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
Visit the museum's website to see an interactive timeline and photographs of the Secret Annex.
To build interest in the film, show students a film about Anne Frank.
Bringing the terror of the Nazi occupation of Holland to life with film is important and the following films can be a powerful way to help students understand the Holocaust.
These movies will expand upon what you are teaching in class and will provide students with monumental imagery to hammer home the lessons behind the unit.
Anne Frank-The Whole Story (2001), Anne Frank Remembered (1995) and Anne Frank-The Life of a Young Girl (1998) are all highly recommended movies suitable for showing before students read the Diary.
Each of which provides a slightly different perspective about Anne Frank.
The Diary of Anne Frank is also good to show after the book has been read.
Anne B.
Real, a fictional film that showcases a young female rapper inspired by Anne Frank, makes a great companion piece to this unit as well.
There are a number of other truly great films that depict the horrors of the Holocaust.
Schindler's List is perhaps the most well-known, and with good reason.
The White Rose portrays the lives of young Germans who dared to oppose Hitler and publicize what was going on in the death camps.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a newer release, focusing on the relationship between two children, one of whom is in a concentration camp.
Europa! Europa! tells the true story of a Jewish boy who looked German and passed for German during most of the war, being impressed into service with the German army and, as a reward for his service, being sent to an elite Nazi training school.
All of these films can be used in your classroom to help children emotionally understand this era.
As horrendous as the Holocaust was, it is hard to comprehend, especially for students.
The numbers are enormous and it can be impossible to wrap one's mind around them.
This is why The Diary of a Young Girl has been so celebrated; it humanized an epically horrific event through the voice of a child.
It makes the tragedy accessible, tangible, and real.
This is why it is important to share the words of Anne Frank, and to celebrate the dark days of history she documented, unaware that she would become the voice for millions.