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The Diary of Anne Frank—Clash of the Clans
Subject Area:
Language Arts
Grade Level(s):
6-8
Duration of Activity:
Five, 50-minute class periods
Description of Activity:
The students will read selected passages from The Diary of Anne Frank. The passages relate specifically to the conflicts that Anne deals with because she lives in such close surroundings with her family members and members of other families. As a class, the students will discuss the various personalities of the people in the book and the manner in which they relate to one another. Working in groups, students will select characters from television shows or movies and discuss how the television / movie family members would relate to the characters in the book if they were placed in close surroundings with one or more of the families hiding in the attic. Student groups will discuss the television / movie characters and create character webs involving these characters and those in the Anne Frank book. The students will use their discussions and the resulting character webs to write scenarios or short plays involving the characters in their webs and characters from The Diary of Anne Frank interacting with one another. Students also will have the option of using two sets of fictional characters and placing them in the annex. Students will rally the help of other students to present the short plays to the class.
Objectives:
- Students will view the various components of the Web site Welcome to the Anne Frank Center USA Web site / http://www.annefrank.com as an opener to the lesson activities in order to familiarize themselves with background information regarding Anne Frank and the time in which she lived.
- Student partners will follow Handout 1: Guide to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com as they search for information about Anne Frank to share with the class.
- The students will listen while selected entries from The Diary of Anne Frank are read orally by the teacher or student volunteers.
- The students will discuss the various personality traits of the characters living in the small annex. Why do some personalities clash? What causes some characters to confide in each other? Would the same problems occur if the atmosphere of war and danger were not present? Would the characters react differently if they had more privacy? How would the students react in the same situation?
- As a large group, students will view Handout 5: Example Character Web and add to the web orally as they discuss ways to improve it.
- In small groups, the students will select characters from television shows or movies and discuss the characters’ personalities, making notes as they do so. The student groups will create character webs involving these characters and the characters in The Diary of Anne Frank. Students should include as much information as possible about all the characters.
- Student groups will use their notes and the character webs they create to write scenarios or short plays involving two or more families living in close quarters as Anne and her family did. These scenarios or short plays should predict the interactions among the characters during events that might happen as the characters are in hiding. Students will be allowed to select the time period and setting for their scenarios / short plays, which could be World War II or possibly a more modern setting such as the situation during the war with Iraq.
- Students will rally the help of other students to present the plays to the class.
Materials/Equipment:
- Individual or classroom copies of the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (ISBN # 0-553-29698-1)
- Computers with Internet access
- NetTV or digital projector and large-screen monitor
- Microsoft Word or other word-processing software
- Concept-mapping software such as Inspiration or SmartDraw, presentation software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, or other software that can be used for developing character webs
- Handout 1: Guide to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com
- Handout 2: Diary Entries to Use in Character Analysis (Teacher Handout)
- Handout 3: Rubric for Assessing Character Web
- Handout 4: Rubric for Assessing Anne Frank Scenario / Short Play
- Handout 5: Example Character Web
Prerequisites (skills or background needed):
- Basic knowledge of how to navigate on the World Wide Web
- Basic word-processing skills
- Basic skills of how to use concept-mapping or presentation software
Procedure
Teacher Component:
The teacher will
- assign the students to groups of two to view the Web site Welcome to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com to learn about Anne Frank and the time in which she lived.
- distribute Handout 1: Guide to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com. Ask the students to follow the handout as they learn more background information about Anne. Additional Web sites are listed in the URL section of this lesson plan if the teacher wants to incorporate other information beyond the scope of this Web site.
- allow time for the students to share their interests and discuss their findings at the Anne Frank Web site.
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read the diary entries listed on Handout 2: Diary Entries to Use in Character Analysis that give details about the various personalities of the people living in the annex. Allow time for the students to discuss how they themselves would react if they were in the same situation with their own families.
- show the class an example of a character web using a digital copy of Handout 5: Example Character Web using a computer and NetTV or digital projector. Discuss the characters and their different personality traits with the students. As a class, discuss ways to improve the character web as well as other traits that could be added to each character’s list in the web. Make the additions to the web as the students make their comments.
- regroup the students in small, heterogeneous groups based on both academic ability and technology skill levels.
- share Handout 3: Rubric for Assessing Character Webs with the students so they will know what is expected in their character-web project.
- tell the students to use the example character web on Handout 5 as a guide for creating their own character webs about well-known TV / movie families. The webs should focus on the characters’ personality traits that reflect how the characters might relate to their own family members or to characters from other shows if both families were placed in close quarters as Anne was with the characters in her book. The Web site Fiction Writer’s Character Chart / http://www.eclectics.com can be used as a source for ideas to use in the descriptions on the character webs. A PDF version of this character chart is available from a list on this Web site under Writing Articles. This chart could be duplicated and given to the students to use as a guide as they begin this part of the activity. Students can create the character webs using concept-mapping software such as Inspiration or SmartDraw.
- ask the students to discuss with the teacher their choices of families for the character webs prior to beginning their work to insure that the choices are appropriate and not duplicated several times among the groups.
- review each group’s completed character web to determine if the students’ analysis of the characters is appropriate and thorough enough to serve as a basis for their scenarios / short plays.
- review Handout 4: Rubric for Assessing Anne Frank Scenario / Short Play with the class so that the students will understand how their projects will be assessed.
- instruct the students to create scenarios or short plays based on the TV / movie characters. Student groups will use the character webs they created to place the TV / movie characters into the situation of living in close quarters with each other. The scenarios will show the effect that such closeness has on human interactions. Encourage the students to let the true personalities of the characters come through in the writing and to be creative in using costumes and props to enhance the plays. Students will use word-processing software for writing, reviewing, editing, printing, and submitting files to the teacher.
- allow students time in class to practice acting out the scenarios. The students may also need to ask individuals from other groups to play parts in their plays if other characters are needed.
- allow the students to print copies of the scenarios / short plays for each member of the group. Students may need to revise the scripts after they begin their actual practice.
- provide time for the student groups to perform the scenarios / short plays.
- ask the students to reflect as a class on what they learned about human personality traits and human interactions during completion of these activities.
Student Activities:
The students will
- work in pairs to view the Web site Welcome to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com to learn about Anne Frank and the time in which she lived completing Handout 1: Guide to Anne Frank Center USA Web Site / http://www.annefrank.com as they view the site. Additional Web sites listed in the URL section of this lesson plan may be incorporated by the teacher.
- share interests and discuss findings at the Anne Frank Web site.
- listen to the oral reading of diary entries listed on Handout 2: Diary Entries to Use in Character Analysis of Anne Frank’s diary read by the teacher or student volunteers. These
entries give details about the various personalities of the people living in the annex. Discuss how they (the students) would react if they were in the same situation with their own families.
- view an example of a character web using Handout 5: Example Character Web displayed by the teacher using a computer and NetTV or digital projector. Discuss the characters shown in the example web and their different personality traits. Suggest ways to improve the web including other traits that could be added to each character’s list. The teacher will add to the web as students provide the information.
- move into small groups as assigned by the teacher.
- review Handout 3: Rubric for Assessing Character Webs in order to understand how their projects will be assessed.
- use the example character web on Handout 5: Example Character Web as a guide for character webs about well-known TV / movie families. The students’ webs should focus on the characters’ personality traits that reflect how the characters might relate to their own family members or to characters from other shows if both families were placed in close quarters as Anne was with the characters in her book. The Fiction Writer’s Character Chart / http://www.eclectics.com can be used as a source for ideas to use in the descriptions on the character webs. This chart may be duplicated by the teacher and given to the students to use as a guide as they begin this part of the activity. Students can create the character webs using concept-mapping software such as Inspiration or SmartDraw.
- discuss with the teacher choices of families for the character webs prior to beginning their work to insure that the choices are appropriate and not duplicated several times among the groups.
- complete the character webs and allow the teacher to review them when completed in order to determine if the groups’ analysis of the characters is appropriate and thorough enough to serve as a basis for their scenarios / short plays.
- review Handout 4: Rubric for Assessing Anne Frank Scenario / Short Play to understand how the projects will be assessed.
- create scenarios or short plays based on the TV / movie characters. Student groups will use the character webs they created to place the TV / movie characters into the situation of living in close quarters with each other. The scenarios will show the effect that such closeness has on human interactions. Students should let the true personalities of the characters come through in their writing, and use costumes and props to enhance the plays. Students will use word-processing software for writing, reviewing, editing, printing, and submitting files to the teacher.
- print out copies of the scripts for each member of the group and practice acting out the scenarios. Ask individuals from other groups to play parts in the plays if additional characters are needed.
- revise the scenarios / short plays as necessary before performing them.
- perform the short plays before the class.
- reflect as a class on what they learned about human personality traits and human interactions during the completion of these activities.
Accommodations:
- Place students with any special needs with partners who will be patient as they work together to develop the character webs and the scenarios.
- An overhead projector may be used if a large-screen television set or digital projector is not available.
Extension Activities:
- Students can create digital timelines using the information provided in the Timeline of Imporant Dates found on the Anne Frank Center Web Site at http://www.annefrank.com/download/material_timeline_annefrank.doc. Students could use software designed specifically for creating timelines or concept-mapping, presentation, desktop-publishing, or word-processing software.
- Students can create digital diaries of their own, possibly creating special names for their diaries. Volunteers can share excerpts with the class if they choose.
- The teacher can use the topic of diaries to begin a discussion of ethical use of technology. For example, what should students do or not do if they find a file labeled "diary" on someone’s computer?
- Students can videotape scenes as they are presented to the class. Students can vote on the best scenes and use video-editing software to create a "Best of the Best" videotape that could be shared with the other classes in the school, with students in another school, or with parents by allowing the videotape to be sent home for viewing.
- Students can read entries from other famous diaries and discuss the value of keeping a diary. They should discuss whether there are any disadvantages to keeping a diary. Should anything be changed in a person’s diary before publishing, or should it remain as the writer wrote it? The class also might discuss the advantages and disadvantages of keeping digital diaries as opposed to handwritten diaries.
Integration:
- Language Arts
- Social Studies
- Technology
Assessments:
- Teacher observation of student participation during discussion of the Anne Frank Center USA Web site. The teacher should observe and keep a list of student participation during discussions. Each student should share at least one item of interest from the Web site. Simply place a check mark beside the student’s name when they ask a question, answer a question, or share information.
- Handout 3: Rubric for Assessing Character Web
- Handout 4: Rubric for Assessment of Anne Frank Scenario / Short Play
URLs:
Curriculum Frameworks
Mississippi:
Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Grades
- Communicate for a variety of purposes through forms of writing using processes of reading, writing, listening, and viewing for an expanding audience.
- Speak coherently in order to express ideas and opinions for a variety of purposes and audiences.
- Complete projects and tasks in an organized and coherent manner.
- Read, listen, and view multimedia sources to select and use information for a variety of purposes.
- Participate cooperatively while engaging in small group activities to analyze and interpret information, to make decisions, to solve problems, and to produce a given product.
- Read, analyze, and respond in written and oral language or other art forms to increasingly challenging literature and other resources.
- Construct meaning by applying personal experiences, and by reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS):
- Apply productivity/multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration, and learning throughout the curriculum.
- Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using telecommunications and collaborative tools to investigate curriculum-related problems, issues, and information, and to develop solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
- Select and use appropriate tools and technology resources to accomplish a variety of tasks and solve problems.
TerraNova:
01 Oral Comprehension (Level 10, 11)
Demonstrate both literal and interpretive understanding of passages that are read aloud.
Use writing or other means to respond to literal and interpretive questions about passages that are read aloud.
02 Basic Understanding (Level 10-21/22)
Demonstrate understanding of the literal meaning of a passage through identifying stated information, indicating sequence of events, and defining grade-level vocabulary.
Write responses to questions requiring literal information from passages and documents.
03 Analyze Text (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate comprehension by drawing conclusions; inferring relationships such as cause and effect; and identifying theme and story elements such as plot, climax, character, and setting.
Write responses that show an understanding of the text that goes beyond surface meaning.
05 Identify Reading Strategies (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate awareness of techniques that enhance comprehension, such as using existing knowledge, summarizing content, comparing information across texts, using graphics and text structure, and formulating questions that deepen understanding.
Write responses that interpret and extend the use of information from documents and forms, and that demonstrate knowledge and use of strategies.
08 Writing Strategies (Level 11-21/22)
Demonstrate knowledge of information sources, outlines, and other pre-writing techniques.
Demonstrate an understanding of the use of topic sentences, concluding sentences, connective and transitional words and phrases, supporting statements, sequencing ideas, and relevant information in writing expository prose.
Link and Feedback to Author(s):
Michelle Byrd, New Hope Middle School, Columbus, MS
Michelle.Byrd@lowndes.k12.ms.us
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