In chapters three to six Kacer begins incorporating photos in
her writing. From what I have gathered in my research of the book and the photo
credits at the end of the book, the photos are actual photos taken during the
Holocaust. One of the main points of this text seems to be creating a link
between modern day children and the people that lived during the holocaust. I
think that the use of these actual pictures is a great way to create this
actual link and bring the actual history into this story. If I was teaching
this novel I would make sure to discuss this fact with my students and it would
be a great starting point for branching off and doing more research around the
events that took place in the ghetto. This was just one of the ways that I
noticed an element of this text could be used to create connections to the
actual history. What are some other elements of the text so far that could be
used to create this real life to history connection among your students?
So far I feel like Kacer has created the character of Laura
to be fairly relatable. When I’m reading her parts of the story I can remember
a time in my life when I had a lot of the same type of thoughts and worries
that she does, about friends, bullying, among other things. I feel that I would
relate most to this text and the character of Laura at a middle school level. Do
you feel like Laura is a relatable character and what age group do you think
that she would be most relatable too?
A connection that help large significane for me was in chapter 5 when Deena talks about her drawing paper. Deena had to ration her paper out because something so simple like paper was unavailable. I would use this passage as a lesson about how we take simple things for granted. I think a lot of students can relate to being interested in drawing and posing them the question "what would it be like for you to have no more paper" would be a great way to bring this historical context to life.
ReplyDeleteI totally feel like Laura is a relatable character and I think I would use this book for grade 5-7 students. In the book she is 12 years old and that helps children around her age identify with her. What kinds of things are they going through in their own 12 year old lives? Are they similiar to Lauras? And once a connection has been made between Laura and the reader, I would focus on the connection between Laura and Sara and then Sara and the reader.
I think that the text does a good job of referencing real historical events, but it does not delve deep into the topic. It would be cool to have students do research projects that relate to specific events that are mentioned in the text and brief the class on what they learned. I also think it would be useful to have the students find biographies from Holocaust survivors on their own and compare and contrast the two pieces of work.
ReplyDeleteI think that Laura is really easy for students in junior high school to relate to for the same reasons that Karly discussed. I also enjoy that the novel is not completely centered on girl friendship but there are parts about the brother and Adam to draw in male readers. I think it would be cool to find the same type of book that deals with a male protagonist to circulate in a classroom. I also think that students could use this as a writing assignment and create diary entries from the other character's perspectives. I think that would help to create a real life to history connection as well.
The comparison between historical and modern could be used effectively as a branching off point for historical research, as Dani mentioned. One idea I came up with while reading the chapters was the overt connection between high-school bullying between Steve and Adam and the violence the Nazis inflict upon the Jewish people in the Ghetto. Students could use critical thinking to compare and contrast the Holocaust and genocide to bullying. The situation between Steve and Adam concerns and haunts Laura in much the same way that she is concerned and scared to find out what will happen in Sarah's diary. I think that in many ways this would be a great way to show that bullying, like historical moments of violence can have a lasting and harmful impact. The topic of bullying can show both character construction through Laura's insights about the violence, but also the deconstruction of self demonstrated through Adam's bullying and the Nazis' treatment of Jewish people in the Ghetto.
ReplyDeleteI really like that Kacer included historical images into the text. They complement Sarah's journal entries and really hook the reader. It is one thing to read about a historical event, but to see it, allows the reader to understand and become more emotionally attached to the text. I think you could do a number of different activities involving these pictures and the historical content found in these chapters. We briefly read a conversation between Laura and her parent's where they discuss some of their knowledge of the Warsaw Ghetto and what was going on at that time. You could ask your students to extend that passage and research what they talked about, or to just simply research that time period and in particular, the Warsaw Ghetto.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that struck me about chapters 4-6, was Laura's reaction to the content in Sarah's diary. She soon realizes that there is more to life than dresses and parties and feels the weight of what Sarah went through. I think you could have a great class discussion about this aspect of Laura's character and ask the question, 'what really matters?
To me Laura is a very relatable character. I think students her age would be able to connect with her character because she deals with life situations that all students do like, bullying, friend issues, and stress. I found even myself relating to her character through the emotion she feels as she reads Sarah's diary.