Unit Overview

“A Holocaust Story”
a. Context: This unit has been designed for an eighth grade class at Dwight Rich
Middle School in Lansing (an urban school). It will be implemented in three
English classes, all in the Magnet program with a focus on Science and
Engineering. Class sizes are around 20-30 students. The students represent fairly
diverse backgrounds; 61.9% of the students’ families are economically
disadvantaged. It will take place during the third or fourth marking period of the
school year, after the students have read and studied realistic and science fiction.

b. Unit: Historical Fiction: “A Holocaust Story” (4 weeks) This unit will be centered
on historical fiction with a strong focus on personal narrative, perspective-taking,
and multiple genres.

c. Themes/Concepts
• Historical Fiction and Non-fiction themes within texts
• Personal Narrative
• Perspective-Taking
• Connecting personal knowledge and experiences to historical events
• The Effects of War
• Good vs. Evil
• Courage and Hope

i. Essential Questions
• What are the major elements of historical narrative?
• How do the texts read in class help us understand the historical events of
the Holocaust?
• What is the difference between primary and secondary sources? How
might reading both help us get a better understanding of a particular event
in history?
• How did the Holocaust change the lives of those affected by it?
• How do this era and major historical events connect to our lives in the
United States today?

d. Rationale
Students will connect their personal knowledge and experiences to a major
historical event. This will help them to better understand worldwide events and see
why they are important to learn and how they have affected people’s lives as well as
their own. The unit’s first two days will set the historical context before students
delve into the text. This will coincide with the students’ American History course unit
on WWII and the Holocaust so that they have more background knowledge on the
major events and themes of the period. This will scaffold the students’ understanding
of the period before they begin reading the play The Diary of Anne Frank, which will
 provide a personal account of true Holocaust victims, and is still reader-friendly for
the eighth grade level.
Students will tap into the character description/analysis and comparison/contrast
skills that they have acquired throughout the school year as they read and respond to
this text. Studying this piece of drama, some poetry, a graphic novel, and excerpts of
film and the real diary of Anne Frank will provide a variety of genres that focus on
the Holocaust, its victims, survivors, and ways in which the world was affected by it.
This will guide and contribute to students’ overall understanding of the historical
event while responding to individuals’ multiple interests and intelligences. The
summative assessment, a Multi Genre Portfolio will encompass the elements of
historical fiction and personal narrative through multiple genres. Reading, discussing,
and experimenting with various genres on this project will scaffold students’
understanding and research process of a particular event and era in history.

e. Goals
• Students will explore the events and issues of the Holocaust through the
insight of Anne Frank’s story
• Students will make connections between the Holocaust and their own lives
today
• Students will experience both fictional and non-fictional accounts of the
Holocaust through different genres, including drama, film, poetry, timelines,
graphic novel, and journal entries
• Students will use contextual clues to understand and define key vocabulary
terms
• Students will create their own account of a Holocaust story through the
perspective of another character in the play The Diary of Anne Frank or a
fictional character of this era, presenting it in a multimedia format

f. Standards

Strand Domain Benchmark

Reading Vocabulary R.WS.08.07

Narrative Text R.NT.08.02

R.NT.08.03

Informational Text R.IT.08.01

R.IT.08.02

Comprehension R.CM.08.01
R.CM.08.03
Writing Writing Genres W.GN.08.01
W.GN.08.02
 Writing Process W.PR.08.01
W.PR.08.05

Speaking Discourse S.DS.08.01

S.DS.08.02

Listening & Response L.RP.08.01

Viewing

g. Summative Assessment (See handout)

Students will create a 4-5 piece Multi-Genre Portfolio of a fictional character that has
experienced the Holocaust, from the perspective of that character. Genres may
include poetry, narrative, journal entry, news article, dialogue with another person,
comic, etc. (See handout for complete list). Each piece must demonstrate the
following:
- The student’s ability to take on a perspective of a fictional character that has
experienced the Holocaust
- Historical accuracy, including important events, dates, locations, etc. (though
these things are not the focus of the project)
- The student’s understanding of and experimentation with multiple genres
and how these mediums can express a personal narrative