Number the Stars

By Lois Lowry

Winner of the 1990 Newbery Award Medal for quality children’s literature

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• Take a look at the following slide and complete this task:

• 3 things you noticed in these photos.

• 2 emotions / words you associate with these photos.

• 1 question you have from these photos.

Acrostic Style• Choose one of these words to complete

this task: DENMARK, HOLOCAUST, COPENHAGEN, RESISTANCE, FRIENDSHIP, BRAVERY

• Read through the background information in this keynote.

• As a group, create an acrostic-style chart to summarize what you learned or observed from this information.

• (Think ABC chart from social studies class)

Genre

• Historical Fiction• This book is classified as historical fiction

because as you read it, you are able to learn about events and people during the WWII era. The people are fictional, but the author has researched this time period to include real people, events and feelings of the people of Denmark during this time.

Setting

• Denmark (see map)- a small country in Europe, located north of Germany

• Denmark is a peninsula, like Florida, with water on 3 sides, and several islands

• Copenhagen is the capital city of Denmark

• 1943• World War II began in 1939

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Adolf Hitler and his Nazi political party have went against their word and invaded countries in Europe.

• Hitler has also designed a “Final Solution”, or a plan to eliminate all Jews from Europe, as well as other groups, such as: gypsies, mentally/physically handicapped people of all ages, elderly people, Jehovah’s Witnesses, people too ill to work, people of Slavic nationality, including Russian prisoners of war.

A Swastika- an ancient symbol used by many, from cavemen to Buddhists, to early Christians, it is most recently known as the

symbol of the Nazi Party. Because of this, is it not a

symbol to be randomly drawing anywhere. It has become a

symbol of hate, violence, death and murder.

• Jews were the main target of this elimination, and were removed from their homes, placed in ghettos (crowded, often barricaded areas), and eventually sent to concentration camps.

• The war was also raging on, with many countries involved in the war, including the United States.

• Anyone caught helping a Jew escape from Hitler or his Nazi party, was also punished.

• This time in history is known as “The Holocaust”

• As you can imagine, this time in history is dark, dreary and at times, hard to grasp.

• This book will allow you to understand the people and events of this time period without getting into too much detail.

• As you get older, you can pick up books that may be more detailed.

• There are several other historical fiction books out there that can do the same!

DID YOU KNOW?• Throughout their long history, followers of the

Jewish faith have faced prejudice and persecution. The Romans banned Jews from the holy city of Jerusalem during the days of the Roman Empire. A thousand years later, Crusaders massacred German Jews. In 1492 the Jewish population was driven from Spain. By the end of the nineteenth century, most of the world’s Jews lived in Russia and Poland. A substantial number also lived in Germany, and about one million had emigrated to the United States.

• In the late 1870’s, some people began to think of Jews as belonging to a different race, and some writers and politicians of the time began to criticize Jews for their religious beliefs. Adolf Hilter’s ideas about German “racial purity” were an extension of myths about race. He used these myths to generate hatred towards Jews.

Book Trailers

• Please watch one (or two, or three) of book trailer videos for Number the Stars.

• http://smedsrudhomepage.wikispaces.com/Number+the+Stars