Process

 

Before you complete this project, you should have read the novel, Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, in your book clubs. Reading this book will help you understand what it was like to live in Denmark during the Holocaust. Also, your should read the background information provided in this WebQuest about the Nazis and World War II. To read this background information, click here. You will then work in your book club groups to research the perspectives of different people who lived during this time period. Each group member will select one particular role to investigate. Working individually, each group member will use the resources provided in this WebQuest to write a journal entry about what it was like to be this person during the Holocaust. You will then present your research to the rest of your group. Using your journal entries and your Number the Stars book, along with any other print resources that may be available, you will work together with your group members to create a newspaper about what is happening in Denmark and around the world so that your friends and family will be aware of the truth about World War II.

Please follow the step listed below. Each step should be completed before you move on to the next step.

1. Get together with your book club groups. Make sure that you can work with the other members of your group without having any problems. If you think that you may have a problem working with the other members of your group on this project, please let your teacher know before you begin.

 

2. Each team member should select one of the following roles: a Danish newspaper reporter, a member of the Resistance, a Jewish citizen of Denmark, or a fisherman who supports the Resistance. The oldest person in your group should select their role first, followed by the next oldest, then the next oldest, and so on. The youngest person in your group should select their role last.

 

3. You will work by yourself and not with your group for the next part of the project. Your job is to research your role using the information provided in the WebQuest. It is also important to remember that the role that you have been assigned is based on a character from the novel, Number the Stars. It may be helpful to look at this book if you need additional help or ideas.

Read the information provided about your role and then click on the name of your role. Remember the follow the directions carefully at the top of the page you will be sent to.

A. A Danish newspaper reporter

You will gather information about the war in Denmark and in other parts of Europe and record it in a journal. You will use the information that you find to help create a newspaper or newscast about the Holocaust and the war in Denmark.

B. A member of the Resistance

You will research what it was like to be a member of the Resistance in Denmark and record the information that you find in a journal. You will use the information that you find to help create a newspaper or newscast about the Holocaust and the war in Denmark.

C. A Jewish citizen of Denmark

You will research what is was like to be a Jewish person during the Holocaust and record the information that you find in a journal. You will use the information that you find to help create a newspaper or newscast about the Holocaust and the war in Denmark.

D. A fisherman who supports the Resistance

You will research what it was like to illegally smuggle Jewish citizens out of the country and record the information that you find in a journal. You will use the information that you find to help create a newspaper or newscast about the Holocaust and the war in Denmark.

 

4. When you complete your journal entry, share what you learned with your other group members. It may be helpful to read you journals to the group and then share other interesting facts and information that you found. Make sure to tell your group members what it would have been like to have been your role during World War II.

 

5. After each group member has shared his or her journal entries, your group needs to create a two-page newspaper written from the point of view of the Danish Resistance. Read the following information carefully about the assignment:

Your group should create a newspaper using Microsoft Publisher that will inform your family and friends about what is happening with the war in Demark and Europe. You will use what you learned from researching your roles, reading the Number the Stars book, and using other sources of information, such as dictionaries or magazines, to write at least four articles in your newspaper. When you have finished your newspaper, you will present it, as a group, to your language arts class.

To begin your newspaper project, click here.

 

6. You will present your completed newspapers to you language arts class. Make sure that each person presents an equal part of your project.

 

7. Turn your newspaper and individual journal entries in for a grade. This WebQuest project will be assessed by the use of a rubric. To see this rubric, go to the Evaluation section of the WebQuest.

 

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