Objective: Create an Interdisciplinary unit (Language Arts and Social Studies) using technology and blended learning about Anne Frank.
Resources:
 The Diary of Anne Frank, a drama by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
 Laptops for students (we shared using the computer cart for our hall).
 Teacher laptop/projector
Build Background about WWII: Use an animated geography lesson that summarizes the war by going to Classzone.com animated geography lesson. This site is linked with the 8 th grade social studies book.
 Go to Classzone.com
 Select “Social Studies/Middle School” and “NC”
 Then select the book NC in the American Experience
 Select Chapter 21
 Select Animated History
 Select WWII: Europe and Africa (you will need to hit the yellow arrow button to advance the slides).
Build Background about Anne Frank: Use blendspace.com to create a slideshow about
Anne Frank’s life including pictures of important events and people in her life. We created one large slide show and broke it into sections for major topics such as Anne’s life, the Secret Annex,
WWII, ration books, D-Day invasion, etc. As you read the play use excerpts from Anne’s diary to add to understanding about primary sources.
BLENDED LEARNING: At the conclusion of the play we spent one week with students in the following stations for blended learning activities:
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: Go to www.annefrank.org
to have students take the 3D virtual tour of the Secret Annex. They choose “Anne Frank” and then “The Secret Annex Online” and then “Go inside.” Students will enjoy seeing the
Secret Annex and exploring its rooms. This activity can keep students engaged for a one hour class period.
Revisit the classzone site referenced above to have students watch it again and then pause it on slide 6 and complete a map activity.
This activity can keep students engaged for a one hour class period – some may need

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 extra time to finish the map). Blank outline maps are also found on the classzone.com site.
: To help students understand the magnitude of people who suffered during the Holocaust, students read one page biographies about individuals who were sent to concentration camps. Some of the individuals survived the war and others did not. Students chose to write about three stories that particularly interested them and summarize the person’s life and tell why they chose to write about that person. They also read an article about the death of Miep Gies that was in the
Statesville Record and Landmark a few years ago.
: In past years, students have gone to the Holocaust Museum as part of their class trip to Washington. Students were given the opportunity to explore the website for the Holocaust Museum.
: Students wrote a Biopoem about a person from the Anne Frank play.
. Students read an article about the death of Miep Gies that was in the
Statesville Record and Landmark a few years ago. They also read through Questions and
Answers with Miep that were recorded from a session Miep Gies had with students.
Students can also look at the Miep Gies book (our library had a copy).
NEXT TIME WE DO THIS PROJECT……….we might be able to have a station do the following: Students can construct the Anne Frank House by using a construction kit that was just made available via the www.annefrank.org
website. Check the website for information about price.
NOTE: We advise using some of the “paper/pencil” activities listed with the computer activities because we still have a few students who do not have permission (signed form) to use the laptops. Therefore, we put these students into groups where technology was not required.