S t u d y G u i d e B y M e s a P u b l i c S c h o o l s C r e a t i v e an d P e r f o r m i n g A r t s D e p a r tm e n t a n d B r i g h t S t a r T o u r i n g T h e a t r e
The Story of Anne Frank
Performing Arts: Meeting Arizona Arts & Academic Standards
The learning activities in this study guide address specific standards to assist classroom teachers in integrating the performance to meet Arizona Arts and Academic Standards. The specific standards will be noted
in a text box accompanying learning activities.
About the Show
We traveled all the way to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam to research and create this engaging production about the life of Anne Frank
and the diary she kept during the height of the Nazi invasion of Europe.
With this play, young audiences will gain an understanding of this difficult time in history through the perspective of one inspiring young woman who recorded her experience. Audiences will learn about pivotal moments which lead to the Frank’s decision to go into hiding and what life
was like for them in their secret home. They will also be introduced to
important people in Anne’s life; her family, friends and the people who
helped her family hide for about two years. Through this play, we hope
audiences will understand the climate of the world during Anne’s life
and feel empowered to learn from history and make their world a safe
and accepting place.
SHOW TOPICS
Perseverance
Kindness
Honesty
Bravery
Journaling
Theatre Etiquette
YOU, the audience, are the most important part of any live theatre event. Performers depend on you to:
 Remain seated
 Listen
 Refrain from talking during the performance
 Laugh when something in the show is funny
 Clap to show appreciation
Please turn off cell phones and other devices. Cameras and other recording devices are prohibited.
Demonstrate respectful audience behavior.
Arizona Theatre Standards, Strand 3: Concept 2.
Pre-Show Activity
Objective - Create: Students will design and create a journal
Materials:
Note book paper (several sheets for each student)
Colored construction or cardstock paper
Crayons/markers/colored pencils
Decorative art supplies (stickers, sequins, yarn, cut magazine
pieces , etc.)
Teacher:
Ask students if they know what a diary or a journal is. Have
they ever kept a diary or journal? Explain how journals have
been used throughout history to learn about the past. The performance they will be going to see, The Story of Anne Frank,
would not have been told if Anne had not recorded events in a
diary she got for her birthday. Anne’s diary was ‘who’ she
shared her thoughts with.
Create a diary for the post– show activity.
1. Give each student several pages of lined notebook paper.
Pages may be full size or cut in half to create 4.25 x 6.5
pages.
2. Staple pages together and set aside.
3. Take a sheet of construction or cardstock paper, fold and
lay over notebook paper pages to measure for a book cover.
4. Use Crayons/colored pencils/ markers and art supplies to
decorate and personalize the diary.
5. Attach cover to notebook pages.
6. On inside cover record student name, grade, and classroom
7. Collect the diaries and save for the post-show activity.
Arizona Arts,
Academic, and Common
Core Standards
AZ Common Core Standards; English
Language Arts;
Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration;
Participate in collaborative conversations
4-6.SL.1
Ask and answer questions
4-6.SL.3
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas;
Speak in complete when appropriate to
task and situation in order to provide
requested detail or clarification.
4-6.SL.6
Post-Show Activity
Objective - Understand: Students will use diaries to describe
events and feelings as demonstrated in the Diary of Anne
Frank.
Class Discussion:
Arizona Arts,
Academic, and Common
Core Standards
AZ Common Core Standards; English
Language Arts;
Speaking and Listening
Comprehension and Collaboration;
Anne Frank and her family lived under very difficult and frightening circumstances but Anne always kept a positive attitude.
Although she lived with 7 other people, her ’best friend’ was
her diary and she shared so much of her heart and mind with
it.
Teacher:
1. Hand out the diaries students created in the pre-show activity.
Students will:
1. Use their diaries to recount 2-3 events that took place in
The Story of Anne Frank. Make sure events are described in
the order they took place in the story.
2. Elaborate on how they would have felt or handled the situation if they were in Anne’s place.
3. For the next week, add daily entries into their diary in the
style that Anne wrote in her diary.
4. Include events from various times of the day, not just
school. Share as much detail as possible.
5. Include their feelings or reactions to events.
Discussion:
1. What would you do if a hundred years from now someone
found your diary? Would you want your story told?
2. Do you think your diary would tell enough about you for
people to get to know you better?
3. How did using a diary/journal make you feel? Was it helpful? Was it like having a friend to talk to? Why or why not?
Participate in collaborative conversations
4-6.SL.1
Ask and answer questions
4-6.SL.3
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas;
Speak in complete when appropriate to
task and situation in order to provide
requested detail or clarification.
4-6.SL.6
Writing
Text Types and Purposes
Write narratives in which they recount
two or more appropriately sequenced
events
4-6.W.3
Text Types and Purposes
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events
4-6.W.3