The
Anne Frank
Curriculum
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POST-VISIT TeACHER’S GUIDE
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Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
Pre-Diary
Before you have your class begin reading The Diary of Anne Frank, it
may be useful to assess how much is already known about Anne Frank
in your classroom. Many students will bring ideas about Anne Frank
with them to the class, which they have previously gleaned through
American or Jewish culture, media and other literature. In larger
classrooms, try breaking up the class into groups, and ask them to
discuss what they already know about Anne. You may ask them to
create a description of her life, or a poster of everything they may
know about her. This is a useful way to engage students in thinking
about their own previous knowledge and preconceptions before
beginning, as well as providing a useful tool for assessing their own
knowledge after reading the diary. Think about ways you may want
to bring these projects back to the students’ attention after your Anne
Frank lesson.
Focus Projects
student booklet
In the following pages, boxes such as
this will contain additional projects
that you may incorporate into your
lessons. They are located in the
section to which they are best suited
as supplementary exercises.
These can be used as in-class activities,
homework, or even as the basis for
larger projects or incorporation to
other class subjects (such as literature,
history, art or social studies).
Using the Curriculum
Before using the HMC’s Anne Frank curriculum, students must have
done one of the following:
n Read The Diary of Anne Frank (strongly recommended)
n Read your own selections of The Diary of Anne Frank
n Watched PBS’s Masterpiece Classic: The Diary of Anne Frank (2009)
This curriculum is designed to be a flexible guide to learning about
Anne Frank. It can be completed in as little as one class period, or
supplemented with additional projects and carried through several
periods of learning and examination. The boxes along the right side of
this teacher’s guide will provide ideas for additional projects you may
incorporate into the curriculum, to get the most out of this valuable
piece of literature.
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The curriculum is neatly organized into a 12-page booklet to be distributed
to each student in your classroom. This workbook can be completed
individually, in pairs, groups, or as an entire class. Please read through this
entire teacher guide, and then decide how best to fit the curriculum and
additional projects into your classroom experience.
The first section, Initial Reflections, prompts questions for students to fill
out on their own, to describe the diary and what they learned from it. Give
students time to write out their own interpretations and initial reactions, as
these may be useful in assessing the progress of each student.
Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S e c t io n :
Note: The first section Initial Reflections is not shown here.
Have students write their thoughts for Questions 1–3 on pages 1-3.
Into the Annex
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
Focus on
Individual Perspective
student booklet
Those in hiding:
In-Class or Homework:
Have students rewrite the events of
a specific entry in Anne’s diary, but
from a different character’s point
of view.
In this section, ask students to
supply some supporting information
about each character hiding in the
Secret Annex.
This can be done individually or in
groups. After students have filled
out these descriptions on their own,
discuss as a class what students
remember about each character.
You may want to project images
of the people, available online at
annefrank.org.
This exercise offers you an amount of
flexibility, as you can choose which
entry and even which character’s point
of view you want your students to use.
The primary goal of this assignment is
to check for understanding of the text
and to assess understanding of point
of view.
Helpers:
This is also a good opportunity to
discuss the helpers, who are present in
this section, though students may know
or remember less about them from
the diary. Ask them what they know about these helpers, and what risks they undertook in providing
room and board for the Frank and van Pels families. If you have covered rescue in your greater holocaust
education curriculum, this would be a good time to engage your students and to see how much they
remember from your lessons, as well as from their visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center.
Answer Key
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1. Otto Frank – Anne and Margo’s
father, Edith’s husband, founder
and director of the Opekta and
Pectacon companies
2. Edith Frank – Anne and Margot’s
mother, Otto’s wife
3. Margot Frank – sister of Anne,
daughter of Otto and Edith
4. Anne Frank – sister of Margot,
daughter of Otto and Edith
5. Hermann van Pels – Peter’s father
and Auguste’s husband, Otto
Frank’s business partner
6. Auguste van Pels – Peter’s mother
and Hermann’s wife
7. Peter van Pels – Son of Auguste
and Hermann
8. Fritz Pfeffer – Miep Gies’ dentist,
the eighth person to move into the
Secret Annex
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9. Miep Gies – Secretary to
Otto Frank at Opekta, wife of
Jans Gies
10. Bep Voskuijl – Secretary to Otto
Frank at Pectacon
11. Jo Kleiman – Accountant for
Opekta and Pectacon
12. Victor Kugler – Opekta
employee
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Suggested entries:
May 1, 1943
August 4, 1943
October 30, 1943
March 17, 1944
April 11, 1944
June 13, 1944
Focus on Empathy
n Student Handout #1
Your Own Secret Annex
Assign students the project, encouraging
them to think personally about the idea
of living in hiding, through this empathic
creative exercise.
Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
S e c tio n :
Into the Annex
continued
Focus on Conversation
student booklet
In-Class:
If you could have a conversation
with someone in the diary, who
would it be?
The Annex:
The student booklet presents an
image of the Secret Annex and a few
questions to consider.
If you have the technology available,
project a computer screen for the class,
and show them the 3D Anne Frank
House online at annefrank.org. For
older students, you may also let them
explore the house themselves, to get a
better idea of the space and how those
hiding inside may have lived. This
online resource is an excellent way to
help students visualize the space, and
to correct the common misconception
that Anne Frank was hidden in
an attic.
Tell your students that they are
reporters on assignment, and must
interview one of the people in hiding
or their helpers. Individually, or in
groups, have your students decide
who they would like to interview
and why.
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Then have them compile a list of
interview questions they will ask their
subject, and share as a group. Students
might be interested in explaining to
the group why they asked specific
questions, and what sort of answers
they hoped to elicit.
For Younger Audiences
Understanding Confinement:
Have your students create a space in the classroom which shows the size of
the bedroom in which Anne had to live. Measure out a space about 16 ft. by
15 ft. This approximates the size of the bedroom she shared with one other
person for the two years in captivity. Have the students compare this space
with the size of their own bedrooms, and encourage them to imagine life in
confined space with their parents, siblings, and even strangers.
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Sound-Free Zone:
Make your classroom into a “sound-free zone” to simulate a
condition of being in hiding. Students should not be allowed to
speak, and should behave as though someone could be listening
outside of the room. Have them write down their reactions to the
experiment, talking about how they felt while “hiding.”
Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S e c t io n :
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
The Diary of a Young Girl
Focus on Literature
student booklet
n Student Handout #2
Anne Frank:
The Revision Process
Students will read about the edits
that Anne made to the diary, and
will answer questions about the
implications of those changes.
Included in the curriculum is the
handout “Revised Passages.” You
may use this as an in-class project or
as a homework project.
Help the students to understand the
circumstances for the quote from
the radio on page 7. Talk about
what it means for a country to be
“occupied” and how the Dutch
(and other European nations) dealt
with, resisted, or accepted the
German occupation.
In-Class:
Supply students with the handout
and project it on the board. Read
the initial passage aloud, and have
students summarize what it said.
Then read the second passage aloud,
and ask them to highlight the
changes. Encourage them to discuss
the possible reasons for changes.
Ask the students to reflect and write
their thoughts for Questions 1–3 on
pages 8-10 (not pictured here).
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This section is largely for individual contemplation. In addition to the supplemental
activities on the right, you may consider leading group discussion with some of the
following questions:
n What do you think would have happened
to the diary if Anne Frank had lived?
n Miep Gies, Otto Frank’s assistant, took
care of the family while they were in
hiding. After the Gestapo came for the
Franks, Miep Gies saved Anne’s diary.
Why?
n Why is it important to read first-hand accounts of
history? What has the diary shown you that our
other materials on the Holocaust may not have?
nDiscuss the quote at the top of the page, “Paper
has more patience than people.” (The Diary of
Anne Frank, entry dated June 20, 1942)
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Homework:
Have students revise something that
they have written for themselves,
broadening the writing to include
an audience (depending on the
age group, you may want to specify
– i.e., teacher, principal, younger
students, parents, siblings, etc.).
Have them share the work with
a partner in class, and discuss the
act of writing for oneself and for
an audience.
Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S e c t io n :
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
The Bigger Picture
Focus on Action
student booklet
What changes will YOU make?
Students will be asked a number of
reflection questions, with quotes from
the diary. This is when you should
reference back to the information
provided from your Museum visit and
the Holocaust curriculum that you
have been using in your classroom.
Have students break into groups and
discuss the issue of public knowledge
of current events.
Talk about issues for which they
have seen informative ads on TV,
in print, or even at school.
Some questions for discussion:
In small groups, have students
create their own public service
announcement (PSA) about issues
that were mentioned in The Diary
of Anne Frank. PSAs about military
occupation, stripping of group
rights, and limitations on food and
human services might emerge.
n Discuss the idea of Anne as “lucky”
to be safely in hiding for as long as
she was.
n I t is important to remember that
victimhood is not black and white,
and not all victims perished in
camps. After all, when did Anne
and her family become victims of
the Nazi Holocaust? Was it when
their country (The Netherlands)
was invaded by the Germans? Or
when the Jews were being taken away and the Franks went into hiding? Was it
when they were discovered? When they entered the camps?
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n Th
ough the Franks longed for news from the outside world, everyone hiding
in the Annex had a normal daily routine, including chores and even study
for Anne, Margot, and Peter. What was the benefit of having a routine?
Why did Otto Frank want his daughters to do school work every day, in their
desperate situation?
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Ask your students to include a call
to action in their PSAs, speaking to
the importance of fighting injustice.
This activity can help students to
relate the bigger issues of awareness
and action to their lives and to
modern-day issues.
n Discuss the quote at the top of student’s book page 11, in which Anne expresses
her guilt for maintaining comfortable routines and lifestyle. Why would she feel
guilty? Should she have? What might your routines be in hiding?
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Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
S upp l ement a l Act i vi t i es :
S e c t io n :
The Bigger Picture
continued
Focus on Numbers
student booklet
How can students grasp the
enormity of genocide involving six
million people?
This is also a good opportunity to
reflect on the inactions of the world,
and how much people really knew
about what was going on in Germany
and Poland. Remind the students that
everything Anne knew was public
knowledge, and that there was far
more news available to the public than
reached the Annex.
Challenge students who enjoy
working with numbers to come up
with a math equivalent for helping
their classmates to appreciate what
that number means – in terms they
can relate to.
Some questions for discussion:
n “How wonderful it is that nobody
need wait a single moment before
starting to improve the world.”
What do you think Anne Frank
meant by that? Do you agree
with her?
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n Compare the previous quote with
this diary entry: “I’ve reached the
point where I hardly care whether
I live or die. The world will keep on turning without me, I can’t do anything to
change events anyway.” In what ways is this different from the previous entry?
In what ways are they similar? Are both thoughts related to one larger issue?
n Remembering your visit to the Holocaust Memorial Center, how did ordinary
people act to improve the world? What actions did or could they take? What
do you think were the motivations and thoughts of those who did nothing?
Discuss the implications of inaction, both in the Holocaust, and in our
everyday lives.
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How does six million people compare
to the population of your school?
City/town? State? How many football
stadiums would be needed to hold six
million people? How many train cars
in which the prisoners would stand,
jammed together for days on end?
Encourage students to think of their
own standards of comparison.
Focus on Time
Have each of your students (or in
small groups) develop a time line
that shows their own lives. A time
line can be as traditional in format
as a listing of events, or it can be
represented through a chart, collage,
photographs, or objects.
Anne Frank Curriculum
Post-Visit Teacher’s Guide
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© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
C RE D IT S :
The Anne Frank Curriculum is a product of the
Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus.
Stephen M. Goldman, Executive Director
Miriam Eve Borenstein, Curriculum Author
Robin S. Axelrod, Anne Frank Project Coordinator
Ciel Design Partners, Project Design
Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus Staff:
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER Zekelman Family Campus
28123 Orchard Lake Road • Farmington Hills, MI 48334-3738
248.553.2400 www.holocaustcenter.org
www.facebook.com/hmczfc
www.twitter.com/HolocaustMI
Gail Cohen
Cheryl Guyer
Denny Muhn
Jackie Schwartz
Selma Silverman
Beth Snider
Dr. Guy Stern
Rebecca Swindler Steiner
Feiga Weiss
Lawrence Willim
With additional support from:
Anne Frank Center USA
Anne Frank Fonds
Anne Frank Foundation
Bob Davidson, Owner, Exhibits and More
Gail Kaplan, Visual Artist and Consultant
Jeff Lasday, Executive Director, Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit’s Alliance for Jewish Education
Thank you to the Jewish Women’s
Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit for
funding this curriculum.
Joel Smith, AIA, Neumann/Smith Architecture
Additional support was provided by
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit’s Alliance for Jewish Education.
ISBN: 978-0-9845213-3-3
2013-07R
Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus
© 2013 Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus