We have been doing our World War II and the Holocaust unit of study for several weeks now, and we recently finished reading Daniel's Story, our unit focus novel. Daniel's Story is the official children's book of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Many teachers of Holocaust education prefer to use diaries and memoirs of the period rather than fiction with their students, and I truly recognize the value of first-person literature. Although Daniel's Story is fiction, it is based primarily on actual events, and it gives the young reader a great introductory overview of the period. I think it is a good story, and my students really enjoy it.
Our Holocaust unit of study incorporates many different resources including informational and picture books, slides from my trips to Holocaust sites in Poland and Yad Vashem in Israel, documentaries and movies, various learning activities, viewing of primary sources, and a truly special event you will hear more about this week. Of all the literary and thematic units I have conducted over the years, our study of the Holocaust is the one my former students seem to remember the most. As well it should be.
