Moss Teaches

For Parents: Number the Stars

May 7, 2012 | Posted in: Class Updates

3 Comments

Parents, please click “Read the rest of this entry »” to read a message from Mr. Moss.  Kids, NO PEEKING!  It would spoil Number the Stars for you!  Your homework is below this, in the next article.

FOR PARENTS ONLY

Today, we started a mini-unit about the novel Number the Stars.  This award winning text following a Jewish family during the early days of the Holocaust.  This is the second year that the PTO has generously funded a visit from theater educators from The Hartford Stage.  Each day this week, we will be visited by a theater educator to learn about the book through dramatic readings, tableaus, and discussions.  This will be the starting point for a study of the whole book.  All of our fourth grade classes are participating in this enriching program, as are fourth graders at Roaring Brook School.  In a quick survey today, I found that none of the students in our class knew what the Holocaust was, which was, of course, perfectly understandable.  The Holocaust is a notoriously “sticky” subject to get into with children, particularly in school.  To address some concerns which may be coming up in your mind, let me share some thoughts about how we cover this topic in school:

  • I focus primarily on the facts of what happened, leaving out the parts that are the most frightening.  There are no photos from the Holocaust, and I never go into graphic detail about the atrocities.
  • We focus on the fictional characters in the book as a way of studying the Holocaust.  Most conversations will center around helping kids to understand the feelings of characters, such as “How would you feel if your family had to suddenly move and hide?”  I try to compare events and situations to things kids understand, such as saying that the Nazis were like bullies.
  • When particularly difficult topics come up, I am matter of fact with the kids.  We don’t dwell on frightening parts for the sake of drama, and I am always careful to stress that these events happened long ago and that the kids are all safe.
  • Consider preparing yourself for questions that your son or daughter may ask at home.  When particularly sensitive topics come up, I encourage kids to discuss them with their grownups at home, because I think it’s important that you decide how and when to address certain topics.  In the event that a particularly sensitive topic does come up during a discussion, I will make every effort to inform you of it in a timely manner so that you can be prepared for questions and conversation at home.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

3 Comments

  1. 12
    May 7, 2012

    I think Ellen was very scared,shy,and nevous maybe beacause something might of happened to her or someone she knows and cares for.

  2. 16
    May 7, 2012

    My prediction of Ellen and her characteristics are, her life might have felt shallow and lonely after what happened to her best friend because she was very sad when her friend Anne Marie died. I think she is the main character also.She also might be very old since she said she was 10 when world war 2 happened.

  3. 1112 - 23
    May 8, 2012

    WAIT WHY ARE PEOPLE POSTING HERE??? Hey, 12 16 and 22 have the same pic

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