Goal 1 Students in Missouri public schools will acquire the knowledge and skills to gather, analyze and apply information and ideas. Goal 2 Students in Missouri public schools will acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively within and beyond the classroom. In Social Studies, students in Missouri public schools will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge of 6. At the heart of the unit is the Newbery Award winning novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry which students read during language arts.
Students participate in a variety of activities related to the novel.
It is an emotionally charged book that realistically portrays the fears and tensions experienced by the Jews and their rescuers. By reading and discussing the book, students are able to explore the value of friendships, the impact of prejudice, the acts of courage, and how historical events affect people and cultures. In order to help students understand more about the historical setting, they study the historical background of the Holocaust in social studies. The study of the various resistance movements offers students the opportunity to compare and contrast how individuals, groups, and countries worked to save Jews from deportation and death. By using a combination of print resources and selected Web Sites, students learn to use appropriate search strategies to find information.