Our teen literature group has been busy all summer, reading some great literature and going on several amazing field trips. We’ve added some younger students to the group, so we are now Real Teens Read/Real Kids Read. These students are a joy to spend time with, and it’s been wonderful to watch how they are making connections to the literature as we go along.
We did a unit on The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, with the teens reading both books and the younger kids only reading Number the Stars.
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After reading the books, the group met to watch the movie version of The Book Thief. It was interesting that the younger kids who had not read the book really enjoyed the movie, but the teens who had read the book were quite disappointed in the movie.
There are several things from the book that were changed, and everyone agreed that the changes were either unnecessary or actually detracted from the theme of the story. It seems like that happens often when books become movies. The books are always better!
When we met for our book discussion, the group ate lots of pizza while discussing the themes these books have in common, the historical events that inspired both books, and the relevance of knowing and understanding these events and themes today.
Then, we made stars.
Using aluminum cut from disposable baking pans, the kids cut out a Star of David, and then painted over it with acrylic paint. Many of the kids also chose to write “Shalom” with paint pens, then we punched holes at the top and strung a ribbon through.
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