Resources for the Classroom
Education Activity
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
11+
14+
16+
2 lessons
Available in French
MATERIALS NEEDED
FEATURED MEMOIRS
• Background reading about the author and historical context • Author Biography Activity • Timeline Activity
• Technology for accessing Re:Collection • Re:Collection instructions
Nate Leipciger The Weight of Freedom* • Born in Poland in 1928 • Arrived in Canada in 1948; lives in Toronto, ON
16+
Eleven years old when the war begins in Poland, Nate grows up in Nazi death camps and concentration camps. As he struggles to survive, he forges a new, unbreakable bond with his father and dreams of an uncertain future.
DURING THIS ACTIVITY, STUDENTS WILL
• Read a short introduction about a survivor author • Use Re:Collection to answer questions about the survivor author’s story
• Create a timeline of the survivor author’s life alongside global historical events
Leslie Meisels Suddenly the Shadow Fell • Born in Hungary in 1927 • Arrived in Canada in 1967; lived in Toronto, ON
14+
The author biography activities are effective tools for learning about one or more survivor stories. They may be used to introduce a survivor’s story, to learn about multiple stories, to consolidate what students have learned after studying a survivor’s story or to prepare stu- dents for a survivor presentation. To access the full collection of our author biography activities, see the Activities tab under Educational Materials on our website.
In a ghetto in Debrecen, Hungary, Leslie makes a decision for his family that luckily gets them on a transport to forced labour in Austria instead of one bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau. His path to liberation is difficult, but Leslie is among the lucky few to survive with his immediate family.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Build historical empathy skills by en- gaging with survivor testimony • Develop media literacy skills by re- searching a survivor’s story on the digital resource Re:Collection
Margrit Rosenberg Stenge Silent Refuge • Born in Germany in 1928 • Arrived in Canada in 1951; lived in Montreal, QC
• Improve historical-thinking and critical- thinking skills by completing a timeline
11+
Margrit and her parents narrowly escape Germany for Norway, only to find that they must flee once again on a perilous journey from Nazi-occupied Norway to neutral Sweden.
* Contains sexual content and graphic violence
If you are interested in more author biography activities, you might also like these memoirs:
28
29
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