Lesson
2
:
Learning Humanity from a Nonfiction Text
Grade
Grade 6
UNIT
9
•
Humanity
In Unit 9, Lesson 2, “Learning Humanity from a Nonfiction Text,” students will learn examples of humanity from the lives of six teenagers who helped to rescue Jewish people during WWII. Additionally, students will answer questions to develop their critical thinking skills and advance their academic dialogue skills through class discussion.
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SUGGESTED TIME:
- 12 sessions of in-class independent reading or 12 homework assignments to complete the book, Heroes of the Holocaust: True Stories of Rescues by Teens by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun. The book has an introduction and six chapters, for a total of 183 pages.
- Students should complete the worksheet questions as they read the book
- Allow one class period to discuss the worksheet questions.
RELATED SUBJECT:
English Language Arts
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- Read a nonfiction text and demonstrate understanding of the central ideas
- Determine the author’s purpose in the text
- Compose answers to questions that demonstrate comprehension of the word humanity
- Demonstrate understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar
- Practice reading and conversation skills by sharing sentences with classmates
REQUIRED MATERIALS:
- Book: Heroes of the Holocaust: True Stories of Rescues by Teens by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun
- Video: Who are the Righteous Among the Nations? by Yad Vashem (~3 min)
- Prohuman Grade 6 Unit 9 Worksheet 2: Learning Humanity from a Nonfiction Text
ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET
CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET
LESSON PROCEDURE
Step 1:
- Explain that we will be reading a book that tells the true stories of six teenagers who helped to rescue Jewish people during WWII.
- There is a special honor called the Righteous Among the Nations for non-Jews who took great risks to save Jews during the Holocaust.
- To learn more about Righteous Among the Nations, play the video: Who are the Righteous Among the Nations? by Yad Vashem (~3 min)
Step 2:
- Have students complete the book, either through multiple in-class silent reading sessions or as homework: Heroes of the Holocaust: True Stories of Rescues by Teens by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun
- Have students complete the short-answer questions on the worksheet as they read the book.
Step 3:
- Allow at least 50 minutes for in-class discussion of the short-answer questions on the worksheet.
GRADE 6 UNIT 9 WORKSHEET 2: LEARNING HUMANITY FROM A NONFICTION TEXT
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WHILE READING Heroes of the Holocaust: True Stories of Rescues by Teens by Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun:
- How many people have received the honor Righteous Among the Nations?
- Which of these stories made the greatest impact on you and why?
- How did Maria Andzelm and her family help Jews in Poland?
- How did Henri Zylberminc help Jews in Belgium?
- How did Hilde Jacobsthal help Jews in Holland, and what now-famous person did she know?
- How did Ferenc Schatz go into “the lion’s den” to help Jews in Hungary?
- How did Liliane Belinne help Jews in Belgium?
- What did Preben Munch-Nielsen and his fellow students do in Denmark to resist the Nazis and help Jews?
- Preben’s story covers the same time and place as Lois Lowry’s novel Number the Stars. What are 2 similarities and 2 differences in those stories?
- What is one way that you can show humanity in your own life, to Jews or to others who are different from you?
- Write about and share a principle you want to live by that you learned from reading this book.
Prohuman K-12 Curriculum © 2025 by Prohuman Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
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