Monday, March 23rd

Hi everybody!

I wanted to give you a little update on some things, since we are all unsure of many things at this point. I have received some March Madness Book Projects via email. If you are able to submit yours to me, you may certainly do so, but it is not required at this time. I have also received some questions about Study Island topics and some have sent me emails that they have completed all of the remaining topics. Again, at this point, if you are able to complete the remaining topics assigned on Study Island, please feel free to do so at your own pace, but it is not a requirement as of right now. Please understand that these will not be graded at this time if you do submit them to me from home while school is still closed. With that said, if you do want to send me anything from home, you can submit them to my email bleib@northschuylkill.net or share them with me via Google. My NS gapps email is bleib@gapps.northschuylkill.net.

Once I receive further instructions from the school district, I will post appropriate updates on here as well.


If you'd like to continue with some interesting readings from the Holocaust unit in our textbook, I have posted a recording on here of the excerpt from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl as well as some discussion questions. You can respond to the questions by clicking on the comment button below. I may also be posting some more optional readings on here. Again, this is OPTIONAL. It will not be graded.

I hope you are all staying safe and practicing social distancing to the best of your ability.


Optional Activity During School Closure
from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (Optional Reading and Questions)
- diary entries

Below is the link to the online audio and text of Anne Frank's diary entries from our Pearson textbook. If you have your book at home with you, the text is on pages 213 - 216. If you would like to log in to your Pearson Realize account, remember the login is ns+lunch code.

https://reader.pearsonrealize.com/#/book/87B2TMPX3F2/view/single/page/53

If the above link does not work for you, you can listen to the recording I have posted here of the text. Enjoy!   https://drive.google.com/file/d/19s_yr0Jzb6JdLpBQeK59wi2v8UM3Mg6F/view?usp=sharing

Discussion Questions
1. What does Anne say is the reason for starting her diary?
2. Why does Anne start her diary entries with the words Dear Kitty?
3. Though Anne died during the Holocaust, do you think she lives on through her diary? Explain.
4. How do you think Anne was able to remain optimistic throughout her time in hiding?


Optional Challenge: Anne showed us how writing in her diary was a way of escaping the terrible things that were going on around her. She was able to "think her way out" through writing to Kitty in her diary. In our difficult situation today, writing can also serve this same purpose for us. Many of us are fortunate to be able to remain connected with friends and loved ones through technologies like social media. However, if you are feeling ambitious and would like to try writing in your own diary, I challenge you to do so either using paper and pencil, like Anne, or by typing one. There are many formats you can use, such as an online diary or just using notepad or Google Docs. You can even name your diary just like Anne did. You do not have to post any entries or send any to me. This is just a personal challenge if you are willing to try it, or if you are simply looking for a different way to spend your extra time.