ARCHIVE for HMD2010: The Legacy of Hope
The case studies and related education resources for HMD2010, The Legacy of Hope, have been archived. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is currently focusing on the theme for this year, Speak Up, Speak Out.
HMD 2010 Reading Activities for English (Primary)
Young readers may be introduced to Holocaust narratives through the eyes of fictional characters. The days leading up to Holocaust Memorial Day are a good time to share in the reading of a short novel and discuss the issues and questions which arise as the story unfolds.
It is important to tell students that although the characters they encounter are fictional, the historical events behind the narrative actually took place. HMDT has selected books suitable for primary students and prepared a series of discussion questions and tasks to be used with student reading groups. You will find these in the reading group section of our main website.
You could use any of the books in this section but to help your students join in The Legacy of Hope we especially recommend The Mozart Question and The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas which tell of life as Jewish prisoners of the Nazis and could be linked with the case studies on Hugo Gryn or Ben Helfgott.
If you wish to focus on the Denise Affonço case study sharing thoughts on the picture book A Song For Cambodia which is based on the experiences of a real child in the killing fields of Cambodia, would be most useful.
If you are encouraging very young children to think about inclusion, you could link the picture book Susan Laughs and its positive messages about a Disabled child, with the poem/song for infants which has been specially written to help them understand The Legacy of Hope.
If you want older primary students to think about modern inclusion issues then Refugee Boy is suitable for upper primary (ages 10-11) as well as lower secondary (11-14)
- Primary_English_ReadingActivities (PDF: 68818 KB)