We are currently reading The Diary of Anne Frank.  One item   we were initally confused about was the fact that our reading series had placed this selection in the unit entitled “Survival.”  We knew that Anne and her mother and sister had all perished in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, so why place the portion of her diary in the “Survival” Unit? After much discussion we came to the conclusion that Anne had indeed survived, maybe not Anne herself, but her story.  Her diary has been translated into something like thirty two different languages….her story is told across numerous countries and in many languages and it stands as a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and the resiliency of the human spirit.

Our discussion so far has blossomed into many different areas.  We created a list noting how the Jews were segregated….they couldn’t ride the bus, go to the same school as German children, participate in public sports including swimming, they could only shop at markets which would accept Jewish customers……so many ways.  We then searched our minds and were able to see that many of these same discrimination happened to African Americans and Japanese Americans.

 Without Anne’s diary we probably would not understand fully the deep personal impact the segregation and hiding had on one little girl and ultimately a nation.  Anne is a fine example of how one person really can make a difference even if they do not think they ever will.  So remember everyone has the potential to positively impact the world, even through activities that may seem ordinary or mundane.

Our blog reconstruction is almost complete!! As I was considering what to add to our blog I visited many other blogs and noticed what I liked about them.  One item which really caught my eye, thanks to my friend Kristen’s blog, were the flags.  When people around the world visit our blog they can leave a message and tell us which country they are from.  At first I thought it was a cute novelty item, but as time progressed, and I did not have them on our blog, the flags became almost an obsession.  I looked for them constantly and when I found them on other people’s blogs I had to know how many flags they had and from which countries they received the flags. So now we have them on our blog. So please, please, please:gimme some flag.

We have been assigned our pen pals and have received our first books….so we are well on our way to reading and corresponding with our new pen pals.  Most of us really like In2Books.  Getting a free new book is always special.  We are continuing our tolerance unit that we started last year.  Our first unit is always about bullies because bullies are every where, and we need to really do a good job of  being an upstander and saying “No!” to bullies.  So we each picked a title from the In2Books unit on bullying.

It has been intersting to see how each of the characters in our books deals with their bully.  Jake Drake tends to ignore his bully, Link.  While Agnes confronts her bully.  Sometimes different bullying behavior warrents different  solutions.  What do you think is the best way to deal with a bully?

 Today we watched “Playing for Change, Stand By Me.” It was very powerful for us to see how music connected so many people around the world.  We began to talk out how else the people of the world were connected, and realized that we probably have more in common than differences.  Mrs. McKillop then asked us to think about how we have changed in the ways we are tolerant since we have begun exploring tolerance.  As a class we came up with some ideas.  The most important area we have changed in is that we are far more aware of different cultures, and how bullying can impact people. We talked about the videos we have watched and the vocabulary we have learned.  We then tought how important it was to continue the changes we have begun. In conclusion, we think that the world is definitely becoming a smaller place, that we have more similarities than differences, and that small gestures of kindness can have a big impact. What do you think?