This document outlines a 4-week blended initiative exploring discrimination through Anne Frank's diary. In the initiative, students will complete online activities on Schoology while engaging with course readings and activities in class. The online activities include a web quest on Anne Frank and the Holocaust in Week 1, discussing Elie Wiesel's speech on discrimination in Week 2, reflecting on testimonies in Week 3, and summarizing a news article in Week 4. Formative assessments are provided each week to check understanding. Students will collaborate by providing feedback on responses and discussing experiences with discrimination. The goal is to provide differentiated resources to help all students access the curriculum.

1. C A R O L I N E B E T T S
Exploring the Effects of
Discrimination through “The Diary
of a Young Girl”, by Anne Frank

2. Summary of Initiative
 Blended initiative: Learners will complete individual activities
online while engaging in unit course readings and activities in
class.
 This initiative will take place over a four week period while
students explore The Diary of a Young Girl and The
Holocaust in their English and Social Studies classes.
 The purpose of this initiative is to provide differentiated
materials and activities to help all students access the themes
and concepts in these units.
 By exploring a variety of resources that appeal to different
reading levels and learning styles, all students will be able to
access the curriculum and engage in exciting discussions and
activities focused on issues that are still relevant today.

3. Summary of Problem/Need
 The charter school network through which I am employed has standardized
assessments as well as strict pacing and unit guides that teachers must
follow in order to meet requirements.
 The course materials and readings are also standardized throughout the
network. Teachers have some freedom to incorporate their own resources
and materials, but need to do it within the time constraints of the pacing
guide.
 This makes it difficult to differentiate lessons and activities for a variety of
learners.
 Many students in the sixth grade read below grade level and would benefit
from differentiated reading materials and supplemental resources to help
them access the content (37.9% in one homeroom and 26.6% in another
homeroom performed at grade level on an end of year benchmark ELA
exam). We also have a significant English Language Learner population.
 Students found this unit particularly interesting this past year because of
the themes and relevance to their own lives. I wanted to provide
opportunities for them to explore the topics further in the future.

4. Objectives/Outcomes
 SWBAT explore a variety of resources to learn more about
historical events to develop essential research skills.
 SWBAT make connections between English and Social Studies
content studied in class and individual research on other cases
of discrimination and prejudice.
 SWBAT collaborate with peers through an e-learning platform
to expand knowledge and understanding of the topic.
 SWBAT make connections between Anne Frank’s experience
of anti-Semitism with other historical events and/or current
events.
 SWBAT Identify the tragic and brutal consequences of
intolerance and hatred.
 SWBAT write a clear thesis statement supported with
evidence on a chosen topic.

5. Schoology
 This initiative will be delivered through Schoology, a Learning
Management system that allows instructors to upload materials and
resources, communicate with students, upload assignments and
discussions, share rubrics and grades, and more.
 I chose to use this platform because of the ease with which I was able to
upload a variety of resources and assignments into organized folders.

6. Online Activity: Week 1
 The online activity will take place over the first 2 weeks of the
unit.
 In the first week, students will engage in Web Quest to learn
more about the background of Anne Frank and her family as
well as important historical facts about The Holocaust.
 The purpose of this first week is to provide a variety of
resources for learners to explore in order to better understand
the context of the events we read about and explore in class.
 Resources include the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum Website and the official Anne Frank House website,
with questions to guide them through the various sections of
each website.
 On these websites, students are instructed to view videos, read
articles and passages, and explore a virtual tour of the Annex
in order to learn more about the topic.

7. Online Activity: Week 2
 In the second week of the unit, students will engage in part 2
of the online activity.
 During this week, students will read Elie Wiesel’s famous
speech “The Perils of Indifference”.
 Through NewsELA, I uploaded 3 different Lexile levels of the
famous speech and instructed students to read the article
labeled with their reading group letter.
 Students will then respond to a discussion question asking
about the central idea of the speech.
 Students will collaborate by leaving feedback on one another’s
responses.
 By the end of the week, students will be required to upload a
final draft of their central idea short response, using their
peers’ and the instructor’s feedback.

8. Link to Online Activity
 https://app.schoology.com/course/1138105954/mat
erials?f=85976680
Access Code: VQD8M-3J3XC
*You must create an account and join Johns Hopkins
University before viewing the course.

9. Assessments
 Each week of the initiative will include a formative assessment,
outlined below:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
• Anne Frank
Web Quest
• “The Perils of
Indifference”
central idea
short response
• Reflection
assignment
(after viewing
Holocaust
survival
testimonies and
listening to
Storycorps
discrimination
testimonies)
• Summary of
NewsELA
discrimination
article
Final
assignment:
Create a poster on
Canva to fight
attitudes of
discrimination

10. Collaboration Tools
 Learners will collaborate in a variety of ways throughout the
initiative.
 During Week 2, learners will provide feedback on one another’s
short responses. Students will focus their feedback primarily on
writing a clear claim/thesis, including best evidence, and providing
reasoning.
 During week 3, learners will participate in a discussion about their
own experiences with discrimination. Students will learn more
about each other’s experiences and the effects of discrimination by
viewing each other’s posts and responding to at least 2 peers.
 During the last week, learners will each create a poster on the
website Canva. This website allows learners to view one another’s
virtual posters and leave comments/questions. Students will be
required to respond to at least 2 classmates’ posters.

11. Resources
“Providing supplemental resources, such as links to helpful guides, articles, or videos, is beneficial
for all learning needs. Learners who may be struggling can click on the resource links when they
need additional help with a topic, while advanced learners can use the resources to learn even more
about a subject or idea that interests them” (Pappas, 2015).
 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Learning Site for students:
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/students/the-holocaust-a-learning-site-for-students
 Official Anne Frank House Website: http://www.annefrank.org/en/Subsites/Home/
 NewsELA Famous Speeches: https://newsela.com/read/speeches-wiesel-indifference
 NewsELA “Genocide: A Crime Against Humanity” text set: https://newsela.com/text-
sets/160108
Pappas, C. (2015). Differentiated instruction in elearning. ELearning Industry.
Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/differentiated-instruction-in-
elearning-what-elearning-professionals-should-know