The Anne Frank Center USA in New York – which is affiliated with the Anne Frank House – wants to plant the saplings in the Unites States as a symbol of the growth of tolerance, says an article in the New York Times of 17 April. The organization would like to see one planted near the White House and one around the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center.

Another sapling will go to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, which features Anne Frank’s story. To find the other seven potential sites, the center plans to issue a request for proposals.

Read the NY Times article�

Daily shopping

Together with Bep Voskuijl, Miep Gies took care of the daily shopping for those in hiding: food, but also things like clothes and library books. Anne Frank writes about this in her diary: “Miep has so much to carry she looks like a pack mule. She goes forth nearly every day to scrounge up vegetables and then bicycles back with her purchases in large shopping bags.”

Keeping the diary safe

Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl are the ones who found Anne’s writings scattered on the floor of the Secret Annex following the arrest. Since that day, Miep has kept the diaries in a drawer of her desk. When she heard in July 1945, that Anne, like Margot, had died in Bergen-Belsen, she gave Anne’s writing back to Otto Frank.

About her role as a helper Miep Gies says: “I helped because I know how easily people can find themselves in trouble without having done anything wrong”.

Emphasis on Anne Frank as an author

Throughout the year, the educational programmes in the Anne Frank House will have an extra emphasis on Anne as an author. Besides this, a simplified Dutch version of the life story of Anne Frank was published on 25 April. This book has been specially written for people with reading difficulties.

Website Amsterdam World Book Capital

About her photo Nadya says: “Ivan is a very kind and cheerful old man. His whole life he has lived in a small village and he is very happy about this. He has a nice wife and wonderful kids. Even though he has lost his teeth, his health and his hearing, he is not disappointed. He doesn’t complain about his life, he keeps on feeling happy every new day. This photo shows his happiness too. He feels happy because I gave him a little attention.”

Over 600 entries

Over 600 young people entered the photo competition. With their photos they expressed their thoughts about the themes freedom, goodness, giving, courage, happiness, humanity and usefulness. Anne Frank wrote about these themes in her diary.

World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass

The jury consisted of twelve young and talented photographers from all over the world. They participated in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2007 and chose a winning photo for each of the themes.

The Anne Frank House wishes to stimulate young, photographic talent with its photo contest. Nadya won a Canon EOS 400D and a VIP tour around the Anne Frank House. The second and third prizes were a Canon IXUS 75 and a Canon PowerShot A570 IS. Besides this, all seven theme winners received and Anne Frank package worth € 85.

View all winning photos at: www.annefranktree.com.

Have you students enter the new photo competition

This year again, we are organizing the photo contest ‘Sources of Inspiration’. Contestants from 10 to 18 years of age can send in their digital photos and explanations. Closing date is 1 October 2008. Would you like your students to enter?
For more information: www.annefrank.org/contest.

Read the contest rules

Speakers pointed to the intimate character of the text, to Otto Frank’s role in spreading the book and to its literary quality. They had al read the diary when they were young, but it was only now - after rereading it for the symposium – that they were struck by its literary qualities. Together they pleaded for more attention for the writer Anne Frank.

One of the speakers was Arjan Peters, literary reviewer for the Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’ and former student of the R.C. Anne Frank School in Heemskerk

More about the symposium
Abbreviated lecture Arjan Peters

The most remarkable thing about my students’ reaction to the project was their desire to write letters directly to Miep Gies, herself.  They were so excited and wanted to share with her that they were much more similar to Anne Frank than they were different.

Meeting Miep Gies
My students invited Miep Gies to Long Beach, California and were forever changed by her visit.  Miep encouraged us “to make sure that Anne’s death was not in vain.”  We heeded her call, and thus, ‘The Freedom Writers Diary’ is a tribute to the power of the written word.

Picking up the baton
Anne Frank’s diary had such a profound impact on my students and me that we eventually visited the Anne Frank House together, a year after my students’ high school graduation.  We went to her attic on August 4th, the day that Anne was captured. We chose this date to show that we had picked up the baton, in the form of a pen, and were going to continue promoting her legacy.

Erin Gruwell

The diary lessons are both suited to give as homework and to do in class. Students answer the question using source material. They can save, print and e-mail their answers. The quizzes each consist of 25 multiple choice questions. Students can take them independently, but the quizzes can also form part of a lesson.

I believe that if you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it. That is why I deliberately infused historical lessons into my literature projects. We spent a lot of time talking about the Holocaust – but I deliberately chose to let them discover Anne’s fate on their own.

Eager to learn more
After reading the entire book, my students were eager to learn even more. They spent time researching Anne’s family, Miep Gies, the Holocaust, and other authors from the Holocaust, including Eli Wiesel.

One final note on the diary text itself. Even though she wrote her diary in the 1940’s, my students were able to relate to Anne Frank. The at times ‘old-fashioned’ language did not turn out to be a barrier. They were able to look past the language, and delve into the actual content and power of Anne’s words.

Don’t miss out on my next posting. I will tell you more about my students’ reactions.

Erin Gruwell

Variety of modalities
In anticipation of the language, cultural and historical differences, I engaged my students by tapping into their multiple learning intelligences. I used a wide variety of modalities to activate students’ prior knowledge– such as introducing film clips, studying archival photos, using appropriate songs, engaging in kinesthetic activities and visiting the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. I found that this holistic approach using multiple learning modalities really engaged my students. In my view it formed the key to my success.

Holocaust survivor
We also had a unique opportunity to invite a Holocaust survivor to our class. As a child she had been in hiding and she was able to juxtapose her experience in great depth to Anne’s. This turned out to be a turning point in the project. Her vivid description truly brought Anne’s diary to life.

Read my posting next month to see why history formed a crucial element in my lessons. 

Erin Gruwell

I started teaching at Wilson High School in Long Beach, California in the fall of 1994. It was just after the Rodney King riots and racial tensions had spilled over into the school. After one of my student’s said, “I feel like I live in an undeclared war,” I decided to share Anne Frank’s diary with my class. I desperately wanted my teenage students to learn how to pick up a pen, rather than a gun or their fists to fight injustice in their community.

The diary had a profound impact on me

I originally read Anne Frank’s diary when I was in fourth grade, and I remember it having a profound impact on me – as I watched my students read her book (for many, it was the first book they had ever read from cover-to-cover) I was inspired all over again.

Anne Frank’s diary was a pivotal tool for me to teach about tolerance and acceptance. It truly resonated with my students and touched upon themes that they could personally relate to – discrimination, fighting stereotypes, and the desire to have a voice. Writing diaries themselves, actually gave them that voice.

Inspiring people to make a difference

My students’ diary entries were compiled in the book ‘The Freedom Writers Diary’. The film ‘Freedom Writers’ was based on this book. I am very proud of the film and think it will inspire people to make a difference in the world. Tolerance and acceptance is very important in our world today, and we hope that this film will be a catalyst to take a look at one another and focus on our similarities, just as the Freedom Writers did with Anne Frank.

Next month I will tell you more about how I approached the Freedom Writers project.

Erin Gruwell