The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Pre-Reading (2 complete lessons)

Two engaging and ready to teach lessons to introduce students to context to prepare them to study the main themes in ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne.

Lesson overviews, printing instructions and worksheets are all included.

This resource includes a Powerpoint presentation for 2 one-hour lessons (although in the past I have spread this over more lessons if required). For research, students can either use devices to access the Internet, but if this is not available I have included a pdf document which includes 16 sources that students can use for their research in class.

The topics included in this lesson are:

1. Auschwitz
2. The Jewish ghettos
3. The Final Solution
4. Hitler and anti-Semitism
5. The night of broken glass

LESSON ONE Learning Objective: Identify strong sources of information to complete research about the Holocaust.

Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Identify a reliable source of information about my topic.
Silver: Write down my research in my own words.
Gold: Find multiple reliable sources of information.

Teaching activities:
Do it now: Students complete first column of KWL grid about the Holocaust
Starter: Think, pair, share: discussion of what makes a reliable source.
Activity 1: How do we take effective notes?
Activity 2: Research and completing scaffolding notes sheet.
Peer assessment
Plenary: Students complete the L section of their KWL grid.

LESSON TWO Learning Objective: Identify the most important points in your research and present these to your classmates.

Learning Outcomes:
Bronze: Identify the key vocabulary in the research I have completed.
Silver: Take brief and clear notes on other topics of information.
Gold: Make links between different knowledge and ideas.

Teaching activities:
Do it now: Recall – what are reliable and unreliable sources of information?
Starter: Review and summarise your research from last lesson.
Activity 1: Use your research to create an informative poster with only 10 words on it.
Activity 2: Carousel activity for students to share their information with each other.
Plenary: Highlight the three most important facts that you learned this lesson.

More Freebies:

1. A lesson on chapter 1 of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is available for free here.

2. A scheme of work for teaching the entire novel is available for free here.

If you find this lesson useful, please consider purchasing this ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ Bundle or have a look at other resources available in my shop.