The Book Thief Mini Lesson

Student Centered Vocabulary Lesson

*Lesson plan based on a 15-20-minute bell ringer
Grade Level: 10th
Purpose/rationale: Students will be about a fourth of the way through Markus Zusaks novel,
The Book Thief. The reason the students are reading this novel is to not only discover the many
unique ways a novel can be written, but also to pair with the novel, The Diary of a Young Girl by
Anne Frank. Students will read Anne Franks diary before this novel that focuses on the
Holocaust from a Jewish point of view, and then will be comparing Anne Franks experience to a
German girls experience of the Holocaust in The Book Thief. These two novels will be in part of
a unit on the Holocaust and the class will be analyzing the novels starting with historical
criticism and moving on to rhetorical criticism in The Book Thief with how words and their
meanings are important and can cause wars, genocide, and horrible things. Since there are two
different novels with two different perspectives on the Holocaust, the students will also be
comparing and contrasting the situations throughout the unit. Since this novel is 550 pages long,
this novel will be read over the course of the month. Each week, the students will choose the
vocabulary out of the novel in the section we read the week before.
The reason the students are finding and choosing their own vocabulary is for motivation (the
students get to choose what they want to learn) and student centered learning (the students are
learning the words they need to understand in the novel) and to help with overall reading
comprehension. Vocabulary is also an important part of The Book Thief unit due to the fact that
students at the end of the unit will be creating their own propaganda via words and images and
therefore need to understand the words in the text and the how to use them rhetorically.
Florida Standards:
LAFS.8.L.3.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or
phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
Objectives:
Students Will Be Able To:
Define words from The Book Thief that they previously didnt know the definition for.
Demonstrate how the word they found is used
Materials:
Teacher:
o White board
o Markers
o The iPad cart
o 7 Posters
o Markers
o Note Cards

Students:
o Novel: The Book Thief

Anticipatory set:
Teacher will place the students into 7 groups of 3. Students will get into their groups and then the
teacher will pass out markers, posters, and iPads and then explain the directions for the
vocabulary activity that are also written on the white board.
Since students have read up to page 141 of the book, each group will be assigned 20 pages of the
section of the book that they have already read (Ex: Group 1: pg.1-20, Group 2: pg. 21-40,
Group 3: pg. 41-60, etc.). During the reading process, students were instructed to lightly
underline a word they did not know the definition for so they should have at least a few words
underlined to go off of.
The teacher will give the groups 5 minutes to find a word they dont know the meaning of, then
once they have found the word, they will have 5 minutes to search for the definition on the iPads
and write 3 things on their poster:
1. The dictionary definition of the word
2. A list of 3 synonyms and 3 antonyms
3. An example (not from online) of how to use this word in real life (A sentence? A
situation, etc.)
At the end of the ten minutes, each group will briefly come up in front of the class and present
their word they have found so that the class is familiar with all the words.
Teacher will use the words the students have presented as the vocabulary words of the week and
will hang the posters on the wall for the rest of the week until Friday when they will be tested on
them.
Instructions on the board:
Groups (with names of students):
-Group 1: pg. 1-20
-Group 2: pg. 21-40
-Group 3: pg. 41-60
-Group 4: pg. 61-80
-Group 5: pg. 81-100
-Group 6: pg. 101-120
-Group 7: pg. 121-141
In your groups, you have FIVE MINUTES to search for a word within your 20 pages (can be a
word you have underlined while reading) that nobody in your group knows the meaning of.
NEXT, you will have FIVE MINUTES to use the iPad to look up 3 things and write them on
your poster to present to the class:
1. The dictionary definition of the word
2. A list of 3 synonyms and 3 antonyms
3. An example (not from online) of how to use this word in real life (A sentence? A
situation, etc.)
There are three things to write on the poster, there are three people in your groups, EVERYONE
IN YOUR GROUP MUST PRESENT ONE THING

When everyone is finished, you will present your findings to the class.
Teaching Strategy/Procedure/Activity:
Time
Student is doing
5 minutes
Getting into groups,
Listening to directions,
Looking diligently for a
word in their 20 page
section that they dont know
the definition for.
5 minutes
Using the iPad to look up
their word,
Writing the 3 things they
need to know about the
word on the poster,
Getting ready to present.
5-10 minutes
One group presents their
word while the others pay
attention and listen
respectfully.

Teacher is doing
Passing out materials,
Giving directions,
Monitoring progress

Making sure everyone is on

task,
Writing down each groups
word on a note card for the
activity after this,
Moving groups along
quickly,
Monitoring accuracy of the
groups presenting

Summary/Closure:
After this activity, the teacher will post all the posters to the board and shuffle the note cards with
the words the students just presented on them and pass them out to the groups making sure no
group received the same word they presented.
The teacher will then instruct the students to come up with a Taboo sort of skit either creating a
blank for the vocabulary word inside their skit, or coming up with a situational skit that pertains
to the word.
For the rest of the class, the students will come up with their skits and then they will present
them and the rest of the groups will compete to see who comes up with the word they are acting
out the quickest.
At the end of class, teacher will explain to students their homework assignment with the vocab
words.
Assessment:
Informal assessment: Teacher will monitor student understanding by their use of the word in
either a sentence or a situation and the skits that they act out afterwards.
Homework/follow-up assignment:
Create a comic strip using all seven words that were presented.
Accommodations/adaptations:
LEP Student: LEP student will have access to an app on the iPads that is an instant translator
between their language and English. Teacher will come around to them during the activity and
ask if they have any questions.

Student with ADHD: Student will be placed in a group with students who are timely and on task
and who can gently push the student to stay on task with them. Student will be allowed a water
break during activity if he/she is feeling distracted so they can come back and refocus.
Student with ADD + Anxiety: Student will be placed in a group that is on task but also laid back.
Student will not be forced to go up in front of the class to perform the skit and is able to choose
either a team member to perform for them, or have a member of the group draw a picture.
Student with Aspergers: Student will be expected to carry out their portion of the project.
However, student will not be required to present with the group and one of his group members
will speak for him/her. If student does not want to work with a group they will be allowed to do
the project alone and turn in the results on a piece of paper.
**NOTE ABOUT GROUPS: The LEP student, the student with ADHD, student with ADD+
Anxiety, and the student with Aspergers will each be in a separate group with students who are
inclusive and patient when working with the students.**
Attachments/Appendices:
None.
Plan B:
This may go quicker than the time blocked out for it. In that case, after everything is done,
students can start working on their homework assignment.
Students may be unwilling to participate in the skit portion of the class. If so, they may
nominate one person from their group to act it out for them (the groups will be well organized to
have a more extroverted student in each group), or, they could opt to do a Pictionary-esque and
draw a representation of their vocab word on the board for the class to guess what it is.