Dear Student and Family—

Sit back, open your mind and…Welcome to the 1940’s. World War II is upon us and we have much
to learn about what is happening in the world around us. The books inside are full of information,
pictures and anecdotes that will help us to understand what our family, friends, neighbors, etc. are
going through during this time. War is a hard time for all of us. Each and every person is affected by
the turmoil and chaos that characterizes American warfare at the moment. Fear, pain, grief and
anxiety are the only words to describe what is going on in everyone’s head, as you will be able to tell
after spending some time in the story. right now.

Throughout this traveling book bag experience, it is recommended that you put yourself in the
mindset that you are a kid in the 1940, experiencing the things that you are reading about. Think
about what you might feel in different situations that you read about, how you would react and how
specific events might have changed your life. Remember, as learned in class, World War II plays a
great role in the formation of American culture, identity and history, so it is important that you
understand the impact that these stories have. Our goal is to use the artifacts and stories in this
traveling book bag to help us better understand the mindset that people of all different countries,
religious backgrounds and ages have during this time. By the end of your time with the book bag, you
should have a more knowledge about the time period and feel more secure in the way that each party
in World War II participated in the war effort.

You have one week to take the traveling book bag home.

Instructions for using this bag:

 You must read at least 3 of the books featured in the traveling book bag
(though it is always encouraged to read more!)
 You must complete 1 activity for each book that you read. Activity
directions are included in the Materials folder inside the bag.
 Put the completed activities into the Materials folder in the bag and then
turn the bag into the teacher
Remember: You are allowed to spend time going through these activities with a parent or guardian,
but you should be reading the books as independent reading books.

HAPPY READING 
The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won Activity Slip

Objective: The student should be able to rephrase important

information in his/her own words. The students should be able to
summarize an article’s information. The student should be able to
write in paragraph form with clear organization of thought and
subject information.

Activity: Create A Newspaper Report

What To Do:
  Pick a section of the book (one of the headings) that you
enjoyed the most
 Reread the section carefully to pick up on any interesting
details
 Write a short newspaper article that would have been featured
in a newspaper at the time of the event. The article should
have at least 3 paragraphs. There should be at least 4
sentences in each paragraph.
 Complete the article by adding an illustration for the event
that you can put next to the text
*This should be done on a separate piece of standard-size paper that
is located in the bag’s Materials folder. Crayons for the
illustration can also be found in the bag.

ELL Modification: The student should complete the newspaper article

assignment by writing one paragraph and using the picture to display
specific sentences mentioned in the paragraph.

The Story of Anne Frank Activity Slip

Objective: The student should be able to express him/herself through writing. The
students should be able to write in detailed form using expression.

Activity: Personal Journal

What To Do:
 Think about the way Anne Frank felt during her hiding period.
  Brainstorm about a time when you have felt scared, lonely or lost
 Write a journal entry about the experience. Be sure to include a detailed
description of the event and the feelings that you had inside when the event was
taking place. Remember to include a date at the top of the entry and to sign your
name at the bottom of the entry. The journal entry should fill at least one side of
the lined notebook paper.
*Use the lined paper in the Materials folder to write your journal entry on.

ELL Modification: The student should document their journal through pictures. There
should be at least 3 pictures included in the journal entry. Upon return of the traveling
book bag, the student will share their journal story with the teacher. The story or
experience will be told orally using the pictures as a guide to help the student describe
his/her thoughts.

Hide and Seek Activity Slip

Objective: The student should be able to document events from a novel in the correct
chronological order. The student should be able to analyze a character in order to interpret an
event or mood in a story. The student should be able to summarize events in his/her own
words.

Activity: Character Time Line

What To Do:
  Pick one character in this story to create a character time line for. Keep in mind that
there should be plenty of information on this character so that the time line can be as
detailed as possible
 Pick four events in the story, one in the beginning, two in the middle and one at the
end.
 Write these four events down on a piece of paper.
 For each of the events describe the character’s thoughts, actions, any visual images
that were described, how this event affected the character, etc.
 After documenting the four events, decide whether the character changed at all during
the story. Give your opinion as to why/why not the character changed or did not
change
**Lined paper can be found in the Materials folder.

ELL Modification: The student should make a list of characters in the story. The student
should then make a timeline of the different events that took place throughout the story. The
student should list these events on the pieces of paper included in the Materials folder. The
student should be sure that each of these events is in the correct order before turning in the
book bag.

Terrible Things Activity Slip

Objective: The student should be able to make connection between a fictional story and
actual event. The students should be able to use personal interpretation to write a story
complete with all of the correct elements.

Activity: Personal Allegory

What To Do:
  Think about the way that Eve Bunting used the animals in the story to link to real
people in the World War II time period
 Talk with an adult about this depiction of the World War II story
 Brainstorm a way to create your own allegory (like this story) about World War II
using different characters
 Write the story on the pieces of notebook paper included in the bag. The story should
include a beginning, middle and end. The story should include descriptive words and
correct punctuation. There is no limit to the length of the story, however, it should
include a developed plot.

ELL Modification: The student should outline his or her allegory by stating the characters to
be included and a sentence about what the main conflict will be. Upon the return of the
traveling book bag, the student can orally tell the story to the teacher as a way to complete
the activity.

This assignment was a great way for me to learn the time and effort that is put
into enhancing classroom learning. The traveling book bag is a great way for children to
experience literature outside of the classroom and learn more about a classroom
subject; however, it does take much preparation. Putting together this learning
enhancement also helped me to take note of the balance that comes with assigning
activities. It is important for many different disciplines to be included in the activities,
as each student has his or her own strength and talent. These disciplines were
incorporated into the objectives of the activities as a way to help the student achieve
the learning goals. My traveling book bag focused on three main objectives,
summarizing, personal interpretation and linking history to the student’s life.
The summarizing objective was covered in each of the activities in the traveling
book bag. For each activity it was important for the reader to be able to pull together
the important events and happenings in order to get general understanding of what the
story was about. I find that this is a skill that many fifth grade children struggle with, so
I decided to include summarizing in every activity.
 The personal interpretation objective was covered in two of the activities in the
traveling book bag. First, the journal activity for the Anne Frank biography really
explicates the importance of personal interpretation. The student is asked to interpret
the feelings of Anne during the timer period and then find an instance in their own life
where they have felt the same way. This activity was a great way for students to think
about the characters and form opinion on what was happening internally and externally
throughout the plot. The personal interpretation objective was also included in the
Terrible Things activity, as the students had to decide which animals they thought
represented each party. This is a great way for children to use their own critical
thinking skills and justify their responses to specific literature. I feel that personal
interpretation is a skill that fifth graders must learn to use, as a way to make their
reading more applicable and digestible.
Finally, the linking objective was apparent in my traveling book bag. I focused
activities on student’s relating this academic knowledge to their own personal life. For
example, having the students journal about a time when they felt like Anne Frank is a
great way for them to think about how she felt. It gives them a more realistic view of
what people in the World War II time period were going through, as they can see these
feelings and emotions in their own lives. It is also crucial that students link the
information to their personal lives as a way to remember what they have read. It is
more memorable for a student to make a personal connection to literature, than to
simply summarize what is going on in the passage. This objective was incorporated into
as many different activities as possible, without being redundant.
Overall. I was satisfied with the outcome of my traveling book bag and hope to
be able to use it in my fifth grade classroom this semester. This assignment taught me
much about preparation time and the critical thought process that goes into making
activities that are meaningful and fun for students. It also helped me to realize the
importance of stated objectives, as a way to guide student learning and assess the
progress that is made from each activity.