Photo Lessons: Setting in Mysteries

Hi all you mystery writers!  Today in class we talked about the importance of settings in mysteries.  Here are some facts you might need a reminder of while thinking of starting the draft of your mystery:

• Setting: The time and place of the story.
• Carefully chosen details by the writer enrich everything in the story.
• The setting can help or hurt the investigation
• In Agatha Christie's murder on the Orient Express, all the characters are stuck on a train, and no one can get off or on!
• The setting can even be an accessory to the crime!
• Nevada Barr's mysteries all take place in National Parks where some "spooky" legends and stories surround the beauty and expanse of the land.
• Sometimes the setting drives the story and enables the characters in the story to have specialized characteristics 
• Example: Janet Evanovich's mysteries all take place in New Jersey!  Her bounty hunter/detective can meet lots of strange and eccentric people in Jersey!
• Remember that whatever setting you choose, you may have to think about doing some additional research to finding out what kinds of things one might encounter in the setting or what type of characters one might find.  You might have to see what the local customs entail, as well, which means finding out what people do for employment, jobs, etc.
• With that in mind, it's often easiest for a young writer to start off with a place they have been, seen, or are familiar with.

The following pictures might help you to start thinking about a setting for your mystery...  Choose one of these, or choose your own.  Tell me what you're thinking in the comments section below!  Be ready to start writing on Monday!

The wilderness...

Those geysers add some spookiness to a mysterious setting, don't they?

What could be hiding in those painted hills?

A park or national attraction:

Think of all the people who visit Mount Rushmore or Disneyland every day!

A farm:

A lot of junk can accumulate on a farm... that could cause a lot of "accidents," right?

Nothing but beans and corn for miles around!

A construction site:

A tropical island:

Looks like paradise... or is it?

The old west:

These two both look guilty.

A rodeo or stadium game:

A small town, where everyone knows everyone?  A big city?  A suburb?  You decide!

Post your comments below... let me know where you're thinking of setting your mystery and why in the comments section.  Use complete sentences and be mindful of mechanics.  Have fun!

Photo Lesson Plans

I'm most excited about using this blog for these types of assignments.  This isn't just one "lesson plan."  I've been using Gerda Weissmann Klein's Academy Award Winning documentary short film for several years, which is sent out free of charge to teachers from Teaching Tolerance.  With the video comes a packet of "Primary Documents" which are reproduced pictures, patches, and posters and two books full of reproducible lesson extensions and teaching ideas with no copywright.  Because the primary documents are so small-  I haven't been able to use them in the past.  With between 30 to 40 kids in a class and 5 classes a day, I knew I'd be bound to lose one... or that I'd simply "lose" my class as they waited for the artifacts to make it around to their desks!

I took pictures of the artifacts I most wanted to share and either created, modified or used the lessons that came with the Teaching Tolerance "One Survivor Remembers" unit, and because of the blog, all the students will be able to get a closer glimpse into Gerda Weissmann Klein's life.

The first step in using these posts would be that as a class, we would watch "One Survivor Remembers."  Then, as we progress, I would assign these blog posts to the students for homework, or for work during class in the computer lab.   Right now, I only have 2 pages, one for my honors class and one for my general class.  As the school year gets closer and I find out my teaching assignments and hours, I plan on making a blog page for each hour I teach, which will make it easier for me to keep records of and score who has posted a comment.  I obviously wouldn't assign them all at once, but perhaps a few at a time for extensions that allow the students to make meaning and connections with the material they are learning about the Holocaust.

Some of the blog posts allow for students to complete the assignment by making a comment in the comment section.  Others allow the option of writing and turning in a "private" reflection. The following posts and assignments are the extensions and the primary documents I plan to use after viewing the movie.

One Survivor Remembers: A Note to Students

Students-
In class this week, we read an excerpt of "All But My Life" and watched the heart-breaking and inspiring video "One Survivor Remembers." In the memoir and award-winning video, Gerda Weissmann Klein recounts her harrowing experience as a Jewish girl separated from her family and forced into slave labor in a Nazi work camp.  She also speaks of the loss of her close friends on a death march, and of her ultimate survival and liberation.

There are several "primary documents" that will enrich your understanding of Mrs. Klein's story, and of the Holocaust.  PRIMARY DOCUMENTS are personal items which have been reproduced with Klein's permission and which were selected from her home with her guidance.  Because of their small size, this blog will be a better place for you to view and respond to these documents.  

You will also find maps which may aid in your understanding of Klein's amazing survival of a Death March  and of the enormity of the Nazi death camp operations, and examples of Nazi propaganda.  

Please view each document carefully and respond to the prompts using the comment section.  (You may click on the image to make it larger).  Use only your first name and last initial when commenting.  Use correct punctuation and spelling.  Please proofread before posting.   

*Photo and lesson plan credits: Teaching Tolerance (teachingtolerance.org), One Survivor Remembers, and the Gerda and Kurt Klein Foundation

One Survivor Remembers Image #1: Map of Europe

Please view this map of Europe.  The red dots indicate major Nazi camps.  The areas in green indicate land conquered by German forces in 1939.  The items in gold indicate land conquered by German forces in 1941.

Europe 1937-1941
Red dots: Major Nazi Camps
Green areas: Land conquered by German forces, 1939
Gold areas: Land conquered by German forces, 1941
*Map courtesy of Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers


In the comments section, please write down your reactions to your interpretations of this map.  What kinds of things does it show you that you didn't know or understand before viewing it?

Your response must be in several complete sentences.  Please be mindful of using correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.  Use only your first name and last initial.  Make sure you are responding on your class's page.

One Survivor Remembers Image #2: Nazi Propaganda

This is the cover of a children's book whose title translates to "Trust No Fox in the Green Meadow and No Jew on his Oath).  This book is used by Teaching Tolerance with permission from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Remember, we talked about Antisemitism on day one of our Holocaust unit, and that it is a term which describes the hostility toward Jews as an ethnic or religious group, and is often accompanied by social, economic and political discrimination.

You also studied propaganda in your Holocaust web quests, and know that it is the deliberate spreading of ideas or information, true or untrue, with the purpose of manipulating public opinion to gain support for one's cause or to discourage support for another.

Some other terms of which you may need to be reminded are:
Discrimination: action based on prejudice or biased beliefs that results in unfair treatment of individuals or groups; unjust conditions in areas such as employment, housing and education.

Racism:  A set of beliefs based on perceived "racial" superiority and inferiority

Stereotype: A simplistic, firmly held belief, often negative, about individual characteristics generalized to all people within that group.  (Think back to our talks of stereotypes during our Outsiders unit...)

In the comments section, please answer the following questions:
1.  What messages does this book cover send?
2.  Why do you think it targets children?
3.  This book was published in 1936.  How does this timing coincide with the Holocaust?  Why is that important?

*Photograph, definitions and questions taken from Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers Teacher's Guide.

One Survivor Remembers Image #3: Nazi Propaganda

Kurt Klein, Gerda's future husband and the American soldier who liberated her from the abandoned warehouse, was sent to the U.S. by his parents as a result of the increasing discrimination of Jews in Europe.
This is a postcard his aunt in Buffalo, NY received in 1936. 

*Image from Gerda Weissmann Klein's personal collection courtesy of Teaching Tolerance and the Kurt and Gerda Klein foundation.


Think about what you learned on your webquest about Germany in the 1920's and 30's, and why some of its people were receptive to a leader like Adolf Hitler.  Who is in the image?  What are they doing?  What is it an image of?  What is it trying to show?  Post your comments below.  Use complete sentences and proper mechanics.   

In the comments section, please write about this image and how it is a form of propaganda.  You may want to answer a few or all of the questions above in your answer.

One Survivor Remembers Images #4, #5 and #6: Twenty Pounds

20 pounds...

A Writing Assignment

A photo, taken circa 1937, of Gerda's father, Julius Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her ski boot during her years in Nazi slave-labor camps.  Remember, Julius helped save Gerda's life by insisting that she wear her ski boots when the Nazis took her away.  She had boots on the forced death march while others were barefoot or wearing sandals in the snow.  

A photo, taken circa 1939, of Gerda's mother, Helene Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her  ski boot during her years in Nazi slave-labor camps.

A photo, taken circa 1937, of Gerda's brother, Artur Weissmann, which Gerda kept in her boot with the other photos.  Artur was the first in Gerda's immediate family to be taken away by the Nazis.  Sixty-seven of Gerda's relatives, including her mother, father, and brother, died in the Holocaust.  Only Gerda and her Uncle Leo, who had moved to Turkey, survived.  

In the film, One Survivor Remembers, Gerda Weissmann recalls being told her family had to leave their home with no more than 20 pounds of belongings, a plight shared by many Jews.

Imagine you are forced to leave your home.  You are allowed only 20 pounds of your most precious possessions.  What would you take?  What would you be forced to leave behind?  How would this make you feel?  On what would you base your choices?  Would monetary value (how much something cost) mean less or more than emotional/personal value?  Why? 

If you'd like, you may write your short response in the comment section.  If this assignment is too personal for you to publish on the blog, feel free to word process your "20 pounds" response and either attach it in an email, or print it and hand it in tomorrow morning. 

*Lesson plan courtesy of Teaching Tolerance, One Survivor Remembers teacher's guide, pg 21.