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S T U D E N T G U I D E

Transport That Changed History

How did Jewish parents in Germany and people in other countries work together to save Jewish children from the Holocaust?

View this lesson at ThinkCERCA

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Table of Contents

Vocabulary Building

  • Map a Word

Direct Instruction Guide

  • Cornell Notes: Making Arguments About Connections within an Informational Text

STEP 1: Connect

  • Finding Your Purpose for Learning
  • Think-Pair-Share

STEP 2: Read

  • Pause and Reflect
  • Test Prep Strategy: K-W-L (Optional)

STEP 3: Engage with the Text

  • Highlight and Annotate

STEP 4: Summarize

  • Write a Summary

STEP 5: Build an Argument

  • Collaborate: Share your argument builder

STEP 6: Create your CERCA

  • Peer Editing Activity
  • Writing Reflection

Throughout the guide, look for the laptop icon to find steps to complete online!

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Optional Extensions

  • Inquiry to Research: Asking Questions of the Texts
  • Inquiry to Research: Profiles in Perseverance
  • Informed Action: Perseverance PSA
  • Roundtable Discussion: Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

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SYNONYM (SIMILAR OR LIKE WORD)

ANTONYM (OPPOSITE WORD)

PICTURE OF�VOCABULARY WORD

SENTENCE USING VOCABULARY WORD

VOCABULARY WORD

PART OF SPEECH

V O C A B U L A R Y B U I L D I N G

Map a Word

Choose a word from the vocabulary list that is linked in the lesson. Write the word in the box below. Then fill in the other boxes on this page.

Completing this process will help the word "stick" in your memory!

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Making Arguments About Connections within an Informational Text

What is the purpose of informational writing?

Informational writing…

What are some examples of informational writing?

Examples of informational writing include…

How can allusions, analogies, repetition, parallel structure, and anecdotes help readers make connections within texts?

Readers can make connections within texts by examining...

Take notes on the lesson using the organizer below:

Watch the Direct Instruction lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Making Arguments About Connections within an Informational Text(continued)

Summarize and Reflect

In your own words and in complete sentences, write a 3–4 sentence summary of this skills lesson. An accurate summary will cover the lesson's central ideas and include important details to support those ideas.

Record your summary here:

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S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Finding Your Purpose for Learning

When you've finished reading the overview, answer the following questions in the space below:

During World War II, Germany was led by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. The Nazis had the goal of destroying all Jewish people. These terrible acts of violence against Jews and other minorities was called the Holocaust. To escape Nazism, some Jewish children were sent to England, the United States, Belgium, or Holland to live in safety.

What more would you like to learn about Germany in the 1930s? What do you want to know about Judaism? What would you like to find out about how children persevered through family separation?

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Read the Topic Overview provided at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Think-Pair-Share

  1. Think: On your own, think about your experiences related to the topic.

  • Pair & Share: With a partner, group, or a trusted listener, share the parts of your response that you feel comfortable sharing.
  • Reflect: If time permits, reflect on your experience. What ideas did others share that you hadn't considered? How were your ideas alike?

Complete the writing activity in Step 1: Connect at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Pause and Reflect

When you’ve finished reading, go back and find the questions in the text marked “Pause and Reflect.” These questions will help you connect the text to yourself, to other texts, or to the world around you.

Use the space on the left below to answer the reflection questions. Then, discuss your answers, noting how they were similar or different.

Record “Pause and Reflect” answers here:

Record discussion reflections here:

Read the text for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Test Prep Strategy: K-W-L (Optional)

Has your class ever created a “K-W-L” (Know–Want to Know–Learned) chart? You can do this activity on your own to make sure that you are actively reading and engaging with a passage.

With this set of readings, ask yourself before reading: What do you know about the topic covered? What do you want to know about this topic? Fill in the first two columns.

Then, read the passage. Use the highlighter and note-taking tools. After reading, complete the “Learned” column.

Finally, answer the multiple choice questions. Was there overlap between your chart and the questions that were asked?

Know

Want to Know

Learned

Refer to the reading and questions for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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S T E P 3 : E N G A G E W I T H T H E T E X T

Highlight and Annotate

In this step, you will analyze the text closely, then discuss your findings to begin developing reasoning for your argument.

  1. Read the text again, highlighting and annotating important details. Follow the prompts provided.

The highlighting prompts will help you with the final writing task. You will find evidence to support your own argument or informational piece, as well as models of excellence that will help you better understand a writer’s craft in narratives. The evidence you highlight will be available when you begin building your draft in the next step.

  1. If time permits, pair and share your highlights and annotations with a classmate. Pay close attention to this conversation! Your thinking is important reasoning you may include in your final draft.

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Step 3: Engage with the Text.

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S T E P 4 : S U M M A R I Z E

Write a Summary

Summaries help you process your thinking about a text and are often a great way to start off an argumentative or informational essay. A good summary shows you have knowledge about a topic.

Practicing summarizing also helps you prepare for the main idea questions posed on many standardized assessments. In addition, summarizing is a helpful skill for working with others, such as when you need to confirm your understanding of what someone else has said. That's a useful skill for all parts of life.

  1. ��Use the sentence stems provided to summarize the text.

Your summary should:

  • Be brief
  • Include the main idea and key details
  • Represent these ideas fairly and accurately �
  • If time permits, pair and share with a classmate. Read each other’s summary, and discuss how they are similar or different. What did you say were the main idea and key details? Were your summaries fair and accurate? Why?

Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Step 4: Summarize.

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S T E P 5 : B U I L D A N A R G U M E N T

Collaborate: Share your Argument Builder

When you’ve completed the argument building step, share your results with others, and listen to how they responded to the same question. Ask questions and give feedback to help strengthen your partners’ reasons and evidence.

Share

Listen

How did Jewish parents in Germany and people in other countries work together to save Jewish children from the Holocaust?

How did Jewish parents in Germany and people in other countries work together to save Jewish children from the Holocaust?

1.

2.

3.

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Peer Editing Activity

  1. Do a self-assessment of your CERCA. Use the online Rubric for the lesson on learn.thinkcerca.com, checking each box where you find evidence that you have achieved the criteria.�
  2. Next, collaborate with a peer or peers to read each other’s drafts. Again, use the Rubric to evaluate each other’s work.�
  3. Share insights into what might make your pieces stronger. Find two positive attributes and one area of growth for each draft you review.�
  4. Revise your piece using what you learned from your self-assessment and the feedback from your peers.

Complete Step 6 to create your CERCA at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Writing Reflection

Before you submit your final CERCA, write a brief reflection describing your experience.

An area for growth for me on this piece or in my writing in general is…

The strongest areas of this piece of writing are…

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Through self-assessment and/or peer editing, I learned…

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Optional Extensions

The following activities can be used as optional extensions to this lesson.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts

As you engage with texts in any subject, you can actively ask questions about the author’s purpose, intended audience, and occasion to understand the message. The table below provides examples.

Approaches

Example

Questions about the author

Who and what is this article about?

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Why was this article written?

Questions about civics, economics, geography and history

What led to the Kindertransport arrangement?

Questions about concepts and ideas

How can people act with courage, even when faced with danger?

Questions about self and community reflections

How can I persevere even in challenging times?

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts (continued)

Use the table below to record questions about the text you read.

Approaches

Questions

Questions about the author

Questions about the audience, purpose, and occasion of the text

Questions about civics, economics, geography, and history

Questions about concepts and ideas

Self and Community Reflections

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Profiles in Perseverance

Background:

History is filled with people who have overcome obstacles. These challenges might be personal. They might be social, political, or environmental.

Think of an historical or contemporary figure who embodies perseverance. Choose a figure who works in an area of interest to you (for example, sports, environmentalism, politics, health, etc.) Then, research that person’s life.

Research

Research this person’s life at your school or local library, or through internet resources. Answer the following questions about them:

  • When and where did they live?
  • What impact did they have on the world?
  • What obstacles, conflicts, and challenges did they face?
  • How did they overcome these challenges?
  • Who supported them in overcoming obstacles?
  • Why do you consider them important?

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Profiles in Perseverance (Continued)

Create

After you’ve finished your research, share your findings with your classmates, linking examples of how this person’s story was similar or different from the story you studied as a group.

What lessons do each of the stories teach readers? After sharing, make a list of five strategies for persevering through difficulties that others can use.

To help you brainstorm, think about the stories you’ve read. You can include illustrations and examples from their life that show the strategy in action. Create a piece of digital media or a work of art that can be shared as a public service campaign about persevering.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N F O R M E D A C T I O N

Perseverance Public Service Announcement (PSA)

Use the information from your research to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about perseverance.

This can take the form of a poster, short video, or podcast. As you work, consider the following:

  • Who will your target audience be for the PSA? Your peers? Parents? Neighbors? Siblings?
  • How do you want to “hook” your audience and capture their attention?
  • How do you want to highlight the five strategies that you have identified?
  • What can you do to show people how they can use these strategies in their everyday lives?

Use social media to share your PSA with family, friends, classmates, and other CERCA schools by tagging the post with #CERCAMyThinking.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

Roundtable discussions offer you the opportunity to share what you’ve learned, as well as to ask questions and learn from others. Come to the discussion prepared to share your key findings. Use the organizer on the next page.

How the discussion works:

  1. Choose a group leader who will help lead the roundtable discussion, and select a member of the group to go first.
  2. Go around the group, allowing each participant to share a quick review of their their key findings.
  3. When not presenting, take notes, summarizing key findings of your peers. Snap silently to show gratitude, appreciation, or interest!
  4. After each presenter, take a moment for participants to ask questions or summarize what they just heard. Each participant should ask at least one question or summarize what someone else presented at least once during the discussion.
  5. When complete, the presenter “passes the mic” to the next presenter.

Remember, it’s important to value dialogue and appreciate different perspectives. Learning from and understanding people who think differently or have different experiences is part of the process of growth! You don’t have to agree to learn from another perspective!

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Discussion Notes

Your Key Findings

What interested you about the topic in the first place?

What was your most striking finding?

What questions were raised by your experience?

Presenter

Questions and Learnings from Peers

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

Roundtable discussions offer you the opportunity to share what you’ve learned, as well as to ask questions and learn from others. Come to the discussion prepared to share your key findings. Use the organizer on the next page.

How the discussion works:

  • Choose a group leader who will help lead the roundtable discussion, and select a member of the group to go first.
  • Go around the group, allowing each participant to share a quick review of their their key findings.
  • When not presenting, take notes, summarizing key findings of your peers. Snap silently to show gratitude, appreciation, or interest!
  • After each presenter, take a moment for participants to ask questions or summarize what they just heard. Each participant should ask at least one question or summarize what someone else presented at least once during the discussion.
  • When complete, the presenter “passes the mic” to the next presenter.

Remember, it’s important to value dialogue and appreciate different perspectives. Learning from and understanding people who think differently or have different experiences is part of the process of growth! You don’t have to agree to learn from another perspective!

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