Number the Stars is a phenomenal story of courage. This makes it a great book for students to use as a writing prompt.
Number the Stars begins in September 1943. Nazis occupy Copenhagen, Denmark. Annemarie and her best friend Ellen see German soldiers on the street corners. They play the part of silly school girls to keep the soldiers from causing trouble.
A little later Annemarie’s world is turned upside down. Jewish-owned shops close. Families run from home. Late one night, Peter Neilsen tells Annemarie’s family that Ellen and her family must flee as well. Germans will be rounding up Jewish citizens.
Ellen’s parents leave, but Ellen remains behind in the care of Annemarie’s family. Late one night, German soldiers come to Annemarie’s home. Ellen pretends to be Annemarie’s sister. After a few frightening moments, the soldiers leave.
The next day, Annemarie’s mother takes Ellen, Annemarie, and Annemarie’s younger sister to her brother Henrik’s home in Gilleleje.
Read Number the Stars to see how these girls use their wit to survive during this frightening time in history.
Activities for Number the Stars
Number the Stars Unit Samples
Check out Number the Stars Book Unit with these free samples including:
- Vocabulary Practice for Chapters 1-2
- Comprehension Questions for Chapters 1-2
- Constructed Response Question – Setting
You can get the free book unit sample by clicking the button.
Teaching Idea #1 – Parallel Stories
In the first activity, students complete a chart to compare the parallel events taking place in Annemarie and Little Red Riding Hood. Both Google Slides and printable charts guide students through making comparisons of the two stories. Answer keys are included.
This button opens a pdf with links to the Google Drive folder with the activities. In this folder, you will find 4 files. Save these files to your Google Drive to make them editable.
- The first file is the comparative activity for Little Red Riding Hood.
- This next file is the “Writing Activity” described in Teaching Idea #2 below.
- The third file is instructions.
- In the final file, you will find the printable versions of the two activities. This is also where you will find the answer keys.
You must save these files to your Google Drive to edit them.
Teaching Idea #2 – Writing Activity
Extend the activity by having students write their own stories. A chart guides students’ planning. After completing a chart of comparisons, students try writing in this style. The two intermingled stories include a scene from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the story of The Engine that Could. You’ll be surprised at the end results!
Teaching Idea #3 – Story Elements Booklet
Have students read the picture book or watch the video version The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark by author Carmen Agra Deedy. This is the story of King Christian X of Denmark and how he stood up against the Nazi occupation during World War II.
Have students compare details about Christian X from Number the Stars to the man portrayed in The Yellow Star.
Teaching Idea #4 – Story Elements Booklet
This six-page booklet has space for students to write about the following:
- characters
- setting
- theme
- point of view
- plot
You can get the story elements booklet by clicking the button.
Videos
If you missed the links, here they are again.
See the product that inspired this post.
Number the Stars Book Unit contains vocabulary, comprehension, constructed response writing, and skill practice.
6 comments
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Thank you, Gay! What a great comparison. Sandy
Author
You’re welcome!
These comparison activities are so fun and will really get students THINKING. Thank you 🙂
Author
You’re welcome! I hope your students enjoy them.
What a great collection of activities! Using these on a Smartboard to model would be perfect for modeling the skill. I love the text to text connections too.
Author
Thank you!