THE SUNFLOWER -- Simon Wiesenthal (Non-Fiction)

Greetings,

The Sunflower is the most important book I teach, and it is more relevant than ever with rampant anti-Semitism. far-right extremists, racism, and intolerance.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/03/02/anti-semitic-graffiti-toronto-schools/

The Sunflower poses an existential question to the reader: You are a Jewish prisoner in a German concentration camp. A dying Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do?

Simon Wiesenthal tells the story of his WWII concentration camp experience in the first hundred pages. The next hundred and fifty pages are responses he has received to his question about the possibilities and limits of forgiveness.

The resource also gives you two good choices. Use the Student Workbook or the Seminar Process. And if you are wondering about evaluations, various types are offered that allow students to showcase their learning across all four strands: oral, reading, writing, and media.

I also show "I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal" to give the students a greater sense of the man and his importance. Seeing and hearing lift the words off the page and into their minds and hearts and wills.

In the Appendix I have added the “Wall of Remembrance Walk” that might help you and your students. I have ready access to it at my school thanks to an extremely talented and dedicated art student. It is a staircase I often use, and I try to be mindful when I do. To me, it is one of the most sacred places in our secular school. Engage with photos. Thank you.

Again, if you have not tried using a non-fiction text as a unit of study within your course design, I would encourage you to do so. Some students dismiss fiction, but non-fiction speaks to them. Give all students a point of connection for their learning in your course design. Tap into the yearning and you get the learning, at least, that's been my experience.

Finally, the resource is dedicated to Mrs. Myers, a wonderful Jewish woman, who bestowed upon me an act of great kindness, to which she would likely reply, “Any Mom would do the same thing.” Maybe so, but to me at the time it meant the world, and it still does a half-century later.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

Cover Page 1

Dedication to Mrs. Myers 2

Introduction 3

Teacher’s Sunflower Table of Contents 4

Resource Package Contents 5

Seminar Suggestion to the Teacher 6-8

Five Student Handouts 9-13

* * * * *

TWO OPTIONS 14

STUDENT WORKBOOK (15-35) or SEMINAR PROCESS (36-58)

* * * * *

EVALUATION 59-61

Covers all four strands rooted in Critical and Creative Thinking: Oral, Reading, Writing, Media

Multiple Choice Test (100 Questions) with Answer Key 62-80

Knowledge Based: Have they read the novel, and do they have the facts to support their ideas?

Agree or Disagree -- Explain 81-87

Best Midway Evaluation

Spiral Learning Revolution 88-98

Higher Order Thinking and Application of Learning

* * * * *

SUNFLOWER PROJECT 99-102

One of my two best projects in my entire teaching career.

Transformational Possibilities

* * * * *

APPENDIX 103-155

Sunflower Word Search – Answer Key 104

Wall of Remembrance Walk 105-113

I Have Never Forgotten You – Questions 114-115

Ten Top Teaching Tips 116-155

Your purchase entitles you to use this resource in your classroom. If colleagues ask about the transformation in your students, tell him/her/they about the resource, and let them know where they can buy it. Thank you for your interest and help.

I have attached a 24-page Preview and Video to help ensure that this resource fits your classroom situation.

Keep Hoping and Hopping!

Dr Frogley

Ribbit Research

:)