Pamela J. Greene
Because diaries are so truthfully autobiographical and teenagers love to write in them, Anne Frank’s diary is of interest to high school students and can be used as a motivational tool for them to write their own diary or journal entries. Begin the lesson by offering the following information. On Friday, June 12, 1942, Anne Frank celebrated her thirteenth birthday. One gift she received was a diary. In it she began to record her thoughts and feelings. Several years later her diary would become not only a best-selling book but also an important document of World War Il. Then read with your students excerpts from
The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank.
Day 2 After reading, discuss how diary writing can be used as a means of self expression and self knowledge. Also discuss how certain individual diaries can give us historical and social information about a period of time as well as intimate details of a person’s life.
For the next seven days assign diary writing each evening. Encourage students to express themselves freely. Unless asked, I would not read diary entries. The experience of keeping a diary is what is important. Each day talk to the students about how their diary is progressing. At the end of the seven days have the students write a narrative statement reflecting on the experience of diary writing and commenting on what they have learned about themselves through their writing. Hopefully, students will be motivated by this experience and continue to write in a diary after the lesson is completed.