Poems from "Terezin" in 8th Grade

In English, 8th graders read poems written by children from the Terezin Concentration Camp to accompany our reading of Night by Elie Wiesel. The poetry collection is called I Never Saw Another Butterfly and highlights the work of some of the 15,000 children under the age of 15 who passed through the Terezin Concentration Camp between 1942 and 1944, of whom only 100 survived.

 

Students were tasked with identifying themes, imagery, and tone for each poem and selecting their two favorite lines. Once the whole class selected their lines, they formed a circle and, one by one, placed the lines in the center, ultimately forming a new poem that captured what they considered to be the connecting theme of the poetry collection. The pictures to the side are the results.