FREEHOLD, New Jersey—Reading about the life of Anne Frank is a rite of passage for eighth-graders, who are about the same age as the young woman was when she began to write her famous diary. Paula Desch, a language arts teacher at Freehold Intermediate School, wanted to engage her students in this moving story from a tragic chapter in history. Technology offered her a way to deepen students' understanding and build their own confidence as learners.

Desch teaches at a culturally diverse school in Freehold Borough, a community of about 32,000 situated halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. "I've seen a pressing need to be able to engage all students in active learning," says the 18-year classroom veteran. "Since a number of my eighth-graders function at a low level, I felt a compelling urgency to provide them with an avenue to raise their educational self-esteem. I saw technology, coupled with cooperative learning, as the key to improving my students' interest in learning."

Students began their study of World War II and the Holocaust in social studies class. In Desch's language arts classroom, she prepared them for reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by staging a simulation of the Jewish experience under Hitler. Students wore patches to depict membership in different social groups. Finally, the class read and discussed the play in detail.

To take their understanding deeper, Desch divided students into teams for cooperative work using the school's state-of-the-art technology lab along with a classroom set of five networked computers. She matched team members with an eye for "keeping the groups balanced. I picked members focusing on academic levels, trying to put varying abilities together." She also considered the strengths of each individual, including skills and talents involving art, computer skills, writing ability, and so forth.

Each team had the same assignment, to write the script for a talk show about the Holocaust, including an electronic slide show, that would provide a comprehensive picture of the history surrounding Anne Frank. Members of the teams were assigned specific roles: Holocaust survivor, talk show host, prison camp guard, an eyewitness to Kristallnacht, and Miep Gies, the woman who helped to hide the Frank family in an attic for more than two years.

Although developing good content was an important part of the activity, equally valuable was the team effort itself. Explains Desch: "I expected students to work cooperatively in researching questions to be asked, writing the script, and creating the slide show. We discussed the importance of interpersonal and collaborative skills—working together effectively, staying on task, summarizing and reporting ideas, as well as encouraging each other."

Desch, who recently earned a master's degree in instructional technology, found students to be "amazingly helpful to each other." They met or exceeded her goals of integrating technology into the classroom "in order to motivate my students, help them to think creatively, lead, and make decisions." In fact, students often came in to work on their projects during their free time. "Lunchroom conversation was filled with ideas, and different classes crossing to get more ideas from each other." The students' enthusiasm reminded her why she enjoys working with middle-schoolers. "This age group is the most misunderstood. A sense of humor and nurturing is what they seek most to feel comfortable and understood."

Desch knew the project had been a success when one of her students told her, "I will never forget Anne Frank."