Lockdown Diaries A Day in the life of Lockdown 2020

The Challenge:

Your challenge is to capture a day in the life

of our lockdown journey in the form of a

diary.

We are going to collect entries for a

compilation to be published in a book

marking these strange times.

Why do people keep diaries?

A diary can be a place to hide private thoughts, or a record of personal memories, or just a way of organising a day. We can learn a lot about people in the past by reading their diaries.

Here are five famous diary-keepers…

(Remember to click on the blue hyperlinks to take you to further information or clarification as you read through).

Pliny the Younger’s Letters (97–109)

Pliny was a lawyer in Ancient Rome whose

writing tells us a lot about everyday life in

the Roman Empire. His most famous

account was of the eruption of

the volcano Vesuvius, which buried the city

of Pompeii. The city's ruins are shown

here.

Samuel Pepys’ Secret Diary (1660–1669)

Samuel Pepys was an English politician

during the reign of King Charles II. He

filled his diary with private thoughts, and

wrote it in code to keep it secret. This

meant he could call the king “silly” for

spending so much time playing with

his dogs!

Lewis and Clark’s Journals (1803-1806)

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William

Clark set off to explore the unknown

land of western North America. They kept

detailed journals, writing down

everything from the new animals they

discovered like Lewis’s Woodpecker,

shown here, to what they had for dinner.

Their expedition hunted and ate exactly

1001 deer!

Robert Scott’s Captain’s Log (1912)

Captain Scott tried to be the first to reach

the South Pole, and kept a diary of his

daily progress. His final entry explained

how a fierce blizzard had stopped his

expedition just 18km (11 miles) away

from one of the places they’d stored their

supplies.

Anne Frank’s Diary (1942–1944)

Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived in

hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam, in

the Netherlands. She wrote about her life

in hiding in a diary, which she had been

given for her birthday. She named the

diary Kitty, and wrote in it as though she

were writing to a friend.

Year 5 & 6 starting your diary…

• Explore Anne Frank in more depth using the

following site and slides.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46987263

Anne Frank is a significant person because of the

diary she wrote whilst in hiding during the Second

World War. It was published in 1947.

Anne was born on 12th June, 1929. She died in March

1945.

Anne was an out-going, spirited young girl who lived

in Germany. Her family was Jewish. She loved to read

and dreamed of being a writer someday.

In 1933, Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany.

He did not like Jewish people. He unfairly blamed

them for many of Germany’s problems.

Many Jewish people fled the country. Otto, Anne’s

father, took his wife, Edith and daughters Anne and

Margot to the Netherlands to escape persecution.

Anne was 4 years old.

In 1940, The Nazis invaded the Netherlands – the

family were in danger again! Life became very hard

for Jewish people.

On her 13th Birthday, Anne received a red journal.

She named the journal, ‘Kitty’ and began to write in it

everyday, recording her experiences as a Jew in the

Second World War.

The family were forced to hide from the Nazis to avoid

arrest. Packing what they could, the family went to a

small, secret annexe behind Otto’s office. There they

hid for 2 years, sharing the space with family friends.

They had to be very quiet, walking barefoot, with

heavy curtains at the windows.

Anne wrote about her thoughts and

feelings, locked away in that room. She

described how tired she was of living in that

cramped space. She gave us a clear picture

of how her life had changed and what it felt

like to be in constant fear of being

discovered.

Sadly, Anne and her family were betrayed and the Nazis

found their hiding place. The families were arrested, split up

and sent to concentration camps.

Anne contracted a disease called Typhus due to the dreadful

living conditions in the camp. She died a month before the

war ended.

Only Anne’s father survived. He returned to Amsterdam and

found Anne’s journal. He had it published in 1946. It has

been read all over the world and translated into 65

languages.

• Why did Otto publish Anne’s diary?

• Why was Anne’s diary so important?

• The different ways of recording the

things we do each day?

• Do you think the way we record things

will help the historians of the future?

Think about…

• What it would be like to be locked up in a

room with no daylight or space - for 2

years!

• How does your lockdown experience

compare with Anne’s?

• What could you do that Anne could not

during lockdown?

Talk about…

Your Tasks • Task 1- create a timeline of key events of your

lockdown and emotions graph e.g.

2 weeks before

lockdown

Day school closed

Easter Weekend

Event e.g. birthday

VE Day

Thursday Clap for Carers

Event e.g. birthday

Written Task 2. • From your timeline chose 2 or 3 key events from the last three

months.

• Start to add more detail including your thoughts and feelings before

writing your diary entry.

• Aim for 2 to 3 paragraphs

• Remember to include features of a diary- see below

• Finally illustrate your diary entry.