6-8 Resources
"This book shows you no matter how hard life gets not to give up on what you love, and what’s in your heart…”
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"This book shows you no matter how hard life gets not to give up on what you love, and what’s in your heart…” •
– Marshandra, Middle School Student
Activities & Resources
Explore a selection of activities, lesson plans, and teacher resources developed by our team and our trusted educational partners to enhance learning in and out of the classroom.
HOTYM | Teacher Pathway
Lesson Plans for Teaching Children of Willesden Lane
This four-part HOTYM lesson series for Grades 6–8 offers an immersive pathway into The Children of Willesden Lane, centering music, silence, and story as essential tools for ethical reflection and emotional growth. While rooted in the historical context of the Holocaust, this HOTYM approach invites students to consider how identity is shaped not only by history, but also by the relationships, choices, and creative acts that carry us through adversity. Each lesson deepens students' sense of belonging, resilience, and responsibility—encouraging them to hold space for others and carry memory forward with care.
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Uprooted
Holding On To What Grounds Us
Chapters 1-4
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Finding Home
How Belonging Shapes Us
Chapters 5-13
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Strength in the Silence and the Sound
How Music, Stillness, and Story Carry Us
Chapters 14-20
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Carrying the Story
Triumph, Memory, and Music
Chapters 21-26 & Epilogue
HOTYM | Telling My Story Final Project
This project invites students to reflect on who they are and share their identity with care. Inspired by Lisa Jura’s story in The Children of Willesden Lane, students are guided to create short multimedia testimonies that explore identity, memory, resilience, and voice.
But this is more than a digital storytelling assignment. It is a practice in listening, in presence, and in building threads of connection that can be carried long after the lesson ends. Through writing, music, silence, and shared reflection, students are encouraged to meet one another in a space of empathy and vulnerability, where their stories are not just told, but truly held.
Designed for grades 6–8 and part of HOTYM’s broader learning pathway, this project equips students to bear witness, speak from the heart, and strengthen their sense of belonging through story.
Lisa Jura Family Collection - Online Exhibit with HMLA
Through the generous support of internationally renowned concert pianist and Hold On To Your Music Foundation founder Mona Golabek, Holocaust Museum LA is proud to present the Lisa Jura Collection. This special digital exhibit honors Lisa Jura's life and legacy through rare primary sources, artifacts, and a powerful short film, Tipping Scales: The Story of Lisa Jura.
Designed for both teachers and students, the exhibit includes a downloadable Teacher’s Guide that supports a deeper exploration of Lisa’s journey and its enduring lessons of resilience, identity, and hope.
A Teacher’s Resource to The Children of Willesden Lane - with Facing History & Ourselves
The Teacher’s Resource provides a meaningful but flexible structure for examining the story Mona Golabek tells and relating it to historical and current events. It is designed for use with middle and high school students in English, social studies, music, and/or interdisciplinary studies.
