Night by Elie Wiesel Activity Bundle - Creative Activities and Assignments

Night by Elie Wiesel Activity Bundle - Creative Activities and Assignments: This resource includes 12 ready-to-use activities and assignments to help students engage deeply with Night by Elie Wiesel. The activities in this bundle are engaging and interactive and allow students to form connections and analyze the memoir. The assignments are fun and creative and will also meet many ELA skills and standards while allowing students to explore the text in creative and interesting ways.

This is included in a unit plan:
>>> Night by Elie Wiesel Unit Plan

Included in the Night Activities and Assignments Bundle:

Chapter 1:

➡️ “Terrible Things” Holocaust Allegory Assignment: After the first section of Night, students will listen and watch a video of “Terrible Things” by Eve Bunting—a powerful allegorical picture book that introduces key Holocaust themes such as scapegoating, silence, and the consequences of indifference. They will use the provided graphic organizer to make connections to central themes in Night. A sample answer key is provided. 

➡️ Night Thematic Tracking Assignment: Elie Wiesel weaves powerful themes throughout his memoir Night, revealing the emotional, moral, and psychological toll of the Holocaust. This provided graphic organizer will help your students recognize and reflect on these recurring ideas by having them track key themes such as silence, identity, loss of faith, survival, dehumanization, and more. This assignment is to be used throughout the memoir and will eventually be used as a reference for text evidence during the final essay. A sample answer key is provided. 

Chapters 2-3:

➡️ Never Shall I Forget Poetry Analysis: Students will closely analyze Elie Wiesel’s “Never shall I forget…” passage from Night by completing a guided poetry annotation. Using a detailed poetry annotation checklist and a sample response for support, they will examine elements such as figurative language, repetition, and imagery to uncover how Wiesel creates emotional impact and conveys the enduring trauma of his experience. A sample annotation is provided. 

Chapter 4:

➡️ Stanford Prison Experiment Presentation and Assignment: Students are introduced to the notorious Stanford Prison Experiment through an engaging 15-slide presentation. They will deepen their understanding by reading a provided nonfiction article about the study. Then, students complete an assignment that asks them to make connections between the experiment’s abuse of power and similar dynamics in Night by Elie Wiesel, prompting critical thinking about how such abuses happen and what enables them.

➡️ Holocaust Shoe Symbolism Reading Comprehension & Design Project: In Night and the broader context of the Holocaust, shoes hold powerful symbolic meaning. Through a thoughtful presentation, students explore the haunting images of piles of shoes from Holocaust victims and their significance. They then read the essay “Walking with Living Feet,” which recounts a young girl’s emotional experience viewing one of these displays, and answer reading comprehension questions to demonstrate understanding. Finally, students complete a creative shoe identity project, designing a shoe that represents their own personal identity.

Chapter 5:

➡️ Josef Mengele Nonfiction Reading Comprehension: Students learn about the infamous “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele, through a nonfiction article that explores his role and actions during the Holocaust. They then answer comprehension questions to deepen their understanding of his impact and his presence in the memoir Night.

➡️ Night Poetry Connection and Jigsaw Activity: Students explore the vital role of poetry in expressing the indescribable experiences of the Holocaust. They study five carefully selected poems, each written by Holocaust victims or closely connected to Night and its themes. Students are first grouped by poem to analyze and discuss their assigned piece, becoming experts on its meaning and significance. Then, they join mixed “jigsaw” groups where each member shares insights from their poem, allowing the entire group to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse ways poetry captures Holocaust experiences.

Chapters 6-9:

➡️  Auschwitz Virtual Exploration Web Quest: To deepen their understanding of the setting central to much of Night, students will complete a ready-to-use web quest focused on Auschwitz. Through an immersive virtual tour of key locations within the camp that directly relate to Elie Wiesel’s memoir, along with curated videos and articles, students will gain a richer and more nuanced perspective of the historical context and the harsh realities experienced by those imprisoned there. This activity fosters greater empathy and insight into the lived experiences behind the text.

➡️ Night Conflict Analysis: In this assignment, students will examine both the internal and external conflicts Elie Wiesel faces throughout Night. Using presentation slides and a structured assignment, students will analyze key moments in the memoir and explore how these conflicts shape Elie’s personal journey, beliefs, and identity in the face of unimaginable hardship.

➡️  Night Irony Exploration Activity: Elie Wiesel uses irony throughout Night to highlight the disturbing contrast between expectation and reality in the Holocaust. In this ready-to-use activity, students analyze selected quotes from the memoir and identify the type of irony present—verbal, situational, or dramatic. With clear instructions and examples, students deepen their understanding of how irony functions as a literary device and how Wiesel uses it to underscore the grim absurdities of his lived experience.

➡️ The Perils of Indifference by Elie Wiesel Activity: Elie Wiesel’s speech “The Perils of Indifference” deeply reinforces the central themes of Night. In this multi-part activity, students begin by listening to the speech and analyzing powerful excerpts using task cards designed to prompt thoughtful discussion. They then connect Wiesel’s message to specific moments in the memoir that reveal the devastating effects of indifference. Finally, inspired by Wiesel’s call to action, students will plan and write their own persuasive speech addressing a modern injustice.

➡️ The Pyramid of Hate - Presentation & Assignment: Students learn about the escalation of prejudice through a presentation on the “Pyramid of Hate,” a framework that shows how biased attitudes can progress into acts of violence and genocide. After exploring this concept, students read the nonfiction article, which outlines the historical events and social conditions leading up to the start of Night. Using what they’ve learned, students complete their own Pyramid of Hate graphic organizer, connecting each level of the pyramid to specific examples from the article or Elie Wiesel’s memoir. 

➡️ Night Final Essay Topics: Finish off your Night unit plan by having students write a final essay with these ready-to-use topics. The topics align with the thematic graphic organizer that students completed throughout the unit.

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