Doña Gracia Saved Worlds: Educator Guide

Elementary School (Grades K-5)

A free educator guide to Bonni Goldberg’s picture book about Doña Gracia Nasi, the sixteenth century businesswoman who helped secret Jews escape the Inquisition, with reading, writing, STEAM, and mapping activities.

Overview
Procedures

Before You Teach

  • Get the book: Doña Gracia Saved Worlds by Bonni Goldberg, illustrated by Alida Massari (Kar-Ben, 2023).
  • Teacher background for the map: Doña Gracia (about 1510 to 1569) was born in Lisbon to a family of conversos. She moved to Antwerp, then Venice and Ferrara, and in 1553 to Constantinople (Istanbul), where she lived openly as a Jew under the name Gracia Nasi. She obtained a lease on Tiberias from the Ottoman sultan to make it a home for Jewish refugees.
  • Explain the word “Inquisition” simply for young readers: a court that punished people for practicing a religion other than Catholicism.
Body of Lesson

Activities in the Guide

  1. English and Language Arts: story questions and discussion.
  2. Writing: problem and solution, with drawings.
  3. STEAM: build a boat like the ones Doña Gracia used to carry people to safety.
  4. Social Studies: map the places Doña Gracia moved to stay safe.
Conclusion
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Reflection

Students finish the sentence: “Doña Gracia saved worlds when she…” and draw a picture.

Assessment Ideas

  • Formative: story discussion and writing pages.
  • Summative: the completed map and boat, explained to a partner.
Extension Activities
  • Older students can learn about the Inquisition and the Sephardic diaspora in JIMENA’s Sephardi & Mizrahi Education Toolkit.
  • Women who led. Compare Doña Gracia with other notable Sephardic and Mizrahi women in the Jewish Tapestry: Notable Women collection.
  • Ships and trade. Students research what goods traveled on sixteenth century ships between Portugal, Antwerp, and the Ottoman Empire.
Resources and External Links
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