New here? Just sign up with Google — your account includes Matilda, our gift book, forever.
Number the Stars · Garden Heights
Part 2
for Number the Stars · Part 2 · Chapters 3–4
8 Parts40 min
What Happens in Part 2
September brings a chill nobody can name — until Mrs. Hirsch’s button shop stands closed, its sign replaced by German words and a padlock. The Johansens understand before the children do: the occupiers have begun moving against Copenhagen’s Jews. That night Peter Neilsen — Lise’s fiancé, now rarely seen and always hurried — slips in after curfew with news and warnings, and the word Resistance takes a face. Chapter 4 turns to the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah: Ellen’s family prepares for the holiday, but at the synagogue the rabbi delivers terror instead of blessing — the Germans have taken the congregation’s lists of names and addresses, and mean to arrest Denmark’s Jews that very night, seizing them at their holiday tables. The Rosens vanish with Peter into the dark; Ellen stays behind, and the Johansens close the door on a new, enormous lie: from tonight, Ellen is not Ellen. She is Lise Johansen — the daughter whose photograph hangs in the hall.
The Closed Shop and the New Year — Mrs. Hirsch’s padlocked shop reveals the threat to Denmark’s Jews; Peter’s after-curfew visit puts a face on the Resistance; on Rosh Hashanah the rabbi warns that arrest lists are taken and roundups come tonight; the Rosens flee, and Ellen becomes ‘Lise Johansen.’
Part 1
Vocabulary
Study 10 key words from Chapters 3–4, then answer each question.
✨Knowledge Bank · A New Year of Reflection
Jewish Studies · Rosh HashanahRosh Hashanah means “head of the year” in Hebrew and marks the Jewish New Year. It begins at sunset near the start of autumn, on the first day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. Many families share a festive meal; apples or bread dipped in honey can express hope for a sweet year. Worshippers gather in a synagogue for prayers, and the shofar, usually made from a ram’s horn, sounds as a call to examine one’s choices. The holiday begins the Days of Awe, a season of reflection that leads to Yom Kippur. In Chapters 3–4, Ellen’s family expects to attend holiday worship before the threat interrupts that sacred time. Understanding the customs matters because Ellen and her parents are not defined only by persecution; they belong to a living faith, family, and community whose new year centers on moral renewal.
synagoguen.Ch.3–4
A Jewish house of worship
“The rabbi’s warning emptied the synagogue.”
rabbin.Ch.3–4
A Jewish religious teacher and leader
“The rabbi told the congregation to hide at once.”
congregationn.Ch.3–4
The community gathered for worship
“Fear ran through the whole congregation.”
fiancén.Ch.3–4
The man a woman is engaged to marry
“Peter had been Lise’s fiancé.”
padlockn.Ch.3–4
A removable lock hung on a door
“A padlock and German words closed the button shop.”
warningn.Ch.3–4
Notice of danger given in advance
“The warning came just hours before the raids.”
fleev.Ch.3–4
To run away from danger
“The Rosens had to flee into the night.”
disguisen.Ch.3–4
A changed appearance that hides identity
“Ellen’s disguise was a dead girl’s name.”
haughtyadj.Ch.3–4
Proudly looking down on others
“The officer’s haughty voice filled the stairwell.”
tensionn.Ch.3–4
Strained nervousness in the air
“Tension sat at the table like a guest.”
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
1A Jewish house of worship is a ___.Ch.3–4
2A ‘rabbi’ is a Jewish religious teacher and leader.Ch.3–4
3The community gathered for worship is a ___.Ch.3–4
4To ‘flee’ means to stay calmly in place.Ch.3–4
5Fill in each blank with the correct word.Ch.3–4
Word choices:padlockdisguisetensionrabbi- some words will not be used
A and German words closed the button shop.
Ellen’s was a dead girl’s name.
6Notice of danger given in advance is a ___.Ch.3–4
7A ‘fiancé’ is the man a woman is engaged to marry.Ch.3–4
8Proudly looking down on others is being ___.Ch.3–4
9Fill in the blanks with the correct words.Ch.3–4
Word choices:warningcongregationfleesynagogue- some words will not be used
Fear ran through the whole .
The Rosens had to into the night.
10Strained nervousness in the air is ___.Ch.3–4
Part 2
Comprehension
Show you understood what happens in Chapters 3–4.
📋Knowledge Bank · How the Warning Spread
History · Warning NetworksThe first defense against the planned arrests was information moving faster than the police. On September 28, 1943, German diplomat Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz passed a leak about the operation to Danish political contacts. The news reached Jewish leaders, including Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior, who urged worshippers not to remain at their usual addresses. It then spread through a decentralized network of congregations, workplaces, neighborhoods, and friendships. Each link had a different job: believe the report, relay it accurately, or offer temporary shelter. Such a system depends on credibility; a warning dismissed as rumor protects no one. Chapters 3–4 stop at that threshold: a padlocked shop raises suspicion, Peter confirms the danger, the rabbi’s message reaches the Rosens, and Ellen sleeps under a borrowed name. Comprehension means tracking how a private fact becomes collective action: notice, verify, relay, hide. The outcome remains uncertain, so knowledge itself is the first form of protection.
1What first signals that Jews are being targeted?Ch.3–4
2Who visits the Johansens after curfew?Ch.3–4
3Peter’s visits are open, relaxed, and frequent.Ch.3–4
4What terrible news does the rabbi give on the New Year?Ch.3–4
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order of events in Chapters 3–4. Number 1 = what happens first.Ch.3–4
The rabbi reveals the seized lists at the synagogue.
The Rosens vanish into the dark with Peter.
The button shop stands padlocked under German words.
Peter slips in after curfew with warnings.
Ellen stays behind as ‘Lise Johansen.’
6Ellen’s parents take her with them when they flee.Ch.3–4
7Whose name does Ellen take?Ch.3–4
8Why is the timing of the raids especially cruel?Ch.3–4
9The warning reached the synagogue only after the raids began.Ch.3–4
10What have the Johansens agreed to by the end of Part 2?Ch.3–4
Part 3
Literary Elements
Understanding HOW and WHY Lois Lowry tells the story across Chapters 3–4.
🧠Knowledge Bank · A Door, a List, and a Borrowed Name
Literary Craft · Metonymy and EscalationLowry reveals persecution through ordinary objects and roles that suddenly become dangerous. A padlocked shop stands for the Hirsch family’s forced disappearance; this is metonymy, when one concrete detail represents a larger reality. The confiscated list of synagogue members shows how records meant to organize a community can be turned into tools for a roundup. The Rosh Hashanah warning then moves the danger from a public business to a religious congregation. At the end of Chapter 4, Ellen assumes the role of another Johansen daughter and is given Lise’s place in the family story. Lowry arranges these moments as an escalation: shop, list, warning, shelter. Each step brings persecution closer without crossing into events beyond Chapter 4. The section ends at a threshold, so the reader understands the plan but must wait to see whether the borrowed identity can withstand scrutiny.
Substitution
Ellen becomes ‘Lise’ — grief repurposed as a shield, fusing past and present plots.
Indirect threat
No camps named: a padlock and a trembling rabbi carry the terror at child’s-eye scale.
Escalation ladder
Corner → shop → night visit → seized lists — danger climbs toward the family door.
1Ellen taking Lise’s name fuses ___.Ch.3–4
2Fill in the blank with the correct literary term.Ch.3–4
Word choices:indirectdirectcomicverbose- some words will not be used
Lowry keeps the threat deliberately .
3The padlocked button shop works as ___.Ch.3–4
4Lowry names the concentration camps directly in these chapters.Ch.3–4
5Peter’s hurried after-curfew visit characterizes the Resistance as ___.Ch.3–4
6The escalation ladder in Parts 1–2 runs ___.Ch.3–4
7Setting the raid on Rosh Hashanah deepens the sense of violation.Ch.3–4
8Fill in the blank with the correct literary term.Ch.3–4
Word choices:substitutionflashbackallusioncliffhanger- some words will not be used
Ellen-as-Lise is the book’s central .
9Keeping the reader’s knowledge limited to Annemarie’s protects ___.Ch.3–4
10Part 2 ends the ‘ordinary life’ phase of the novel because ___.Ch.3–4
Part 4
Think Deeper
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it out.
💡Knowledge Bank · Identity, Records, and Protection
History & Civics · Persecution and ShelterNazi persecution often depended on bureaucracy: laws, identity papers, property records, and lists that separated Jewish people from their neighbors before arrest and deportation. Denmark was unusual because its government had not required Jewish residents to register property, surrender homes or businesses, or wear an identifying badge. Jewish Danes remained part of civic life, and that social connection helped warnings and hiding places spread quickly in 1943. Yet once German authorities planned a roundup, names and addresses still became dangerous. Sheltering a person therefore required more than opening a door. Helpers needed a believable explanation, consistent family details, and the discipline to protect private information. Ellen’s borrowed place in the household turns an abstract question into an ethical one: when a government uses identity to persecute, does obedience remain moral? The rescue suggests that citizenship can carry a duty beyond following orders—the duty to defend a neighbor’s safety and human dignity.
Think back over these chapters. A shop where buttons and thread once spilled across the counter stands dark behind a padlock and a sign in the occupier’s language. In a synagogue full of holiday best, a rabbi grips the reading desk and tells his people to disappear before nightfall. And in a small apartment, two mothers embrace quickly in the dark; a door closes; and a girl with dark hair practices answering to a name that belongs to a photograph in the hallway.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1Claim: “Part 2 shows the Johansens choosing courage before they fully grasp its cost.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2What the children understand, or What the adults understand? Tap each detail to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ What the children understandWhat the adults understand ►
3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect
German words and a padlock close the shop→
Peter slips in after curfew→
The rabbi reveals the seized lists→
The Rosens vanish into the dark→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
Lowry gives Ellen the DEAD SISTER’S name — rather than any invented name — because , which shows that .
Part 5
Standardized Test
Reading passage · The Danish Resistance · Central Ideas & Factual Information · SAT & TOEFL-style practice
🎯 You already have the skills from the sections above — this is just a fun way to meet real SAT & TOEFL-style questions. Read the passage (the highlighted words are tested below), then answer the questions below. Tap an answer to select it, then tap it again to confirm — you can change your choice until you confirm.
Under occupation, reliable news can become a form of protection. From 1940 onward, Danish resistance groups printed illegal newspapers to report facts the German-controlled press suppressed — kept from the public. Teenagers were among the early activists: the Churchill Club, a band of schoolboys from Aalborg, damaged German vehicles and stole weapons before many adult groups had organized. Adults gradually formed small cells of printers and couriers, people who carried information between contacts who might not know one another. Small cells limited what any one captured member could reveal, while the illegal press created channels for news outside official control.
Those channels mattered on September 28, 1943, when German diplomat Georg Duckwitz learned of a plan to arrest Denmark’s Jews and warned Danish contacts. Political and resistance figures relayed the news to Jewish leaders, and Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior urged worshippers to leave their usual homes before the coming Rosh Hashanah raids. Families separated, changed sleeping places, and accepted temporary shelter from neighbors or strangers; speed mattered because a warning is useful only when people trust and act on it. No single headquarters could contact everyone, so the message moved through synagogues, workplaces, friendships, and door-to-door visits. That is the immediate bridge to Chapters 3–4: a closed Jewish shop signals danger, a late-night visitor confirms it, and a friend stays under a borrowed name.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1What is the main idea of the passage?SAT · Central Ideas
2In the passage, news that was suppressed was ___.SAT · Words in Context
3What was the Churchill Club?TOEFL · Factual Information
4In the passage, couriers are people who ___.TOEFL · Vocabulary
5Who first passed the arrest warning to Danish contacts?TOEFL · Factual Information
6What did Chief Rabbi Marcus Melchior urge worshippers to do?TOEFL · Factual Information
7Why did resistance workers organize in small cells?SAT · Inference
8Why did speed matter after the arrest plan leaked?SAT · Inference
9In the passage, officials who relayed the warning ___.TOEFL · Vocabulary
10Prose Summary (TOEFL).The passage explains how warning networks worked in occupied Denmark. This TOEFL task lists six sentences; choose the THREE that best capture the passage’s main ideas. The other three do not belong — they state minor details or ideas the passage does not present.TOEFL · Prose Summary
Part 6 · Optional
Creative Writing
A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.
About This Section
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 2 “The Borrowed Name”
Imagine Ellen’s thoughts on her first night as ‘Lise Johansen’ — lying in Annemarie’s room, her parents somewhere in the dark city, a new name to answer to if boots sound on the stairs. Write her thoughts in first person. 6–10 sentences. End with the one thing she promises herself before falling asleep.
You can start with: “I whispered the name to myself in the dark, once, twice, until it stopped feeling like a stranger’s...”
0 / 40 words minimum
🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 2 Complete!
You finished Chapters 3–4 of Number the Stars.
Here are your auto-graded results:
-
points out of 100
Your Writing
Your writing was checked automatically for length, spelling, grammar, and whether you included the key parts of the scene. Scroll back to Part 5 anytime to read your feedback and improve your work.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Lois Lowry. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Lois Lowry’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.
