What are we studying?
Inside Out and Back Again is a New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book, and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-eye view of family and immigration.Hà has only ever known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, and the warmth of her friends close by. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope—toward America.In this reading selection, we will look at how the characters cope with the Vietnam War in their homeland and deal with a new identity in America.
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Unit 1: Finding Home - Refugees
Students consider the challenges of fictional and real refugees. They read the novel Inside Out & Back Again, analyzing critical incidents that reveal the dynamic nature of Ha, a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl whose family flees during the fall of Saigon. They also read complex informational texts to learn more about the history of war in Vietnam, the historical context of Ha’s family’s struggle, and the universal themes of refugees’ experiences of fleeing and finding home. Students consider how Ha’s experience represents the universal refugee experience of being turned “inside out” and then coming “back again.” Students work in research groups to study the experiences of refugees from one of several cultures. Then, using the novel’s poems as mentor texts, students write free verse narrative poems that capture the universal refugee experience.
Essential Questions:
What is home?
How do critical incidents reveal character?
Essential Questions:
What is home?
How do critical incidents reveal character?
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Unit 2: Finding Home Refugees
Students will build knowledge about refugees’ search for a place to call home. They will read informational texts that convey the universal themes and experiences of refugees across various times and cultures. This study will draw students’ attention to the challenges refugees face when they are fleeing and finding home. As students continue to move through the novel, they will focus on how particular incidents move the story forward and reveal aspects of Ha’s character. Ha will be analyzed as a case study of a refugee who is faced with challenges that represent the universal refugee themes of fleeing and finding home. For their mid-unit assessment, students will read an informational text and analyze one refugee’s experience of finding home. Unit 2 culminates in a formal literary analysis essay in which students will explain the significance of the novel’s title and how it relates to the universal refugee experience and the challenges Ha faces as a refugee.
Essential Questions:
How do critical incidents reveal character?
What common themes are universal to the refugee experience?
Essential Questions:
How do critical incidents reveal character?
What common themes are universal to the refugee experience?