English Language Arts

In our first unit, students will develop their ability to read and understand complex text as they consider the challenges of fictional and real refugees. Students will begin. reading the novel Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai, analyzing how critical incidents reveal the dynamic nature of the main character, Ha, a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl whose family is deciding whether to flee during the fall of Saigon. The novel,  told in free verse, will challenge students to consider the impact of specific word choice on tone and meaning. Students will build their ability to infer and analyze text, both in discussion and through writing. 

In addition, students will build knowledge about refugees’ search for a place to call home. They will read informational texts that convey universal themes of refugees’ experiences across various times and cultures as they flee and find home. As they continue to move through the novel, they will focus on how particular incidents move the story forward and reveal aspects of Ha’s character. This unit culminates in which students examine how the universal refugee experience causes the refugee’s life to be turned inside out and eventually return back again.