Rock Your World

In chapters 13-15, readers see Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud moving forward in their journeys. Along the way, each character experiences something that reaffirms life continues even when far away from home. For example, Josef celebrates his Bar Mitzvah (in spite of his father's absence and Hitler's image having to be removed). Isabel gets to know the others on the boat more and they participate in a sing-a-long. Mahmoud notices a wedding procession amid the influx of refugees in Turkey. I think it would be a good time to discuss why the author made the decisions to write about these moments. One might explore the significance of a Bar Mitzvah if students live in an area where Judaism isn't practiced regularly. I think these chapters are create an excellent opportunity for students to explore their own traditions--whether these pertain to coming of age or not. What special traditions do students share with their families? In order to be sensitive to students who may have living situations that are not ideal, you might ask students to write or journal about what traditions they want to start with their friends and/or future families. By the end of Chapter 18, the rollercoaster up and downs have come into focus for Isabel, Josef and Mahmoud again. Now would be a good time to discuss character traits. What do the three have in common when it comes to coping? How are they different? Extend that question to their family members. Consider the difference in coping skills between Mahmoud's brother and his father. Ask students to journal or discuss how they cope with stressful, sad, or scary situations. Some vocabulary that may need review before the reading include words such as: deserters, infidels, hijab, Shabbos. Perhaps instruct teams/groups to create a vocabulary poster as they read.

I just had a moment while rereading these six chapters -- something I realize that I cannot believe I did not pick up on before -- which is the interconnectedness of place in these stories. Mahmoud is traveling from Syria to Germany; Joseph is traveling to Cuba from Germany, and Isabel is traveling from Cuba to the USA. This makes me think again about the idea of having a classroom map of the journeys that these three characters are undertaking as the book is being read. Additional themes that came up in these chapters are uncertainly, sacrifice, and urgency. I also noticed again how Gratz establishes motifs and uses them to connect the three stories, like the broken glass I mentioned in an earlier post. Here, music appears in the stories in meaningful ways. The last two years, I have had students create one pagers about their books in interesting ways. This has me thinking about a variation on this to use with Refugee. I can imagine giving students an organizer with a box for each chapter in the book. Within each box would be space for them to sketch an image or a symbol that is significant for the chapter and write an important / significant quote from the chapter. These could then be a tool for talk with peers in discussion groups.

After rereading this section of the book, there are two major thoughts I have. The first is about what motivates people as seen through the characters in the novel. Specifically, thinking about the actions of Captain Schroder, Isabel, and and Samih Nasseer in these chapters. It would be interesting to direct kids back to the text to see what incited (or did not) each of these characters to behave the way they do. Each of them acts as an up stander or protector of sorts though they are motivated to do so for different reasons. I think this can be part of a larger, meaningful conversation about why and how people can be upstanders as well as what prevents people from being upstanders. The other thing that came up for me is the various obstacles faced by the characters coming up as the different forms of conflict in literature. This really stood out for me in this section - though it might be worth having students consider this from the start of the novel. Each of these characters experiences conflicts with other characters, with themselves, with nature, and with society.

I love that you're considering character motivations in this segment too, Tricia! I think this section would be an excellent place to introduce Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as an anchor for a discussion or writing assignment about character motivations. I'm curious about how Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud are able to become 'upstanders' when they are also, for so much of their stories, in survival mode. Here's a link about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html I've also attached a great graphic to be used with students.

These chapters were so upsetting on a variety of levels. We witness our protagonists experience cruelty, violence and loss. I think one way to process the storyline for these chapters would be to think about symbols. Namely, the symbol of water: rain, ocean, storm. How does the author use the external environment to reflect the internal landscapes of the characters? I would also open a discussion about how Josef, Isabel and Mahmoud are still serving as 'upstanders'/helpers to their families, and the greater good. In order to create an opportunity for connection, I suggest having students journal about a time when they helped a friend of family member. What were the circumstances? How did it make them feel to offer help? Did they have to sacrifice anything for themselves in the process of helping?

I love the idea of focusing on symbols in these chapters, Jess. The water images are so vivid throughout this whole section and I could see this as a powerful lens for students to use. Another thing that I thought much about in these chapters is how trauma can result in shifting family dynamics. Joseph, Isabel, and Mahmoud all have been thrust into roles with far greater -- life and death -- responsibilities. Jess's journaling prompt is a perfect to have students connect this to their own lives.

This segment of reading is another emotional roller coaster! All characters are experiencing loss and triumph that may be hard to measure for an onlooker. I found myself really thinking about sacrifice and invisibility. It called to mind a poem that I think would be so well suited as a bell work/journal entry/discussion starter. The poem is called "Invisibility" and it's written by Renato Rosaldo. It would be meaningful to consider this poem in relation to each character, I think. Here's a link to the poem: https://poets.org/poem/invisibility---I'm uploading it as well.

Okay - so this section has me thinking about quite a bit.... Mañana - This is a motif has come up in earlier chapters and appears again in these sections. For the characters it is a seems to be a promise for a future that is unknown, though a promise that feels empty because it is repeated over and over again. The first time (I think) that a direct connection is made within these stories - when Isabel's grandfather mummers the name "The St. Louis" while everyone was suggesting names for the boat. These three stories have so many parallels - but now they seem to start to intersect. I immediately thought - could this be Officer Padron? I wonder if all students would pick up on this connection... And then there's this passage from Mahmoud's chapter 36 - "They only see us when we do something they don’t want us to do, Mahmoud realized. The thought hit him like a lightning bolt. When they stayed where they were supposed to be—in the ruins of Aleppo or behind the fences of a refugee camp—people could forget about them. But when refugees did something they didn’t want them to do—when they tried to cross the border into their country, or slept on the front stoops of their shops, or jumped in front of their cars, or prayed on the decks of their ferries—that’s when people couldn’t ignore them any longer. Mahmoud’s first instinct was to disappear below decks. To be invisible. Being invisible in Syria had kept him alive. But now Mahmoud began to wonder if being invisible in Europe might be the death of him and his family. If no one saw them, no one could help them. And maybe the world needed to see what was really happening here."Gratz, Alan. Refugee (p. 214). Scholastic Inc.. Kindle Edition. This is at the heart of the stories of refugees everywhere and at all times. They relay on others to see what is happening to them and to act in response. This is certainly a passage to have students respond to. I might prompt students to think about how to be actively involved in seeing what might otherwise be invisible to them in the world.

The first chapter in this section reminded me about the quote I posted yesterday from the previous chapter - which was Mahmoud's. At the end of the chapter, Joseph is in a sense "invisible" to Officer Padron - who refuses to look at him - and therefor refuses to see the desperation that Joseph and everyone else on the boat feel and the direness of their situation as the boat is ordered from Cuban waters. This section had such emotional ranges in it. Desperation and anger (outrage) for Joseph, grief and hope for Isabel, exhaustion and horror for Mahmoud in the first three chapters. This is followed by renewed hope quickly replaced by despair and plans for desperate action for Joseph, more renewed hope followed by horror and terror for Isabel, and terror upon terror, horror followed by horror for Mahmoud. Though throughout his last chapter - a steady determination. Even within short chapters, Gratz creates such emotional ranges. This makes me think that another activity to do with students is for them to chart / graph the emotional highs and lows for each character throughout their journeys.

Getting excited! See you on the 6th of July!

Hello! I am Tricia Baldes, an 8th grade ELA teacher in Westchester County, NY, and I’m also part of the Rock Your World educational team. One of the first things I think I would do before starting reading Refugee with a class or small group would be to poll them somehow to see what, if any, background knowledge students have about the three historical time periods in the novel. After assessing this, I could envision putting together groups and using a Jigsaw Strategy (as explained here: https://www.inquisitive.com/blog/2019/03/27/visible-thinking/#Jigsaw-St…) to put students at the center of an inquiry about an assigned time period. Aside from establishing some background knowledge, I’d also want to hook students and build some excitement about reading the book. One thought I had was using one or more of the films from Unicef’s “Unfairy Tales” series. The Rock Your World team used the film Malak and the Boat - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMjSZaMY2Y - as the center for the Project Home Curriculum, so this might be a good place to start. I might frame this by asking students to consider these questions: What does this film suggest about the experience of a child refugee? What does this film make you wonder about the experience of a child refugee?So, that’s my initial thinking. As I prep to reread this book, I anticipate that I might have additional ideas once I start!

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