We invite you to consider the following for Chapters 31-36, pages 192-215<br>What resonates for you as a reader? What do you think will resonate with your students?<br>How might you engage your students in this section of the novel?<br>What activities, teaching points, discussion questions might you use?
We will be discussing how to use the book in tandem with our new curriculum, Project Home. Tell your friends! See you soon.
Getting excited! See you on the 6th of July!
We invite you to consider the following for Chapters 31-36, pages 192-215<br>What resonates for you as a reader? What do you think will resonate with your students?<br>How might you engage your students in this section of the novel?<br>What activities, teaching points, discussion questions might you use?
I think what I most appreciate about the conclusion of this book is that while Gratz conveyed a vibrant sense of hope and connection, he also didn't sugarcoat what happened to Josef, nor did he tie a bow with Mahmoud's little sister. Having taught high school in a border state for many years, the issues of migrants and refugees seemed to be ever present in the news, but rarely discussed in school beyond a historical deep dive here and there. That's what made the creation of Project Home on Rock Your World so exciting. Receiving funding for the explorations of issues and actions regarding refugees from the Newman's Own Foundation was a beautiful validation of the vision we had to model how to dig deep into the causes, journeys, challenges and triumphs that are integral to the stories of so many, if not most human beings who leave their home countries. As a teacher, I appreciate the flexibility of the 6 segments. Students can dive in, teachers can utilize the modeled explorations as a script or they can simply use it as a springboard. Coupling the reading of refugee with Project Home, or even keeping them as separate explorations is possible. I love the idea of using the book as inspiration to learn more. And, as is our tradition at Rock Your World, we believe in empowering youth with the ability to take meaningful action. Exploration 6 culls tons of resources and a narrative about how one might move forward. I'm grateful that we are able to add such an effective method of study to this evergreen topic. Be sure to explore Project Home which is very much in the style of our discussion here: https://www.rock-your-world.org/project-home --please share your educator and student discoveries with us as you explore and be sure to encourage your students to share their creative activism efforts with other kids and the world at www.rock-your-rights.org.
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.