Refugee
Reading and Writing Workshop: Refugee by Alan Gratz intertwines the harrowing stories of three children-- Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud--fleeing their war-torn homelands in different decades, highlighting the universal struggle for safety and belonging.
Reading: Students may read independently or in groups while completing a Literary Thinking Guide. If a rapid reading is necessary, the book can be divided among the groups, and each group summarizes their section and then the groups present their sections sequentially.
Workshop Groups
This workshop uses small group reading, rotating roles, and sustained analytical and reflective writing developing relationships and creating a learning community.
Essential Question:
What does it mean to flee for your life?
Core Literary Skills:
Point of View • Historical Fiction • Theme • Juxtaposition • Narrative Structure • Character
SESSION 1 — What Is a Refugee?
Refugee Reading: Chapters 1–10
(Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud introductions)
Public-Domain Anchor Text
The Refugees – An Appeal to the American People (1914)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57475
Excerpt
“They are not wanderers by choice, but men, women, and children driven from their homes by terror and violence.”
How It Is Used
Groups annotate this sentence and compare it to:
Group Activity — “Why They Fled” Chart
Groups build a cause-and-effect chart using:
Writing Task
How is being a refugee different from choosing to move?
SESSION 2 — Losing Home
Reading: Chapters 11–20
Focus: Setting, emotional loss
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Emma Lazarus — “The New Colossus”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus
Excerpt
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
How It Is Used
Students compare:
Group Activity — “Welcome or Wall?”
Groups mark where the poem matches reality—and where it doesn’t.
Writing Task
Does the world really want refugees?
SESSION 3 — Fear and Survival
Reading: Chapters 21–30
Focus: Suspense, conflict
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Harriet Jacobs — Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11030
Excerpt
“The slaves fled from their masters… not to be free, but to escape death.”
How It Is Used
Students connect Jacobs’ escape to Josef hiding, Isabel crossing the sea, and Mahmoud running from bombs.
Group Activity — “What Would You Risk?”
Groups rank what they would leave behind to survive.
Writing Task
What is more powerful—fear or hope?
SESSION 4 — Children in Crisis
Reading: Chapters 31–40
Focus: Character development
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Helen Keller — The Story of My Life
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2397
Excerpt
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.”
How It Is Used
Students track how Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud change under pressure.
Group Activity — “Before and After”
Groups chart each character’s growth.
Writing Task
How does suffering force children to grow up?
SESSION 5 — Borders and Barriers
Reading: Chapters 41–50
Focus: Conflict, politics
Public-Domain Anchor Text
The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=47&page=transcript
Excerpt
“The coming of Chinese laborers… endangers the good order of certain localities…”
How It Is Used
Students compare discriminatory laws to how refugees are treated.
Group Activity — “Who Is Allowed In?”
Groups compare Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud to Chinese immigrants.
Writing Task
Who decides who deserves safety?
SESSION 6 — Memory and Hope
Reading: End of novel
Focus: Theme, resolution
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Walt Whitman — “I Hear America Singing”
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1322
Excerpt
“Each singing what belongs to him or her…”
How It Is Used
Students connect Whitman’s vision of belonging to the refugees’ search for a home.
Final Group Project — “Voices of Refuge”
Groups create:
Reading: Students may read independently or in groups while completing a Literary Thinking Guide. If a rapid reading is necessary, the book can be divided among the groups, and each group summarizes their section and then the groups present their sections sequentially.
Workshop Groups
This workshop uses small group reading, rotating roles, and sustained analytical and reflective writing developing relationships and creating a learning community.
Essential Question:
What does it mean to flee for your life?
Core Literary Skills:
Point of View • Historical Fiction • Theme • Juxtaposition • Narrative Structure • Character
SESSION 1 — What Is a Refugee?
Refugee Reading: Chapters 1–10
(Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud introductions)
Public-Domain Anchor Text
The Refugees – An Appeal to the American People (1914)
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57475
Excerpt
“They are not wanderers by choice, but men, women, and children driven from their homes by terror and violence.”
How It Is Used
Groups annotate this sentence and compare it to:
- Josef fleeing Nazi Germany
- Isabel fleeing Cuba
- Mahmoud fleeing Syria
Group Activity — “Why They Fled” Chart
Groups build a cause-and-effect chart using:
- The Gutenberg appeal
- The novel
Writing Task
How is being a refugee different from choosing to move?
SESSION 2 — Losing Home
Reading: Chapters 11–20
Focus: Setting, emotional loss
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Emma Lazarus — “The New Colossus”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus
Excerpt
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”
How It Is Used
Students compare:
- Lazarus’s promise
- What Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud actually experience
Group Activity — “Welcome or Wall?”
Groups mark where the poem matches reality—and where it doesn’t.
Writing Task
Does the world really want refugees?
SESSION 3 — Fear and Survival
Reading: Chapters 21–30
Focus: Suspense, conflict
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Harriet Jacobs — Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11030
Excerpt
“The slaves fled from their masters… not to be free, but to escape death.”
How It Is Used
Students connect Jacobs’ escape to Josef hiding, Isabel crossing the sea, and Mahmoud running from bombs.
Group Activity — “What Would You Risk?”
Groups rank what they would leave behind to survive.
Writing Task
What is more powerful—fear or hope?
SESSION 4 — Children in Crisis
Reading: Chapters 31–40
Focus: Character development
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Helen Keller — The Story of My Life
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2397
Excerpt
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet.”
How It Is Used
Students track how Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud change under pressure.
Group Activity — “Before and After”
Groups chart each character’s growth.
Writing Task
How does suffering force children to grow up?
SESSION 5 — Borders and Barriers
Reading: Chapters 41–50
Focus: Conflict, politics
Public-Domain Anchor Text
The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=47&page=transcript
Excerpt
“The coming of Chinese laborers… endangers the good order of certain localities…”
How It Is Used
Students compare discriminatory laws to how refugees are treated.
Group Activity — “Who Is Allowed In?”
Groups compare Josef, Isabel, Mahmoud to Chinese immigrants.
Writing Task
Who decides who deserves safety?
SESSION 6 — Memory and Hope
Reading: End of novel
Focus: Theme, resolution
Public-Domain Anchor Text
Walt Whitman — “I Hear America Singing”
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1322
Excerpt
“Each singing what belongs to him or her…”
How It Is Used
Students connect Whitman’s vision of belonging to the refugees’ search for a home.
Final Group Project — “Voices of Refuge”
Groups create:
- A refugee diary entry
- A historical connection
- A theme statement
- Gratz
- At least two public-domain texts