Journey Home Project
Essential Questions
Unit Texts
Assessments
Class Activities
Project | Journey Home Project
Creation
Create a project that portrays a theme from the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz. To start, consider one word that encompasses the essence of the novel—the characters, conflict, resolution. Words that have been discussed already in regards to the book:
Artist Statement
Paragraph 1: Paragraph one is considered the background information your viewers need to understand your creation. It is your research. Consider the following prompts in your first paragraph:
Paragraph 2: Paragraph two is considered the creation paragraph. It is everything your audience needs to know to understand your creation. Consider the following prompts in your second paragraph:
WRITING HINT: Do not include the prompt in your written response. Check out my example:
- What is home? What does it mean to leave a place once considered home?
- What must happen in order for a person to consider a new place home?
- How can photography capture a person’s story?
Unit Texts
- This Is Home (documentary)
- Refugee, Alan Gratz (novel)
- The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement
- NewsELA
Assessments
Class Activities
- Bookmarks
- Character Parking Lots
- Research: Annotated Notes + Bibliography
- Step In - Step Out - Step Back
- Perceive, Know, Care About
- Same and Different
Project | Journey Home Project
Creation
Create a project that portrays a theme from the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz. To start, consider one word that encompasses the essence of the novel—the characters, conflict, resolution. Words that have been discussed already in regards to the book:
- borders
- journey
- conflict
Artist Statement
Paragraph 1: Paragraph one is considered the background information your viewers need to understand your creation. It is your research. Consider the following prompts in your first paragraph:
- What is your thematic word? How did you define your thematic word?
- What did you discover about your thematic word through the research process (Peel the Fruit)? How does it relate or associated with refugees?
- How is the theme present or portrayed in the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz? (include the formal title and author's name in your writing, also include direct evidence to support your response)
Paragraph 2: Paragraph two is considered the creation paragraph. It is everything your audience needs to know to understand your creation. Consider the following prompts in your second paragraph:
- What did you create?
- What is the symbolism or the meaning behind your creation?
- What argument does your creation reveal? How does it demonstrate you have learned about refugee/Refugee?
WRITING HINT: Do not include the prompt in your written response. Check out my example:
- NO!: "I made my image in black and white to demonstrate what I learned in Refugee. I learned that refugees have a really hard journey to safety. The black and white color of the images represents the hardship of the journey." Notice there are a lot of words involved in this example while also not really saying a whole lot.
- YEAH BABY!: "The lack of color in the image represents the hardships encountered by refugees during the difficult journey from their homeland to find freedom and safety. Refugees cannot simply board an airplane to a new country but instead must overcome difficult terrains like Mahmoud and his family when they survived hours in the Mediterranean Sea, lost their baby sister, and walked for 12 hours across Austria. The image represents the perseverance they needed to keep moving forward in the hopes of finding something better than what they left behind."