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ELA 6-8: Finding Home: Refugees (Module 1, Unit 2)

Introduction

LOCATION OF LESSON IN MODULE: This lesson is part of EngageNY's Grade 8 ELA, Module 1, Unit 2, and the planning begins on Lesson 14. Students completed this assignment in November of 2015. This essay serves as the end of the Unit 2 assessment, which leads into Unit 3—writing a narrative poem about the universal refugee experience. The task in Unit 3 will ask students to write narrative poems from the perspective of a refugee and show how their lives have been turned inside out, so the essay serves to introduce those concepts first.

PROMPT: The unit requires students to respond to the prompt: "Consider the meaning of the novel's title, Inside Out and Back Again. How does the title relate to the universal refugee experience of fleeing and finding home, and in what ways is Ha's experience an example of this universal experience?"

STANDARDS: The essay process focuses on NYSP12ELA CCLS RL and RI 8.1, RL 8.3, RL 8.4, RL 8.6a, RL 8.11, W 8.2d, W 8.4, W 8.5, and W 8.9, but for the purposes of the annotations, the focus standards will be RL and RI 8.1, RI 8.3, W 8.2, and W 8.9.

SCAFFOLDING TASKS: There were several scaffolding tasks throughout this module that led up to the essay. As students read the novel Inside Out and Back Again by Thannha Lai, as well as several informational texts ("Panic Rises in Saigon But the Exits are Few" by Fox Butterfield, "Children of War" by Arthur Brice, and "Refugees: Who, Where, Why") they added to several note-catchers. These students have a class set of tablets, so the note-catchers were modified from the module to be done completely in Word documents. One of the note catchers involved gathering quotes and making inferences about Ha's character, another had them record evidence of how refugees' lives turning inside out and back again, and another was for evidence of challenges both fleeing and finding home.

Next, students completed an extension write to begin their thinking of what the universal refugee experience means by comparing an experience from a poem in the novel and of refugees in one of the articles. The students in this class were given a teacher-created task sheet (included below) as well as a teacher-created rubric (modified from the NYS Expository Writing Rubric). They were also given the option of filling in a planning page provided by the teacher. The samples included as a model are first drafts written by the students, and do not represent a final copy completed after peer or teacher review.

FOCUS STANDARDS AND SKILLS: As stated before, it was decided that the focus standards for the purpose of annotating the samples would include RL and RI 8.1, RI 8.3, W 8.2, and W 8.9. This means that the focus of the annotations will be on citing text-based evidence that provides the strongest support for a student's analysis (RL/RI 8.1), analyzing how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (RI 8.3), writing informative or explanatory texts that convey ideas and concepts using relevant information that is carefully selected and organized (W 8.2), and using evidence to support analysis, reflection, and research (W 8.9).

POINTS OF DISCUSSION: In discussions prior to annotating, it was noted that in order to fully complete the prompt, student essays should explain the universal refugee experience; should give the strongest evidence from both the novel and the informational texts that represent the challenges refugees faced fleeing and finding home; should relate the title to the universal experience by including the strongest evidence showing how their lives were turned inside out and back again; and should show how Ha is a representation of this universal experience.

TEACHER-CREATED PROMPT FOR STUDENTS

We have been reading the novel Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai. Using the novel and at least two other sources, write an essay that explains why Ha is considered an example of the universal refugee experience. When discussing the universal experience, be sure to include the challenges faced by refugees, and how this universal experience relates to the novel’s title.

In your essay, be sure to answer the following:

What is the universal refugee experience?
What are the challenges fleeing home that most refugees experience?
- Examples from novel
- Examples from article
What are the challenges finding home that most refugees experience?
- Examples from novel
- Examples from article
How does the title of the novel relate to the universal refugee experience?

You must use the novel and at least two other sources:

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
“Panic Rises in Saigon But the Exits are Few” by Fox Butterfield
“Refugees: Who, Where, Why”
“Children of War” by Arthur Brice

Teacher Modified NYS Expository Rubric

CRITERIA	4Essays at this level:	3Essays at this level:	2Essays at this level:	1Essays at this level:	0Essays at this level:
CONTENT AND ANALYSIS	Clearly introduce the concept of the universal refugee experience in a manner that is compelling and follows logically from the task; Demonstrate insightful analysis of the texts.	Clearly introduce the concept of the universal refugee experience in a manner that follows from the task; Demonstrate grade-appropriate analysis of the texts.	Introduce the concept of the universal refugee experience that follows generally from the task; Demonstrate a literal comprehension of the texts.	Introduce the concept of the universal refugee experience in a manner that does not logically follow from the task; Demonstrate little understanding of the texts.	Demonstrate lack of comprehension of the task or texts.
COMMAND OF EVIDENCE —FLEEING AND FINDING HOME	Develop the concept of the universal experience with relevant, well-chosen quotations and information from the texts. Sustain the use of varied, relevant evidence from throughout the text.	Develop the concept of the universal experience with relevant quotations and information from the texts. Sustain the use of relevant evidence from throughout the text.	Partially develop the concept of the universal experience with the use of some quotations and information from the texts, some of which may be irrelevant. Use relevant evidence that focuses on a specific section of the story.	Demonstrate an attempt to use evidence, but only develop with minimal, occasional evidence which is generally invalid or irrelevant.	Provide no evidence, or provide evidence that is completely irrelevant or invalid.
COMMAND OF EVIDENCE— INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN	Develop the concept of the universal experience with relevant, well-chosen quotations and information from the texts. Sustain the use of varied, relevant evidence from throughout the text.	Develop the concept of the universal experience with relevant quotations and information from the texts. Sustain the use of relevant evidence from throughout the text.	Partially develop the concept of the universal experience with the use of some quotations and information from the texts, some of which may be irrelevant. Use relevant evidence that focuses on a specific section of the story.	Demonstrate an attempt to use evidence, but only develop with minimal, occasional evidence which is generally invalid or irrelevant.	Provide no evidence, or provide evidence that is completely irrelevant or invalid.
ORGANIZATION AND STYLE	Exhibit clear organization with the skillful use of appropriate and varied transitions Establish and maintain a formal style using stylistically sophisticated language with a notable sense of voice Provide an introduction and concluding section that is compelling and follows clearly from the topic	Exhibit clear organization with appropriate transitions Establish and maintain a formal style using precise language Provide an introduction and concluding section that follows clearly from the topic.	Exhibit some attempt at organization with inconsistent use of transitions Establish but fail to maintain a formal style Provide an introduction and/or conclusion that only follows generally from the topic.	Exhibit little attempt at organization Lack a formal style with language that is inappropriate for the task Provide an introduction and/or conclusion that is illogical or unrelated to the task	Exhibit no evidence of organization Use of language is incoherent or predominantly copied from the texts Does not provide an introduction and/ or concluding section
CONTROL OF CONVENTIONS	Demonstrate grade-appropriate command of conventions, with very few errors	Demonstrate grade-appropriate command of conventions with occasional errors	Demonstrate emerging command of conventions, with some errors that may hinder comprehension	Demonstrate a lack of command of conventions, with frequent errors that hinder comprehension	Are minimal, making assessment of conventions unreliable