In this lesson, students begin the novel Inside Out & Back Again and begin to make inferences about the main character, Ha.

In this lesson, students continue the novel, do a close read of the poem "Inside Out" and begin the routine of "QuickWrites."

In this lesson, students continue the novel, analyze Ha's character in contrast to her brothers, and use a "Chalkboard Splash" protocol to make some of their analysis visual.

In this lesson, students complete the mid-unit assessment, analyzing how critical incidents in the novel reveal aspects of Ha’s character, and also participate in a Gallery Walk protocol.

In this lesson, students build background knowledge about Vietnam by reading and discussing one section of "The Vietnam Wars."

In this lesson, students use a Jigsaw protocol to continue reading and discussing additional sections of "The Vietnam Wars."

In this lesson, students return to the novel, analyzing plot development in the days leading up to the fall of Saigon.

In this lesson, students continue reading and discussing "The Vietnam Wars," focusing on how Vietnam was a “Battleground in a Larger Struggle.”

In this lesson, students continue to work with Paragraph 1 of the section “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” in the informational text “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity.” They reread and answer additional text-dependent questions that relate directly to poems in the novel.

This lesson introduces students to the second and third paragraphs of “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” in the informational text “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity,” which describes factors that make adaptation successful for refugee and immigrant children.

In this lesson, students continue to work with Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the section “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” in the informational text “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity.” They reread and answer additional text-dependent questions that relate directly to poems in the novel.

This lesson introduces students to the fourth paragraph of “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” in the informational text “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity,” which describes how refugees mourn what they leave behind.

This lesson follows the pattern of Lessons 10 and 12. Students continue to work with Paragraph 4 of the section “Refugee and Immigrant Children: A Comparison” in the informational text “Refugee Children in Canada: Searching for Identity.” They reread and answer additional text-dependent questions that relate directly to poems in the novel.

In this lesson, students transition to formally planning their end of unit assessment essay. Throughout the unit, they have read informational texts about refugee experiences and the novel Inside Out & Back Again, gathering details from the text that show how refugees turn “inside out” and then come “back again.”

In this lesson, students plan the introductory and concluding paragraphs of their end of unit assessment analytical essay.

In this lesson, students pull together all of their graphic organizers and planning notes and draft their essay.

This lesson's performance task prompt sets students up to revisit several poems from the novel with the focus on identifying the specific factual details Thanhha Lai has included in her poems about Vietnam at the time and why she has included them. This increases students’ awareness of the purpose for researching specific factual details (about a specific time and place in history when refugees fled) to use later when writing their own poems.

In this lesson, students begin working in their research teams to gather information aligned with the final performance task. The students will be using this research to write “inside out” and “back again” poems about specific refugee experiences from Bosnia, Afghanistan, or Kurdistan.

This lesson introduces the Odell Education resource Reading Closely: Guiding Questions handout. Students will refer to this document regularly as a way of understanding and connecting their learning targets. The opening introduces students to the concept of a dynamic character and includes a general example of how people are complicated and change over time.

In this lesson, students write their final draft. Some students may not finish their final draft during this lesson. Consider whether to allow them to finish their essays at home and hand them in at the beginning of the next lesson. Also, this lesson includes 5 minutes to address common mistakes you may have noticed while reviewing student essays.