Lesson Plans for Teachers

Lesson Plan Title: Finding Home

Grade Level: Elementary School

Book: “Hayma’s Journey: Burma to Portland, Oregon”

Timeline: Multi-Day

The intent of this lesson is to familiarize students with the idea of being forced to leave homelands. It works with the stories of Rohinga refugees to teach new perspectives and further understanding of the Rohinga genocide without outwardly discussing the traumas of genocide.

In order to do this, students will develop a foundational understanding of words that have to do with the immigration of refugees. They will find commonalities between their ideas of home and the book characters’, Hayma and her family, ideas of home and build empathy for people with different experiences.

Teachers should not approach this lesson plan with political interests or intent. Immigration is often associated with politics, but the objective of this lesson is not to side with any way of thinking. The goal is to teach students about the vocabulary, the experiences of refugees, expose them to the world, and ask them to reflect upon their experiences. Whenever there is discomfort, return to the idea of what “home” means to the students and how it might feel to be forced to leave.

  1. Necessary Materials
    1. Colored pencils, crayons, or markers (including a variety of skin tone colors; such as Crayola multicolor crayons, pencils, markers, paint).
    2. Access to the free online book Hayma’s Journey: From Burma to Portland, Oregon.
    3. Ability to show the book to the class with a document camera, projector, computer(s), or printed copies.
    4. Map quizzes (available at bottom of this page) for labeling and coloring.
    5. Scissors
    6. Pens/pencils
    7. Scratch paper
    8. Copy paper folded hamburger style and stapled to make booklets
    9. Optional: computer lab
  1. Student Learning Objectives
    1. Students are familiar with vocabulary words and they can match words with their definitions seventy five percent of the time.
    2. Students can identify key locations on a map: Burma/Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and the Naf River.
    3. Be able to discuss what makes them feel at home.
    4. Optional: Practice computer skills by engaging with this website and looking up definitions in Merriam Webster’s Online Children’s Dictionary.
  1. Background Knowledge:

Due to the nature of immigration as a classroom topic, it is recommended that a letter be sent home to parents prior to the start of the unit so they are aware of the information that their student will interact with. A sample letter is provided below. The letter emphasizes the lesson plan’s approach to learning about Rohingya and immigration from the viewpoint of what it means to call a place “home.”

  1. Sit in a circle with students and discuss their experiences moving homes. It is helpful to write the questions on the board as you ask them in addition to asking them orally so that students can return to the questions later in the conversation. These questions establish a sense of what it means to the students to leave a place that they call home. This will be used to build upon the concept of refugees having to flee their homes.
  2. Questions:
    1. “Who here has moved homes before?”
    2. “How old were you when you moved?”
    3. “What does ‘home’ mean to you?” If students need help, prompt them with “is it a location, a person, a feeling?”
    4. “Did you move to a different town? State? Country?”
    5. “Why did you move?”
    6. “What did it feel like to leave?” If students need help, prompt them with “Were you excited, nervous, sad?”
    7. “What did it feel like to arrive in a new place?” “Did you move to a new school? How did it feel trying to fit in there?”
    8. “Do you call this new place home?” “Do you still call the older place home?”
    9. “Do you have multiple homes?”
    10. “Do you know anyone who used to live in a country other than the United States?”
    11. “Why do you think they moved to the United States?”
    12. “What do you think that they felt when they moved?”
  3. *These questions may be difficult for some students to answer due to familial citizenship status. Be conscientious that you do not ask these questions of specific students, but of the class as a whole. Likewise, do not collect any information that could influence the students’ or their family’s citizenship or safety. The intention of these questions is to encourage students to reflect on what they already may know about immigration. In light of this mentality, the “Let’s Talk About It” assignment that will be sent home to parents does not require written answers but merely confirmation of the student engaging with them and the discussion at home.
  1. Class Activities
    1. As a class, read Hayma’s Journey: From Burma to Portland.
      1. Have students pair up or in small groups and talk about how the book made them feel and what they are thinking about.
      2. Then, as a class, ask:
        1. “Why did Hayma leave Burma?”
        2. “Did she want to leave? Did her family?”
        3. “Where did she go?”
        4. “What did her classmates do when she told them her story?”
    2. Send students home with the “Let’s Talk About It” assignment.
      1. Grade this assignment based on a signature paper saying that the students discussed the questions with an adult outside of school. To avoid invading the privacy of families, do not instruct students to bring the questions back filled out unless they want to.
    3. Word Matching Game
      1. Read through the words and definitions before cutting out the cards. Answer any questions students might have about the words; perhaps include examples in their own lives.
      2. Students cut out the words and definitions. Engage with the students while they cut the cards out to see if they have familiarity with the words.
      3. Challenge students to then play the matching game on their own. Encourage them to work together when they are stuck.
      4. Demonstrate on the document camera, matching a couple of the cards so that the students have an idea of the game. Match the rest of the cards as a class with students raising their hands.  
      5. Use rubber bands to store the cards and have students play the game at different times throughout the unit.
      6. Definitions were derived from the following dictionaries:
        1. Word Central
        2. Merriam Webster
        3. Google Dictionary
      7. *Optional – Computer Skills: have students begin by researching definitions of terms from the matching game on a children’s dictionary and have them write the definitions in the blank list. Online definitions will not exactly match the ones provided in the filled out chart.
    4. Map Coloring Page
      1. Show a filled out map on the document camera and have the students color and label their blank maps. The map quiz is available here.
      2. Have students draw a path from Burma, across the Naf River, and into Bangladesh while explaining that people in Burma make the dangerous trip across the river. Use Hayma’s story and vocabulary words to explain that the people crossing the river are refugees who leave their home country out of fear of persecution. Using the book helps position students in concrete images rather than abstract concepts.
    5. Main Project:
      1. Read “Hayma’s Journey” again and have students identify the vocabulary words in the book. Discuss the meanings of the words and the difference between, for example, a refugee fleeing their home for safety reasons and an immigrant choosing to move for reasons other than safety.
      2. In stapled blank books, have students write their own stories about places that they used to call home and/or do call home: describe the place, what makes it special, and what it feels like to leave that place. Often times, comfort, family, pets, and play will be associated with home. Having them make the books (fold hamburger style and staple) also helps them engage with their hands.
      3. Next, have them describe a place that did not feel like home to them. Ask them to write why it did not feel like home, where they wanted to be instead, and how they found a place that did feel like home. A place that is not home, might be: scary, crowded, confusing, or embarrassing.
      4. Students can illustrate their personal books with images of home and maps of places that are important to them.
      5. Have them share some of their stories and bring their books home to show their families. They can also take them home to continue working with their families if they wish.
  1. Demonstration of Learning (Quick Assessment)
    1. Students play the card matching game individually and get seventy five percent of the matches correct. From here, they choose their favorite word to talk about what it means and what they have learned about that word.
    2. On a map, students individually color and label Burma/Myanmar, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Naf River.
    3. In groups or as a class, students show each other their book and talk about what they learned while making the book. What is similar between their stories and Hayma’s. What is different?

Dear parents,

I am writing to include you in learning about our next class unit. We will be exploring the meaning of the word “home:” what it feels like to have a home, what it feels like to be forced to leave a home, and how we can help each other feel more at home in our classroom.

Our discussions will begin with students talking about their experiences changing homes and the places where they feel at home. We will read “Hayma’s Journey: From Burma to Portland,” a children’s book about a Rohingya refugee girl who moves to Portland, Oregon. The story was created from interviews with real Rohingya children living in Portland and allows readers to see a new perspective. The book is viewable online at RohingyaKidsLit.home.blog along with other resources for you as parents to learn about Rohingya. Contact me for printed resources if needed. While we will be talking about the Rohingya crisis, we will not go into gory detail. Our unit and the book that we are reading focus solely on what it means to have a home.

Along with our in class discussions, I will send home a list of questions titled “Let’s Talk About It” as homework. The questions are meant as prompts for discussion and your students do not need to write down or turn in any answers to the questions. This being said, I hope that even though I am not grading the assignment, you will take the opportunity to talk with your student about what home means to your family.

Thank you for all of the time and effort that you put into helping your children succeed. Please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Best Regards,

Matching Game

Homea place where someone lives or is familiar. This does not have to be where they are originally from
Identitycharacteristics that people use to describe themselves. For example, culture, gender, and where they are from.
Separationthe act of keeping things apart.
Chinlonea traditional sport in Burma that looks like hacky sack with a small soccer ball. In Burmese Chinlone means rounded basket because the ball is woven like a basket.
Oppressuse of power over someone else to make them feel uncomfortable.
Religiona set or system of attitudes, beliefs, and ways of doing things.
Persecuteto continuously treat someone in a way meant to be cruel or harmful especially  because of their race, political, or religious beliefs.
Immigranta person who moves to a different country to live.
Refugeea person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
Refugee Campa temporary place to live when multiple people leave their homes because they were in danger.
Asyluma refugee who is legally allowed to move to a new country because they might be persecuted (hurt) otherwise
Citizenshiplegal recognition by the government that someone is allowed to live in a country and be a part of the community.
Statelessnot recognized as a citizen of any country.

Definitions derived from Google Dictionary and Merriam Webster’s Children’s Dictionary

Home


Identity


Separation


Chinlone


Oppress


Religion


Persecute


Immigrant


Refugee


Refugee Camp

Definitions derived from Google Dictionary and Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

“Let’s Talk About It”

Adults: These questions are meant as prompts for talking about the importance of home. These questions might bring up sensitive topics, so you do not need to write down or turn in any answers to the questions. Please sign the bottom of this page, tear it off, and have your child bring it back to class. The assignment is graded on whether or not the slip is turned in. Please do not turn in answers to the questions. I hope that you will take this opportunity to talk with your student about what home means to your family.

Students: Find an adult outside of school and ask them the following questions. Listen to their answers, but do not write them down. Then have the adult sign their name at the bottom. Turn in the signed slip of paper.

Where is your home?

Have you lived somewhere else before? Where?

How old were you?

Did you move to a different town? State? Country?

Why did you move? Did you choose to move or did someone make you?

What did it feel like to leave your home?

What did it feel like to arrive in a new place? Did you call the new place home?

Can you have multiple homes?

Do you know anyone who used to live in a country other than the United States?

Why did they move to the US?

How do you think they felt when they moved?

– – – – – – – – – – – – –        –

(Tear Here)

I ________________________________ (Adult’s name) participated in “Let’s Talk About It” with _________________________________ (Child’s name).X                                                                                (Adult signature) Date:__________