Make for Inside Out and Back Again

For this make, I decided to do somewhat of an ice breaker. I would do this activity at the beginning of the year, making this book one of the first books we read that year. I would begin by having the students write a short journal entry on who they are and they’re background, like where their families are originally. After this, I would be bring a large poster board with a map of the world on it.  Then each kid would put a pin on the world map on where their ancestors are from. Once all done, we would have a world maps with each of their pins on it to represent how they come from all over the world. Hopefully this would be done with a 4th or 5th grade class, where they know a little about where they are from.

The goal for this activity is not only connecting the book to real life, but to help them get to know each other and see who they have things in common with. This, as an icebreaker, could be useful in helping them open up and making the classroom better as a whole. This would tie in writing, geography, and even social skills. This could lead to other activities for the book, espicially when explaining the war in the book, and where exactly Vietnam is. And showing them where Ha came form in the book and where her family ended up in America, hopefully they can see how far and long of a move they made when they left their home.