Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again

Inside Out & Back Again

By: Thanhha Lai

Copyright: 2013

Published by: HarperCollins

2012 Newbery Honor Book

Genre: Realistic Fiction; Poetry Collection

My rating:

Grade Level Equivalent: 5.3

Lexile Measure: 800L

This free-verse poem collection follows a girl who is struggling to find her place in her family, her new home and in the world.  As the Vietnam War inches closer to her home, things are continuing to change in Hà's world.  Hà is becoming more and more worried as everyone seems to be leaving her and the chance of being reunited with her father, who has been missing in action for nine years, is growing slimmer and slimmer.  Hà and her family spend months in a refugee camp and are forced to flee on the navy ships and end up moving to America.  As if Hà doesn’t have enough on her plate, she now has to learn a new language and customs of her new school all while trying to deal with the bullies at school.  Will she ever feel comfortable and at home and will she ever see her father again? Find out in this wonderful novel. 

Suggested Delivery:

Small Groups

Words to Describe book:

Change

Enlightening

Thrilling

Dreams

Greif

Useful Electronic Resources:

Scholastic Teaching Guide

Great resource for teachers to reference when teaching this novel.  This reading guide made by Scholastic provides pre-reading activities, discussion questions and other activities that students can engage in to go beyond the text.  This lesson guide also aligns with the Common Core Standards in reading, speaking and listening, language and writing. 

Lesson Plan

Very creative lesson plan that teachers can work with when teaching this novel.  There are some really thought-provoking and creative discussion questions that students can discuss with their group members or answer on their own.  There are also areas where the parents can get involved with the reading of this novel with their student.  Overall, great resource for discussion questions and a variety of resources for teachers and parents to use. 

Discussion Guide

This resource provides many different thought-provoking and guiding questions that students can respond to and discuss in discussion groups as they read along with the novel.  The questions are very creative and provide for a lot of different perspectives, opinions and options for expanding.  This resource also provides teachers with extension that students can participate in if they are interested in the era, culture or Vietnam War. 

Teaching Opportunities:

Key Vocabulary:

Gaunt- Thin and boney

Flaunt- To show off

Chide- To express mild disapproval

Remnant- A small thing that survives or remains

Contorted- To twist into an unusual appearance or unnatural shape

Solitude- The state of being alone

Reading Strategy Suggestions to increase literal and/ or inferential comprehension:

Pre-Reading Strategy

K-W-L chart

K- What do you know about the Vietnam War?

W- What questions do you have? Or what do you want to learn more about?

L- After the novel is read, students can write what they learned about the war or regarding the questions they had about the era. 

During-Reading Strategy

Generative Reading- Students generate their own ideas and become more independent learners.

Students can come up with their own discussion questions when reading the novel for homework to bring to the discussion groups for all the other student to answer and discuss.  This strategy would require a minilesson on what makes a good discussion question but could be beneficial and helps the students develop their own thinking and learning, while developing their comprehension. 

Post-Reading Strategy

Student Booktalk- A discussion about the book the student just read

This novel is suggested for small group discussions and a booktalk would be a very fun way for all the students to get to see the other discussion groups’ books they read.  The students can be very creative with this activity.  For examples of content that can be used for a booktalk, refer to the link below. 

Booktalk Ideas

Writing Activity

Students can respond to the following question to compare and contrast environments:

Compare and contrast Hà’s home in Vietnam with her new environment in America.  Use a Venn diagram to organize your ideas.  Then, use specific details from the text to support your claims.