INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN

Name: Mrs. K. Gaines

Date: November 06, 2024

Subject: English Language Arts

Focus: Exploring Cultural Identity and the Refugee Experience in Thanhhà Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again

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​Inside Out and Back Again

SC-ELA: SC.ELA.8.OE.1, SC.ELA.8.OE.2,
SC.ELA.8.OE.3,
SC.ELA.8.OE.4, SC.ELA.8.OE.5, SC.ELA.8.OE.6, SC.ELA.8.AOR.1.1, SC.ELA.8.AOR.2.1,
SC.ELA.8.AOR.7.1a,
SC.ELA.8.C.5.1,
SC.ELA.8.C.8.1,
SC.ELA.8.C.8.1a,

SC.ELA.8.C.8.1b

STANDARDS

OBJECTIVES

• I can analyze the text to understand the main character's emotions and experiences as a refugee adjusting to a new life in America.

• I can identify and explain themes of identity, isolation, and cultural adjustment.

• I can use textual evidence to answer comprehension questions, engage in a collaborative discussion, and write a personal response.

Essential Question

How does Thanhhà Lai use Hà’s experiences to illustrate the challenges refugees face when adapting to a new culture?

INTRODUCTION

In many ways, the first novel by Thanhhà Lai (b. 1965) mirrors her own childhood experience. Like the main character, Hà, in Inside Out & Back Again, Thanhhà Lai witnessed the harsh reality of the Vietnam War, had a father who was missing in action, and fled with her family to America. Through Hà’s character, Lai captures many of the universal feelings refugees experience in an unfamiliar place. In the four excerpts here, written in verse as first-person journal entries, Hà feels a rush of emotions as she repeats the fourth grade in her new home—Alabama.

Guided Reading and Analysis

Thanhhà Lai (b. 1965)

Read the excerpt aloud with students, pausing to discuss Hà’s feelings and reactions to her new environment
(e.g., confusion about school, differences in appearance, discomfort with new foods).

Open Ended

1. Opening the Passage

After reading the first sentence (“Starting tomorrow everyone must leave the house.”)
Question: Why do you think Hà’s mother wants everyone to leave the house? What does this tell us about the family’s new reality?

Open Ended

2. Mother’s Job and Responsibilities

After reading “Mother starts sewing at a factory; Brother Quang begins repairing cars.”
Question: What does the type of work each family member is doing suggest about the challenges they might be facing in America?

Open Ended

3. Repeating School and Career Hopes

After “The rest of us must go to school, repeating the last grade, left unfinished.”
Question: How might Hà feel about repeating a grade in school? What challenges could come with that?

Open Ended

4. Mother’s Expectation: “College”

After “Mother says one word: College.”
Question: What does Mother’s single word, “College,” show about her priorities and hopes for her children?

Open Ended

5. Hà’s Feelings About Not Getting a Bicycle

After “Mother says I’m too young for one even though I’m a ten-year-old in the fourth grade, when everyone else is nine.”
Question: How might Hà feel about being told she’s too young for a bicycle? Why might this small detail be important to her?

Open Ended

6. Hà’s Concerns about Making Friends and Fitting In

After “What friends? You’ll make some.”
Question: Why do you think Hà is worried about making friends? What does this show about her fears in this new place?

Open Ended

7. Uncertainty About Food

After “What will I eat? What your friends eat.”
Question: Why might Hà be nervous about eating lunch at school? What might “I hate surprises” tell us about her personality or her experience with new things?

Open Ended

8. Mother’s Final Sigh

After “Mother sighs, walking away.”
Question: Why do you think Mother sighs? What might this reveal about her own feelings in this situation?

Collaborative Conversation

• Divide students into small groups and assign each group a line from the excerpt.

• Each group will answer one of the following questions, using textual evidence to support their response:

• On paper

• Groups will present their findings to the class, emphasizing the emotions Hà experiences and how Lai’s descriptions help convey these feelings.

​You Do (Independent Practice in Small Groups):

Independent Writing

You Do (Individual Practice):

4. • Students will write a personal response to the following prompt in their notebooks or on a digital device:

     • Reflect on a time when you felt out of place or had to adapt to a new situation. How did you handle it? What emotions did you experience, and how did they compare to Hà’s in the text?

   • Encourage students to use specific details to illustrate their feelings, just as Thanhhà Lai does with Hà.

Closing

Open Ended

How does Thanhhà Lai use Hà’s experiences to illustrate the challenges refugees face when adapting to a new culture?

Exit Ticket:

• On a sticky note or small piece of paper, students will answer:

  • What is one way Hà tries to fit in, and why is it challenging for her?

HOMEWORK

Open Ended

• Personal Journal Entry:

  • Write a one-paragraph reflection on what you think it would be like to move to a new country without knowing the language or culture. Include any questions or concerns you would have in that situation.

ASSESSMENT

COMPLETE ASSESSMENT IN STUDY SYNC: INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN.
1. QUIZ
2. WRITE
DUE: FRIDAY 08, NOVEMBER 2024.