Refugee Novel Study | Cuba After the Revolution & Fidel Castro Background

Refugee Novel Study | Cuba After the Revolution & Fidel Castro Background Knowledge

Help students better understand Isabel’s story in Refugee by Alan Gratz by exploring the government, political system, and historical circumstances her family has lived under for decades.

This no-prep Refugee novel study background knowledge activity takes students back to the 1959 Cuban Revolution and examines how life in Cuba changed under Fidel Castro. Students investigate changes to Cuba’s government and economy, its relationship with the Soviet Union and United States, and different experiences of life under Castro’s government.

Rather than presenting this complex history from only one perspective, students use balanced sources to investigate documented achievements as well as documented concerns, helping them understand why some Cubans supported the government while others wanted to leave.

Students Will:
- Build background knowledge about the Cuban Revolution
- Explore how Fidel Castro came to power
- Investigate changes to Cuba’s government and economy
- Examine Cuba’s relationship with the Soviet Union and United States
- Analyze how government policies affected everyday life
- Compare documented achievements and documented concerns
- Consider why Cubans could have very different perspectives and experiences
- Connect historical circumstances to Isabel and her family
- Evaluate evidence from balanced, reliable sources
- Collaborate to create a Refugee Context Gallery Exhibit

What’s Included:
- Teacher Directions
- Historical overview
- Mini research questions
- Group Activity directions
- Understanding the Changes student research page
- Looking at the Full Picture analysis page
- Gallery Exhibit Planner
- Research resources
- Color and black-and-white student pages

Group Activity: Refugee Context Gallery Exhibit
Students work in groups to research life in Cuba under Fidel Castro. Groups choose to focus more closely on either the origins of the Cuban Revolution or everyday life and government policy afterward. They then create a Gallery Walk presentation that fairly incorporates documented achievements and concerns while using their research to answer classmates’ questions.

Perfect For:
- Refugee by Alan Gratz novel studies
- Pre-reading activities
- Building background knowledge
- Grades 6–8
- Middle school ELA
- Social Studies & Humanities
- Historical fiction units
- Cuban Revolution studies
- Fidel Castro & Cuba studies
- Sub plans

Why Teachers Love It:
- No prep and ready to use
- Provides important context for Isabel’s storyline
- Goes beyond basic fact-finding into cause and effect, evidence, perspective, and analysis
- Encourages students to investigate a complex historical topic using multiple perspectives
- Helps students distinguish between documented achievements and documented concerns
- Connects government policies to the experiences of ordinary people
- Encourages balanced, trustworthy research
- Builds research, collaboration, critical-thinking, and presentation skills
- Includes substantial writing and planning space

This resource focuses specifically on Cuba after the 1959 Revolution and life under Fidel Castro, giving students the historical context they need to better understand why Isabel’s family might want to leave Cuba.