Refugee Novel Study | Borders, Governments & Refugees Background Knowledge

Refugee Novel Study | Borders, Governments & Refugees Background Knowledge

Help students better understand Refugee by Alan Gratz by exploring an important idea that shapes all three characters’ journeys: borders and government decisions can determine whether displaced people find safety or are turned away.
This no-prep Refugee novel study background knowledge activity introduces students to the relationship between international refugee law, national immigration and asylum policies, border decisions, and the real people affected by them. Students investigate the 1951 Refugee Convention, examine how policies can differ between countries and change over time, and analyze how these decisions affect displaced families.

Students then connect their research directly to Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud, helping them recognize how decisions outside a refugee’s control can dramatically shape what happens next.

Students Will:
- Explore how borders, governments, and asylum policies affect displaced people
- Understand the role of the 1951 Refugee Convention
- Distinguish between international agreements and national policies
- Examine how asylum and immigration policies vary
- Analyze how government policies can change over time
- Trace a policy or decision from the government level to its effect on a person or family
- Compare how the same displaced family could experience different outcomes
- Evaluate reliable research sources
- Connect real-world border and policy decisions to Refugee
- Collaborate to create a Refugee Context Gallery Exhibit

What’s Included:
- Teacher Directions & lesson overview
- Mini research questions & reliable resources
- Group Gallery Walk activity
- 3 student research, analysis & planning pages
- Color and black-and-white student pages

Group Activity: Refugee Context Gallery Exhibit
Students work collaboratively to research how borders, governments, and asylum policies affect displaced people. Groups choose to focus on either international law and the 1951 Refugee Convention or specific national policy examples before creating a Gallery Walk display explaining how government decisions can shape outcomes for displaced people.
Students then connect a specific real policy or border decision to a moment in Refugee when a character’s fate depends on a similar type of decision.

Perfect For:
- Refugee by Alan Gratz novel studies
- Pre-reading & background knowledge
- Middle school ELA
- Social Studies & Humanities
- Historical fiction units
- Refugee & migration studies
- Government and civics connections
- Cross-curricular ELA & Social Studies
- Sub plans

Why Teachers Love It:
- No prep and ready to use
- Builds meaningful context for Refugee
- Makes complex ideas about borders, asylum, and government policy accessible to middle school students
- Moves students beyond simply collecting facts
- Emphasizes cause and effect between policies and people
- Encourages students to use specific evidence
- Helps students distinguish between international agreements and national decisions
- Creates meaningful connections to Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud
- Develops research, analysis, collaboration, and presentation skills
- Encourages thoughtful discussion about choice versus circumstances outside a refugee’s control

Students finish the lesson with a stronger understanding that refugee journeys are shaped not only by the choices families make, but also by the laws, borders, policies, and government decisions they encounter along the way.