A Long Walk to Water: Post-Novel Project | From Refugee to Changemaker

A Long Walk to Water: Post-Novel Project | From Refugee to Changemaker: Salva Dut

Bring your A Long Walk to Water novel study to a meaningful close with this post-novel Impact Investigation for grades 6–8.
Students investigate the real-life journey of Salva Dut, tracing his experiences from childhood in Sudan through displacement, refugee camps, resettlement in the United States, and his later return to help address South Sudan’s water crisis. They explore Water for South Sudan and examine how Salva’s experiences developed into action with a lasting impact on others.

Students Will
- Trace key stages in Salva Dut’s real-life journey
- Connect his experiences to his later choices and actions
- Investigate Water for South Sudan and its impact
- Analyze how improved water access can affect communities
- Connect Salva’s story to geography, history, refugee life, and water scarcity
- Research another real-world changemaker
- Use evidence to create an Impact Investigation

What’s Included
- Teacher Directions with lesson flow, differentiation, and assessment ideas
- Overview & Mini Research Questions introducing Salva’s real-life journey and impact
- Group Impact Investigation with a structured five-step research and presentation challenge
- Student Investigation Pages for tracing Salva’s journey, connecting experience to action, and analyzing community impact
- Online Research Resources
- Color and black-and-white student pages

Students work as biography researchers to trace Salva’s development from refugee to changemaker, explain the significance of key events, and connect his experiences to the impact of his later work.

Perfect for: Grades 6–8 • A Long Walk to Water • Post-Novel Project • Novel Study • Salva Dut • South Sudan • Refugees • Water Access • Research • ELA • Humanities • Social Studies
Designed for approximately 1–2 class periods of 45–60 minutes each.

Disclaimer
This independent educational resource does not include or reproduce A Long Walk to Water, its text, illustrations, or published cover artwork. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Linda Sue Park, the publisher, Water for South Sudan, or the copyright holder of the novel.