Refugee: Three Stories, One NovelThree Refugees, Three Beginnings |

Refugee: Three Stories, One NovelThree Refugees, Three Beginnings | Opening Crisis Comparison

Bring meaningful literary analysis, historical context, collaboration, and critical thinking into your classroom with this no-prep lesson for Refugee by Alan Gratz.
In Three Refugees, Three Beginnings, students examine the opening crises faced by Josef in 1938 Germany, Isabel in 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud in 2015 Syria. Students investigate the danger each family faces, how they react, and the difficult decisions that begin their journeys. As they compare the three openings, students move beyond simply identifying what happened to consider why the stories echo one another despite taking place in different countries and decades.
Designed for Grades 5–8 and flexible enough for 1–2 class periods of 45–60 minutes, this lesson combines text-based analysis, research, collaboration, comparison, and reflection.

Students Will
- Examine the opening crisis in each storyline
- Identify danger, reactions, decisions, and key details
- Analyze the risks associated with staying or leaving
- Explore each family's transition from ordinary life to crisis
- Compare similarities and meaningful differences across the three stories
- Analyze the author's decision to present the crises side by side
- Make a real-world connection to forced displacement
- Collaborate to create an Opening Crisis Comparison

What’s Included
- Teacher Directions & Lesson Flow
- Student Overview & Mini Research Questions
- Group Activity Directions
- 3 Student Analysis & Planning Worksheets
- Color + Black-and-White Student Pages
- Online Resources
- Differentiation & Assessment Ideas

What Teachers Love About This Lesson
- No-prep and ready to use
- Moves students from basic comprehension to deeper analysis
- Encourages text evidence, comparison, discussion, and critical thinking
- Connects literature to real historical and contemporary experiences
- Provides structure without giving students the answers
- Works with pairs, groups, or independent learners
- Includes color and printer-friendly versions
- Flexible for one extended class or two class periods
- Builds meaningful discussion around family, choice, displacement, courage, and shared humanity

Perfect For
Novel Studies • Middle School ELA • Literary Analysis • Historical Fiction • Compare & Contrast • ELA/Social Studies • Research • Group Work • Critical Thinking • Sub Plans • Enrichment

Important Novel & Copyright Disclaimer
This resource is an independently created educational product designed to accompany the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz. It is not affiliated with, authorized by, endorsed by, or sponsored by Alan Gratz, the publisher of Refugee, or any related copyright or rights holder.

The novel Refugee is NOT included with this resource. No portion of the novel's text is reproduced, provided, or distributed as part of this product, and this resource is not intended to replace the novel.

Students and teachers should have access to legally obtained copies of Refugee when completing activities that require reading, rereading, quoting, or referring to the novel. Purchasing this resource does not provide a copy of the book or permission to copy, scan, reproduce, upload, distribute, or otherwise share the novel.

Refugee, its characters, storylines, settings, and other original elements from the novel remain the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders. References to characters, events, themes, and storylines within this resource are made solely to support classroom instruction, literary analysis, research, discussion, and educational activities.