Refugee by Alan Gratz Final Essay Topics & Novel Themes Graphic Organizers
Strengthen students’ understanding of Refugee by guiding them to track the powerful themes that connect Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud’s stories. As they read, students will identify and record references to recurring themes that link the characters’ stories. These graphic organizers provide essential scaffolding for students' final essays by helping them gather text evidence and make meaningful connections across narratives.
This is included in our popular unit plan:
>>> Refugee by Alan Gratz Unit Plan
Included in the Refugee Thematic Graphic Organizer Assignment:
➡️ Refugee Thematic Connections Graphic Organizer: Have students track overlapping themes across the three narratives using point-form notes and quotes from the text. Recurring themes include invisibility, music, time, forced maturity, receiving kindness, facing discrimination, and sacrifice.
➡️ Thematic Connections Teacher Answer Key: Use this completed sample organizer to support class discussion, streamline grading, or offer guidance to students who need additional support.
How the Refugee Thematic Graphic Organizer Assignment works:
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Students begin using the graphic organizers early in the novel, recording meaningful quotes and plot events tied to seven core themes.
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Next, students use their completed organizers to compare how these ideas show up in each character’s journey, drawing connections between parallel struggles and moments of growth.
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Finally, students refer to their notes when selecting an essay topic and citing relevant evidence to support their analysis in a final writing assignment.
Students can track important overlapping ideas, themes, and motifs while reading the novel. Then, they have text evidence to use with the related topics for their final essays.
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