Refugees

[close] Welcome! In 2016, discussions about the refugee crisis among a group of friends and acquaintances gave wings to the creation of Hearts and Homes for Refugees (www.heartsandhomesforrefugees.org). With an unprecedented number of refugee stories populating bookshelves these days, there are so many more opportunities to learn, to understand the crisis and come to know these stories of need and hope. We can all contribute to these discussions and perhaps in some small way, our dialogue will flow outside our group chats and into our circle of friends and communities. Who knows where these seeds will land grow? We would like to believe that the more informed we are, the more discussions we have, the greater chance of our becoming part of the solution to the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. In 2019, we read one book each month on the topic of refugees, and enjoyed talking about them here with you. We have added many more suggestions to our group "bookshelf" since then, and hope you will enjoy our recommendations.

[close] A class of amazing Year 9 students from Hobsonville Point Secondary School in New Zealand. Reading and inquiring about displaced young people from around the world due to conflict, today and throughout history.

[close] A book club based on a memoir. This is a historical fiction novel based on a true story of a young Russian Jewish heroine that flees to America with her family.

[close] William Nicholson, author of Shadowlands wrote, “We read to know we're not alone.” In this session, learn how to build up your English Language Learners with free reading books that will help them feel welcome. Gain some techniques for implementing successful choice reading in the secondary classroom with a selection of books that will be inspiring for all learners and help learners new to English to engage with text. We will also discuss some of the best ways to encourage struggling readers, how to talk about what we're reading, and how to assess student's reading growth at the secondary level without standardized tests. Please feel free to bring some book titles you've loved in your classroom or school.