Mrs. Sabin's Classroom
Module 1: Journeys and Survival
Unit Overview:
Students explore the experiences of people of Southern Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War. They build proficiency in using textual evidence to support ideas in their writing, both in shorter responses and in an extended essay. They read A Long Walk to Water, analyzing the points of view of the central characters, Salva and Nya. Students focus on one key theme: how individuals survive in challenging environments. The novel is paired with complex informational texts on Sudan. Students then combine research about Sudan with quotes the novel and craft a research- based two-voice poem
Anchor Text
A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.