Today, we read p 36 – 83, and had time to work on the assignment that is due on Friday.

To help us understand the historical context, what was happening in Saigon during the time that the story was set, we watched these short videos:

(p. 45) Operation New Life: Vietnamese Refugees Relocated to the United States in 1975:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgkU4KOvIas

(p. 55) Fall of Saigon and Boat People: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQBM9We3pjU

(p. 69) The Fall of Saigon, 40 Years Later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHLKFSWzImk

As we read, we continued to add to our list of metaphors for the assignment that is due next Friday.

Today we read pages 1 – 36 on Inside Out & Back Again. This book, written in the form of a collection of poems, is about a Vietnamese refugee during the Vietnam war. This was a very controversial time in history, and I encourage everyone to talk to their families about their views on the war.

As we read, we paused to watch several videos to help us understand the context for what was happening in the book:

The Tet holiday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBm7EQ0iD7k

The author reads the Papaya Tree poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEkjwu2WEIA

A news video about the bombing of the presidential palace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNwD896iZkQ

Today, we brainstormed ideas for the two paragraph essay we need to finish by Friday, on the symbolism in the Papaya Tree poem

.

We began a list of metaphors and their page numbers, in preparation for the second Peer Edit assignment.