Lesson 3 (K-4): What is a refugee?

Objectives: To help students to understand the differences between immigrant and refugee experiences. To help students understand some of the specific conditions in Southeast Asia that caused people to leave.

Activity 1

For younger children, start the lesson by getting the children to talk about how it would feel to leave their home and move to a new country with only one relative or friend. Tell them:

• Imagine you are going on a long trip away from your home and you are never coming back. On this trip you can only go with one person - either a family member or guardian or friend. How would you feel?

• Draw a picture of who you would go with and how you would feel leaving your home and other relatives and friends behind.

For older children, tell students to imagine they are in a place where they are very happy and they don't want to move. Ask: "What things might force you to move?" (war, parents must leave, etc.)

Ask: "Why did other immigrant groups come to this country?" Some of the ideas that should arise are: war, economic hardship, perceived economic opportunities, political dissent, etc.

Activity 2: Last Minute Leaving

Note to teachers: Many refugees from Southeast Asia had less than ten hours to prepare to leave. Thus they had little time to psychologically prepare. This exercise will help students begin to explore some of the emotional dimensions of the refugee experience.

1. Distribute the worksheet ("Last Minute Leaving") to the students and read the scenario together. Then have students individually answer questions one and two.

2. At the completion of the activity, have students write for 5 or 10 minutes about why they made the choices they did and how it felt to do the exercise. Have students take turns sharing their responses.

3. Explain to students that the situation outlined in the scenario they have just done is very similar to the experiences faced by many Southeast Asian families in Philadelphia.

Activity 3: My Family Memories

1. Read My family memories. Do a timeline of Samon's story. Explain that Samon is a real girl who went to school in Philadelphia. Note to teachers: Samon was an actual student at Key Elementary School. She graduated from South Philadelphia High School and is now (1999) working as a nurse's assistant in Philadelphia.

2. Imagine you are Samon's classmate. You hear some student teasing her and telling her "go back to where you came from." Write a short story about the incident and how you would respond.

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