Items From the Book

by | Feb 27, 2026

Collect and display a number of items to help students appreciate the difficulties of the journey. For example, provide a bag with items Parvana carries at the beginning (see page 13), and a sling with a bundle that is the weight of the baby Hassan to represent what...

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

by | Feb 27, 2026

Talk with students about how few adults there are in the novel, and how the children had to play adult roles even when there were adults present. Ask students for examples from the novel. Then introduce the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. See Convention on...

Pick a Song

by | Feb 27, 2026

Have students select a sentence, paragraph or whole chapter from the novel that they found particularly moving or striking. Ask them to select a song (with or without lyrics) that they think expresses the same emotion or feeling as that selection. Have them share and...

Grafitti Board

by | Feb 27, 2026

Post a large sheet of kraft paper on a wall in the classroom as a “Graffiti Board” for students’ responses to the novel. Invite them to write their thoughts about the book, favorite quotations, sketches of characters and settings, new words they learned, what they...