Author: Tana Reiff
It was 2011. The Najjar family, Jamal, with his wife Farah, his teen-aged daughter Amala, and three young sons, fled from Aleppo, Syria, just in time — their home was destroyed. First they went to his uncle’s home in Jordan, and then after five years in a refugee camp, they were able to come to Texas. Faced with prejudice and then a hurricane, they had to work hard to adjust to their new home, but they did, with the support of their neighbor, Marisol, and their new community.
Hopes and Dreams is a series of dramatic historical readers for beginners. The hopes and dreams of the characters in these stories are a reflection of the hopes and dreams of virtually every group of people who have ventured from their homes to a new place for a new life in America. Each story and its characters reflect a part of the history of the United States. Yet, at the same time, each story is different; the characters face challenges, defeats and victories in the fields and factories of Southern California, the gold fields of the West, the construction of the railroad in Utah, Chinatown in San Francisco, the Deep South and Southside Chicago, and New York’s Little Italy.
Available free online, the teacher’s supplement includes the following:
- Brief plot summaries
- Discussion Questions for each chapter
- Historical photographs
- Detailed plot summaries
- Historical background
- Comprehension check: “What Did You Read” Form
- Book report form
- Word play activity
- Final Review Cloze activity
