GRADE 8 REFUGEE CREATIVE WRITING
Jason Park
GRADE 8 REFUGEE CREATIVE WRITING
Bade KOLCUOĞLU
In our LA class this term we read the novel, Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman. The book is about a boy named Jamal and his family who live in Afghanistan during a time of war and must leave their home and become refugees. In the story they must travel to Australia and leave everything behind. To better understand different issues, different perspectives and explore what it meant to have empathy for people who are different than us, we created a fictional story about what it would feel like to become a refugee. For this activity we tried to imagine ourselves in the same situation as Jamal and wrote a story about it. We had to decide where we were going, how we would get there, for example by boat or plane, why we had to leave, and how we would feel if we were in the shoes of the main character. I had fun while I was writing my story. I also learned about Afghanistan and different issues that real refugees must face everyday.
Daniel AMON
I was celebrating my birthday when everything changed. I don’ t even know how it happened but my dad was watching the news and then he told us to get into the car quickly. I didn’ t know where we were going but I could tell by the street signs that we were going to the airport. When we arrived at the airport everyone was shouting and pushing. Dad said we were lucky to get a flight. We got onto a German plane. When we went to Germany nothing was happening in Germany so we felt like everything was ok. We have a cousin in Germany who let us stay with him while there was a war going on in Turkey. I don’ t even know how it could happen but I know that I had to give up my old life completely. After two months the war ended and we could return home. I couldn’ t believe how lucky we were but when we came back we found that our house was still standing. So many other people in our neighborhood lost everything, many houses were destroyed or blown up and many people had died during the war. This was the worst period of my life but I am so happy that my family and I were able to stay together and survive.
Zeynep KURT
It was a normal beautiful day. My family and I were walking on the street when we heard a noise that exploded in our ears. Then we saw everybody running into the streets. We heard sirens everywhere. People shouted that the big noise came from a bomb. Soldiers came and told us that we had to leave. Our car was blown up in the blast and all of the public transportation systems were down. We didn’ t know what to do. We followed a group of people who led us to a boat. Everything happened so quickly! They asked us where we lived and said they would help us get back to our house. It was a long journey but when the morning came, we finally made it. When we got to the port we were lucky to find a taxi that was able to take us back to our house. My dad told us to grab only the most important things and that we had to leave our home. I couldn’ t believe it. Now I am standing in my home and I am still shocked about what has happened. All of these things are too much for me but I know that today- everything will change.
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