Curriculum for "Caged" by Kao Kalia Yang
- zapoura
- Aug 18, 2025
- 2 min read
A NOTE FROM ZAPOURA ABOUT THE BOOK
The main character in this story, a 6-year-old Hmong girl, was born in a refugee camp after her family fled from The Secret War. Living in a refugee camp is challenging – the landscape is dry, the food is barely enough, and there are soldiers always guarding with their guns. At the same time, the main character has her cousins and friends, their imaginations, and dreams about freedom and home.
This beautifully illustrated story can start conversations on what it can be like for refugees from war, the sorrow of family/friend/pet separation, and the dream (and in this case, reality) of relocation.
BOOK THEMES
REFUGEE CAMPS, WAR, DISPLACEMENT, IMAGINATION, PLAY, HMONG COMMUNITY, FAMILY
ABOUT STORYSEED SOCIAL JUSTICE CURRICULUM
Our curriculum and ongoing practices are rooted in emergent strategy: “the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions.” The interactions we have with books, among reading partners, inside classrooms, and within reading communities are relatively simple. What is cultivated from those interactions is something much more complex – lifelong, daily abolitionist, decolonizing, heart/body-centered, and anti-racist practices. These include learning how to make the ground more fertile for ongoing identity, healing, discussion, action, and imagination practices in ourselves and with each other.
Each curriculum includes section summaries, discussion questions, additional learning resources, and a list of books to read next.
THE ROCK IN MY THROAT CURRICULUM SNEAK PEEK
This is a literal snapshot of the curriculum or this book. I hope it gives you a little taste and leaves you wanting more!
GET THE CURRICULUM HERE
Click below to purchase the curriculum for A Map for Fallasteen. Thank you!
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