Long Walk to Water Lesson Plan

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If you are looking for an awesome book to read with your kids or students, I highly recommend the book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.  Today I want to share with you a lesson plan and novel study to accompany this book.  The is a book is based on the true story of Salva Dut. It is a story that inspires the desire to help others. When you read it, you want to run out and save the people around the world. A book like that needs to be read and shared.

About the Book: A Long Walk to Water

The book, A Long Walk to Water is a New York Times Best Seller.  The book tells two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in South Sudan, a young girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home.  She makes two trips to the pond every day because it is the closest place to get water.

An 11-year-old boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees in the second Sudanese civil war who travel a great distance across the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. They stay in various refugee camps while searching. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an incredible and moving way.

Salva eventually moved the United States and attended college.  He then took his knowledge back to South Sudan and organized a foundation that installs clean water pumps and wells for villages in need. Nya’s village, is one of those helped by Salva!

A Long Walk to Water is perfect for middle school aged kids (6th grade- 8th grade) and is great to accompany a social studies unit about Africa. I heard about this book from the Read Aloud Family. It was highly recommended, so I ordered a copy.  My 12-year-old daughter read it first and loved it.  She told me I had to read it right away.  I decided to read it with my son who is 8. Each night as we finished a chapter he begged for more. That is always a good sign!

This story covers a hard subject matter, but is done in such a way that children can read it and learn from it.  It is a sad story and makes you realize how blessed you are. But, it also helps make you aware of the needs of others around the world. There were many parts of the book that brought me to tears as I read them aloud to my son. It has become one of our favorite books.

A Long Walk to Water Lesson Plan

This literature or novel unit is 7 pages long. Included in the downloadable pdf file are the following:

• 20 Discussion and comprehension questions about the book to aid in critical thinking
• A Sudan fact sheet to give background information
• Sudan Quiz
• The Lost Boys fact sheet
• Nya and Slava Main Character Comparison
• Salva’s Journey fill in the blank
• Answer key for the quiz

Want to Download this Lesson Plan?

Add this novel story to your language arts lesson plans!

You can find this one in my shop!

See Also the companion Picture Book: Nya’s Long Walk.

See More Water Lesson Ideas Here: 25 Water Science Experiments and Activities!

Want More Book and Novel Study Ideas?  Check out some of these posts:

100 Book Activities for Kids
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Temple Grandin Unit
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