• "Pick of the Lists, 1993" —American Bookseller
  
• "Best Multicultural Book, 1993" —Publishers Weekly "Cuffie Award"
  
• "This is a poignant and realistic view of a young immigrant coming to the United States. As his classmates begin to contrast their past and present heritage, they realize an important lesson about the origin of all Americans." —Booklinks
  

Who Belongs Here? tells the story of Nary, a young boy fleeing war-torn Cambodia for the safety of the United States. To some of his new classmates, however, he is a "chink" who should go back where he belongs. But what if everyone whose family came from another place was forced to return to his or her homeland? Who would be left? This story teaches compassion for recent immigrants while sharing the history of immigration in America and some of the important contributions made by past immigrants. It is used in schools everywhere for units on immigration and tolerance.
     The Who Belongs Here? Teacher's Guide, written by Margy Burns Knight and Thomas V. Chan, offers dozens of imaginative ideas for exploring immigration, refugees, and other topics related to diversity.

Teachers Take Note:
Given the nature of wars occurring around the world, students everywhere will benefit if they develop an understanding of the complicated issues faced by refugee families. Who Belongs Here? is a nationally acclaimed book which effectively introduces students to this important subject. The teacher's guide written to accompany the story offers a variety of thought provoking activities. Author Margy Burns Knight also encourages teachers to round out their depiction of the refugee experience by balancing the grim side of these children's lives with the joyous side. After all, kids everywhere do share the same basic needs for family and friends, and they thrive when given opportunities for education and the chance to participate in games, sports, or the arts.

Who Belongs Here? will help inspire classroom conversations about:
• The effects of war on children and families
• Refugees and relocation processes in the U.S.
• Cambodian culture
• U.S. History and attitudes towards immigration
• Bullying and intolerance
• Conflict-resolution skills

Resources:
• Refugees
The I.R.C (International Rescue Committee): A non-profit organization that coordinates aid to refugees in countries in war and conflict. Teachers may find this site most valuable for learning about both refugee life and the areas affected by war. Extensive resources on Afghanistan, the horn of Africa, Kosovo, etc. http://www.theirc.org

• Building understanding for the immigrant experience
American Family Immigration History Center Between 1892 and 1924 over 22 million passengers and members of ships' crews came through Ellis Island in the port of New York. This is the official Ellis Island web site. www.ellisisland.org

• If you would like to learn more about the author/illustrator's books Talking Walls, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue, Who Belongs Here?, Welcoming Babies and Africa is Not a Country, visit http://www.LearnAboutYourWorld.org/ and
http://www.AnneSibleyOBrien.com/

Museum of Immigration on Angel Island This is the immigration center many Asian families went through on the West Coast. There were much stricter quotas placed on Asians coming to the United States than European immigrants. For a better understanding of these and other issues visit the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. www.aiisf.org

• Asian Cultures
Ask Asia: The Asia Society's online clearinghouse for K-12 Asian and Asian American Studies. Ask Asia offers high quality, classroom tested resources and cultural information including engaging games, activities, and links to relevant people, places, and institutions. Ask Asia is part of a national initiative designed to provide access to quality resources on Asian and Asian American themes at the elementary and secondary level. www.askasia.org
Asia For Kids: Catalog and Resources
Asia for Kids is a commercial site which offers hard to find resources for the home, classroom, or library. Its mission is to make the rich Asian heritage and its diverse languages accessible to everyone. Its collection includes books, language textbooks, videos, software, dolls, games, posters and resource materials for parents and teachers. http://www.afk.com

• Activism
Teaching Tolerance: This magazine’s website contains a wealth of information for teachers, parents, teens, and kids. Extensive links make a visit to this web site among the most helpful. www.teachtolerance.org
Anti-Defamation League: ADL has been fighting Anti-Semitism, bigotry and extremism since 1913. In 1999 ADL joined forces with Barnes and Noble to produce education materials aimed at breaking the cycle of hate through reading. Many of the resources from this partnership are now available for free on their website. These include handouts such as: "101 Ways You Can Beat Prejudice" and "Hate Hurts: How Children Learn and Unlearn Prejudice." www.adl.org
Amnesty International: Non profit advocacy group works on behalf of those unjustly incarcerated. Useful information, books, teaching aids. www.amnesty.org

Activity:

An Exercise in Discussing "Who Doesn't Belong Here?"
Adapted From: Who Belongs Here? A Teacher's Guide by Margy Burns Knight and Thomas V. Chan (Tilbury House).

Activity Intro: This book asks, "What if everyone who lives in the United States was told to leave? Who would be left? Who belongs here?" Simply put, other than the indigenous peoples who have inhabited North and South America for thousands of years, all of the people who have lived on these continents either came from other parts of the world, or have ancestors that did.
     "Who belongs here?" is, of course, a rhetorical question. But its corollaries, "Who doesn't belong here?" and "Who should not be here?," are real questions that have been debated again and again in legislatures, courts, the media, and classrooms.
     Every nation has policies governing the admission of newcomers. Most of these policies are based upon pragmatic reasons aimed at protecting the overall welfare of citizens, although discrimination may have played a part in some immigration policies.
     "Who doesn't belong here?" is an interesting topic to explore with students. The question forces us to examine our unspoken fears, affinities, unchallenged beliefs and misguided prejudices.

Guided Discussion: Lead your students in an open discussion of the following questions. Record students statements on a large sheet of paper.
1) Who should be allowed to come to the U.S.?
2) Should anyone be made to leave?
3) If there aren't enough jobs, homes and food for everyone, then how do we decide who gets to live here?

Assignment: Give your class the address of your local immigration office. Assign them to research policies governing refugee admission, particularly rules of exclusion (who should be kept out of the country).

Concluding discussion: The advantages and disadvantages of life in a pluralistic society. Divide a sheet of chart paper with the words "pros" and "cons" written at the top. Lead the class in a discussion of the challenges of living in a pluralistic societies, in which peoples of different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, races, ethnic groups, and religious beliefs live together.

Connecting activity: Visit the Talking Walls page on the website and review the activity on Understanding Stereotypes.