We Are Okay

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is grief and how can it affect a person?

Teaching Suggestion: This topic can be very hard for some students, especially those who have experienced a close loss. Since the whole book focuses on Marin’s grief after her grandfather’s death and for losing her mom years ago, introducing the topic of grief and offering support throughout the unit can be crucial. During reading, consider having students return to these resources to discuss how they connect to the novel.

• “Grieving and Stages of Grief” from Web MD discusses different types of grief as well as stages and causes.
• In “On Grief and Healing” Rob Gibsun performs his slam poem after losing his father and grandfather in the same year.
• “Addressing Grief: Tips for Teachers and Administrators” from the National Association of School Psychologists could be helpful for the teacher. Sections might also be read with students.

2. How do you envision college?

Teaching Suggestion: Since much of the book takes place in a college dorm, it could help students visualize the novel to talk about college. If they have not been to college yet, they might have impressions from other people they know, the media, or other books. They may also have imagined what it would be like. Bringing all these impressions to mind can make the reading of the novel more meaningful. If students are in college, they might instead discuss if college has been like they used to imagine.

• “Five Things We Wish We Would Have Known Before Starting College” from Teen Vogue offers a reflection on advice that could help someone adjust to college.
• “The best four years of your life?” from Vox explores statistics about college in the frame of a personal reflection.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

What does it mean to belong? Where do you feel like you most belong?

Teaching Suggestion: In any given class chances are there will be a range of feelings about belonging, with some people taking it for granted and some wishing they felt more like they belonged and numerous other perspectives in between. This question can be an opportunity to focus on class community, reminding students the importance of making the class a place where everyone feels like they belong. After reading the poem linked below, the class might create a poem of their own that expresses both their unique identities and their commonalities. Adapting this “I am from…“ poem template to “We are from…“ can provide a useful way into a poem of this type.

In the poem “Two Names, Two Worlds,” Jonathan Rodriguez reflects on his name and how it represents dualities in his identity, concluding that by telling one’s story one becomes a part of a “beautiful mix / Of people” (Lines 46-47).