Based on a true account, this book tells the story of Salva Dut, an 11-year-old boy separated from his family by the civil war in Sudan, and Nya, a girl from a small village who walks miles each day to fetch water for her family.

For this book, we offer a mix of literary and informational texts to support your upcoming novel unit. These lessons are designed to build students’ reading comprehension and engagement.

7th Grade Short Story 950L

The Last Class: The Story of a Little Alsatian

Alphonse Daudet 1917
Passage Summary:

Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) was a French writer. This story about the repercussions of war on culture takes place in Alsace after the Franco-Prussian war. In the tale, a young Alsatian boy is met with a surprising announcement when he arrives at his French class: French lessons have been forbidden, and only German may be taught in their region. 

When and How to Pair:

Introduce this text after students have read Chapter 2, and followed Salva’s story as he rushes from school into the wilderness at the sound of gunfire. Pair A Long Walk to Water with “The Last Class: The Story of a Little Alsatian” and ask students to discuss how both Frantz and Salva are subjected to sudden change. How do both boys deal with change? What are the effects of war on everyday lives?

6th Grade Folktale 840L

The Story of The Lazy Boy: A Kachari Folktale

Compiled by Rev. Sidney Endle 1911
Passage Summary:

In the early 1900s, a Christian missionary named Reverend Sidney Endle authored a book about the Kachari, an ethnic group indigenous to the Assam region of India. His book includes written translations of several folktales, including "The Story of the Lazy Boy," in which a boy misses his opportunity to plant during planting season.

When and How to Pair:

Introduce this text after students have read up to Chapter 4, when the old woman allows Salva to stay and sleep in the barn. Have students read this text in order to analyze characters through a cross-text comparison. How is Salva’s attitude, once he is allowed to stay at the barn, different from the lazy boy’s attitude? How does Salva’s hard work affect the way the old woman treats him? How does the young boy in the short story suffer for being lazy? What lessons can be learned from the two stories?

5th Grade Poem 900L

Learning to Read

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1872
Passage Summary:

In "Learning to Read," a former slave describes what it was like to be prevented from obtaining an education and learning to read as an adult.

When and How to Pair:

Introduce this text after students have read up to Chapter 4, and now know it is Nya’s job to carry water back and forth all day while, before the gunfire, Salva considered himself lucky to be able to go to school. Have students read this text in order to use it to discuss one of the sub-themes within the book — how the girls in the story are not able to go to school. Have students discuss the value that the speaker in Harper’s poem places on learning to read. Have them identify evidence to support their answer. Ask students to discuss how Harper would feel about Nya and Salva’s sisters not being allowed to go to school? Discuss the reasons why you feel it is either fair or unfair that the girls in the book don’t get to go to school.

8th Grade Informational Text 910L

Stress for Success

Alison Pearce Stevens 2015
Passage Summary:

In this article, Science News for Students explores the ways that stress can be both harmful and helpful in our daily lives.

When and How to Pair:

Have students use this text after they have read up to the end of Chapter 13, when Salva has led the other boys on a long journey from Ethiopia to Kenya. Have students use the scientific research to study Salva’s character. How does Salva reduce a mountain into a molehill? Do you believe that Salva would’ve felt any of the things that Stevens talks about in her article? How has Salva coped with stressful situations so far in the novel?

5th Grade Non-Fiction - General 670L

Diary of a Teenage Refugee

Amira 2013
Passage Summary:

This account comes from a 16-year-old Syrian girl named Amira and details the past three years of her life in a refugee camp in the neighboring country of Lebanon.

When and How to Pair:

Share this text with students after they have read up to the end of Chapter 14, and have followed Salva as he spends time at refugee camps in both Ethiopia and Kenya. Have students read this text alongside the novel in order to provide them with a broader insight into life at a refugee camp. What are the similarities between Salva and Amira’s living conditions? How do both Salva and Amira pass the time while they are living in the camps? Ask students to imagine how they might feel living in a camp.

5th Grade Fable 910L

The Crow and the Pitcher

Aesop 620-560 BCE
Passage Summary:

In this fable of Aesop, a thirsty crow is desperate for a drink of water.

When and How to Pair:

Introduce this simple fable after students have completed the book, in order to discuss the main characters, Salva and Nya, as well as the larger themes in the book. Have students use Aesop’s fable to figuratively interpret the themes in A Long Walk To Water. How have Nya and Salva, like the crow in the fable, used their own ideas to overcome obstacles? How can the water in the pitcher be used as a symbol for something more for Nya and Salva? What does water mean to each of them, both literally and figuratively? What “long walks” did they each take to “water?”