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Week 1 (by 4/4):
Inside Out & Back Again
Part 1 & 2
Week 2 (by 4/11):
Inside Out & Back Again
Part 3 & 4
Week 3 (by 4/18):
Wonder
Part 1--3
Week 4 (by 4/25):
Wonder
Part 4--7
Week 5 (by 5/2):
Wonder
Part 8 & The Julian Chapter

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Kids learn the history of the Vietnam War during the Cold War. A fight between the communists of North Vietnam and the US supported South.

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Learn about the war that enmeshed the United States in a battle against communism in Southeast Asia for more than twenty years.

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The Vietnam War was a long, costly and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States.

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Thu. Thu Wonders, " What is the Vietnam War " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Thu!

When you think back to the 1960s, what comes to mind? For many people, that is synonymous with the Beatles and the peace and love of the hippie movement.

For others, though, the 1960s were a time of great . Instead of peace and love, they remember the and images of a faraway armed conflict that would take the lives of millions of people: the Vietnam War.

The roots of the Vietnam War date back to the mid-1940s when Ho Chi Minh formed the Viet Minh, otherwise known as the League for the Independence of Vietnam, which was inspired by the communist governments of China and the Soviet Union. The Viet Minh sought to the French colonial administration that had ruled Vietnam since the late 1800s, as well as the Japanese who had invaded Vietnam during World War II.

By 1950, the Viet Minh had declared a Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) with Ho Chi Minh as its president and the northern city of Hanoi as its capital. South Vietnam, with Saigon as its capital, was ruled by Emperor Bao Dai, who was backed by France.

Viet Minh forces defeated the French in a at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, leading to a that split Vietnam along the 17 th parallel. In 1955, anti-communist leader Ngo Dinh Diem ousted Bao to become president of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam (GVN).

The United States pledged its support for Diem and South Vietnam as part of the intensifying Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. With training and equipment from the American military, Diem's systematically cracked down on allies (called the Viet Cong) of the North Vietnam communist .

Diem's repressive imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of Viet Cong. It eventually met resistance from the National Liberation Front (NLF), which consisted of opponents of his - both communist and non-communist - within South Vietnam.

American leaders feared the NLF was nothing more than a puppet organization controlled by North Vietnam. Moreover, they worried that if one Southeast Asian nation fell to communism, others would follow. During the Cold War, this view was known as the " domino theory."

In the early 1960s, based upon the domino theory and fears about the role of the NLF, U.S. President Kennedy ordered a build-up of U.S. military, technical, and economic aid to help South Vietnam the threat posed by the Viet Cong. Unfortunately, in November 1963, an internal coup toppled Diem's , leading to political instability in South Vietnam.

This instability led to even greater involvement by the U.S. In 1964, DRV torpedo boats attacked two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading to the start of bombing raids by the U.S. on targets in North Vietnam. Then, in March 1965, U.S. President Johnson finally sent U.S. combat forces into in Vietnam.

The course of the Vietnam War was one of continual escalation. Historians have characterized it as largely a war of attrition, with a focus on killing as many enemy combatants as possible rather than gaining or controlling territory. It was also largely a war between the two Cold War super powers: the United States supporting South Vietnam against the Soviet Union supporting North Vietnam.

Unlike previous wars, the Vietnam War played out in the mass media in a series of increasingly gruesome images. These images combined with the toll the war took on families and U.S. resources, not to mention the lack of a clear objective for U.S. involvement in the first place, made the Vietnam War increasingly unpopular at home. Large-scale anti-war protests were frequent across the U.S.

At the peak of its involvement, over 500,000 U.S. military were involved in the Vietnam War. In the end, more than 3 million people (mostly Vietnamese) were killed in the war, including over 58,000 Americans.

Amidst growing opposition to the war, U.S. President Nixon ordered the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam in 1973. Without U.S. support, communist forces seized control of Saigon, ending the Vietnam War in 1975. The country was then unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The effects of the Vietnam War were long-lasting both in Vietnam and the U.S. With 2 million killed, 3 million injured, and 12 million made refugees, the process of rebuilding Vietnam was a slow one with the country's economy and infrastructure decimated by the war.

In the U.S., the economy suffered severe inflation as a result of the costs of the war. The war also created a bitter divide throughout the country, with many people mistrusting the government and even supporters of war feeling depressed by the defeat. Returning troops often faced negative reactions from both opponents and supporters of the war, while also battling physical problems caused by exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical herbicide used frequently during the war.

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Today's Wonder of the Day was inspired by Thu. Thu Wonders, " What is the Vietnam War " Thanks for WONDERing with us, Thu! When you think back to the 1960s, what comes to mind? For many people, that is synonymous with the Beatles and the peace and love of the hippie movement.

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Antiwar Movement Begins

In August 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, and President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered the retaliatory bombing of military targets in North Vietnam. By the time U.S. planes began regular bombings of North Vietnam in February 1965, some critics had begun to question the government's assertion that it was fighting a democratic war to liberate the South Vietnamese people from Communist aggression.

The antiwar movement began mostly on college campuses, as members of the leftist organization Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began organizing "teach-ins" to express their opposition to the way in which it was being conducted.

Though the vast majority of the American population still supported U.S. government policy in the Vietnam War, a small but outspoken minority was making its voice heard by the end of 1965, especially after Johnson began an increasingly aggressive air and ground war in Vietnam.

This vocal minority included many students as well as prominent artists, intellectuals and members of the "hippie" movement, i.e., the growing number of mostly young people who rejected authority and embraced the counterculture.

Did you know? Boxer Muhammad Ali was one prominent American who resisted being drafted into service during the Vietnam War. Ali, then heavyweight champion of the world, declared himself a "conscientious objector," earning a prison sentence (later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court) and a three-year ban from boxing.

Widespread Disillusionment

By November 1967, American troop strength in Vietnam was approaching 500,000 and U.S. casualties had reached 15,058 killed and 109,527 wounded. The Vietnam War was costing the United States some $25 billion per year, and disillusionment was beginning to reach greater sections of the taxpaying public.

More casualties were reported in Vietnam every day, even as U.S. commanders demanded more troops. Under the draft system of conscription, as many as 40,000 young men were called into service every month, adding fuel to the fire of the antiwar movement.

On October 21, 1967, one of the most prominent antiwar demonstrations took place as some 100,000 protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial-around 30,000 of them continued in a march on the Pentagon later that night.

After a brutal confrontation with the soldiers and U.S. Marshals protecting the building, hundreds of demonstrators were arrested. One of them was the author Norman Mailer, who chronicled the events in his book "The Armies of the Night," published the following year to widespread acclaim.

Also in 1967, the antiwar movement got a big boost when the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. went public with his opposition to the war on moral grounds, condemning the war's diversion of federal funds from domestic programs as well as the disproportionate number of Black casualties in relation to the total number of soldiers killed in the war.

At a march of over 5,000 protestors in Chicago, Illinois, on March 25, 1967, King called the Vietnam War "a blasphemy against all that America stands for."

Vietnam War Protest Songs

The Vietnam War protest inspired many popular songs that became an anthem for that generation. Phil Ochs wrote "What Are You Fighting For?" in 1963 and "I Ain't Marching Anymore" in 1965. Other songs whose very titles were a protest themselves included Pete Seeger's "Bring 'Em Home" (1966) and Joan Baez 's "Saigon Bride" (1967).

Nina Simone's "Backlash Blues" (1967) took a civil rights poem by Langston Hughes and adapted it into a protest of Vietnam: "Raise my taxes/Freeze my wages/Send my son to Vietnam." Marvin Gaye 's "What's Going On?" from 1971 went on to be one of the most popular songs of all time.

John Lennon's first song after leaving the Beatles, "Give Peace a Chance," hit airwaves in 1966. " Imagine," from 1971, has transcended the Vietnam era to be a timeless song of peace and unity.

Political Consequences of Vietnam War Protests

The launch of the Tet Offensive by North Vietnamese communist troops in January 1968, and its success against U.S. and South Vietnamese troops, sent waves of shock and discontent across the home front and sparked a most intense period of antiwar protests. By February 1968, a Gallup poll showed only 35 percent of the population approved of Johnson's handling of the war and a full 50 percent disapproved.

Joining the antiwar demonstrations by this time were members of the organization Vietnam Veterans Against the War, many of whom were in wheelchairs and on crutches. The sight of these men on television throwing away the medals they had won during the war did much to win people over to the antiwar cause.

After many 1968 New Hampshire primary voters rallied behind the antiwar Democrat Eugene McCarthy, President Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection.

Later that year, Hubert Humphrey accepted the Democratic nomination for president at the 1968 Democratic Convention, held at Chicago's International Amphitheatre. Meanwhile, outside the convention hall, 10,000 antiwar demonstrators showed up, clashing violently with security forces assembled by Mayor Richard Daley.

Humphrey lost the 1968 presidential election to Richard M. Nixon, who promised in his campaign to restore "law and order"-a reference to conflict over antiwar protests as well as the rioting that followed King's assassination in 1968-more effectively than Johnson had.

Silent Majority

The following year, Nixon claimed in a famous speech that antiwar protesters constituted a small-albeit vocal-minority that should not be allowed to drown out the "silent majority" of Americans. Nixon's war policies divided the nation still further, however: In December 1969, the government instituted the first U.S. draft lottery since World War II, inciting a vast amount of controversy and causing many young men to flee to Canada to avoid conscription.

Tensions ran higher than ever, spurred on by mass demonstrations and incidents of violence by officials such those at Kent State in May 1970, when National Guard troops shot into a group of protesters demonstrating against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, killing four students.

At the Mayday Protest in 1971, thousands of antiwar protestors tried to shut down Washington, D.C., completely, all but crippling the U.S. government. Traffic was stopped for a few hours, and CIA director Richard Helms later remarked that Mayday was "one of the things that was putting increasing pressure on the [Nixon] administration to try and find some way to get out of the war."

Vietnam War Ends

As antiwar fervor grew, in mid-1971, Daniel Ellsberg brought about the publication of the Pentagon Papers -which revealed previously confidential details about the war's conduct-and misconduct by government and military officials. Ellsberg called the Pentagon Papers "evidence of a quarter-century of aggression, broken treaties, deceptions, stolen elections, lies and murder."

These and other revelations caused more and more Americans to doubt the accountability of the U.S. government and the integrity of the U.S. military establishment.

Finally, in response to an almost overwhelming antiwar mandate, Nixon announced the effective end to U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia in January 1973. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973, effectively ending the Vietnam War.

Sources

Vietnam War. Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium: University of Washington.
Anti-War Protests of the 1960s-70s. The White House Historical Association.
Anti-War Movement. PBS.

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Vietnam War Protests: Antiwar & Protest Songs - HISTORY

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Vietnam War protests began among antiwar activists and students, then gained prominence in 1965 when the U.S. military began bombing North Vietnam heavily.

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Celebrations mark the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, an event that ended the Vietnam War.

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Hovering U.S. Army helicopters pour machine gun fire into the tree line to cover the advance of South Vietnamese ground troops in an attack on a Viet Cong camp 18 miles north of Tay Ninh, northwest of Saigon near the Cambodian border, in March 1965.

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On January 31, 1968, approximately 70,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces began a series of attacks on the U.S. and South Vietnamese.

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Thousands of anti-war protesters gather at United Nations Plaza in New York City, April 15, 1967, for a peaceful demonstration against America's involvement in the Vietnam War

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South Vietnamese forces follow after terrified children, including 9-year-old Kim Phuc, center, as they run down Route 1 near Trang Bang after an aerial napalm attack on suspected Vietcong hiding places on June 8, 1972.

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Girl in iconic Vietnam photo still carries scars 02:28

Story highlights

You might not know her name, but you've probably seen a photo of Kim Phuc

She is well-known as the terrified young girl in an iconic photo from the Vietnam War

Now she lives near Toronto as a wife, mother and United Nations ambassador for peace

She preaches a message of forgiveness rooted in Christian faith

Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series called " Rewind: Where are they now?" It catches up with people who stumbled into the headlines -- and then faded from view.

Ajax, Ontario, Canada (CNN) - Even without the benefit of context, the image of a naked 9-year-old girl running for her life is as searing and indelible today as it was 43 years ago.

That image jolted people around the world. Some say it hastened the end of the Vietnam War.

"I always remember that horrible day that we ran from life to death," says Kim Phuc, the girl in that iconic photo. Now 52, she lives just outside Toronto, a wife, mother and survivor inextricably linked to a photograph that dominated front pages in 1972, seven months before the signing of Paris Peace Accords led to the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from South Vietnam.

In the beginning, says Phuc, she hated the photo. It embarrassed her. And she struggled with the publicity that surrounded it. For her. it was personal: It captured a moment of torment -- her face frozen in an agonizing wail moments after a napalm attack burned and disfigured her for life.

In fact, no one would blame Phuc if she had tried to get as far away from the image as possible. But that is not what she did.

Please enable JavaScript for a better experience.

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The girl in the picture: Kim Phuc's journey from war to forgiveness

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Girl in iconic Vietnam photo still carries scars 02:28 You might not know her name, but you've probably seen a photo of Kim Phuc She is well-known as the terrified young girl in an iconic photo from the Vietnam War Now she lives near Toronto as a wife, mother and United Nations ambassador for peace She preaches a message of forgiveness rooted in Christian faith Editor's Note: This is the first in an occasional series called " Rewind: Where are they now?"

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Vietnam War Map by Gary Grayson

Decorative Modern POP Art, digitally created using vector and pixel based applications, enhanced with graphic typographic and artistic methods.

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Death Follows Us Home by Dan Nance

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Tending To The Wounded Vietnam by Josh Bernstein

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Vietnam War Paintings | Fine Art America

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Choose your favorite vietnam war paintings from millions of available designs. All vietnam war paintings ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Watch Tet Offensive Clip - Vietnam in HD | HISTORY

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Watch the Tet Offensive video clip of HISTORY's series Vietnam in HD'. Find this and many more videos only on HISTORY.

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Watch A Soldier's Story: Hamburger Hill Clip - Vietnam in HD | HISTORY

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Watch the A Soldier's Story: Hamburger Hill video clip of HISTORY's series Vietnam in HD'. Find this and many more videos only on HISTORY.

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Watch Women in the Vietnam War Clip - Vietnam in HD | HISTORY

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Watch the Women in the Vietnam War video clip of HISTORY's series Vietnam in HD'. Find this and many more videos only on HISTORY.

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The Road to War Video - Vietnam War - HISTORY.com

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Over 25 years, the Vietnam conflict escalated from an attempt to stop the spread of communism into a full-scale war.

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examples and facts of protesting and the war

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Little Cricket  by Jackie Brown
Grade 4-8
When North Vietnamese soldiers destroy the village of 12-year-old Kia, they almost destroy her family too, because her father disappears and the rest of them flee to a refugee camp.
Eventually, Kia, her brother, and her grandfather immigrate to America, where she is overwhelmed with the language and culture of her new life. She feels so alone, but when her brother gets into trouble and her grandfather becomes ill, she sees that they're not so alone after all.

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Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins

Grade: Preschool and Up

NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Suzanne Collins has created a deeply moving autobiographical picture book about a father who must go off to the war in Vietnam -- and the daughter who stays behind.

When young Suzy's father leaves for Vietnam, she struggles to understand what this means for her and her family. What is the jungle like? Will her father be safe? When will he return? The months slip by, marked by the passing of the familiar holidays and the postcards that her father sends. With each one, he feels more and more distant, until Suzy isn't sure she'd even recognize her father anymore.

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Winner of the Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio), the California Young Reader Medal, Emphasis on Reading Book Award (Alabama), North Carolina Children's Book Award, Parents' Choice Award, South Carolina Book Award, and the William Allen White Children's Book Award (Kansas)CR...

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Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam  by Walter Dean Myers
A young soldier's feelings of fear and exhaustion are captured in verse in this powerful story-poem about his experiences in Vietnam. Emotionally moving collages illustrate the story.

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Shooting the Moon  by Frances O'Roark Dowell
Jamie's father is a colonel in the army, and she's thrilled and envious when her brother enlists and goes to Vietnam. When she starts to get rolls of film from him, instead of letters, and learns how to develop them, she gradually sees the horrors of what he has experienced, and her view of the world changes. Her self-awareness grows as she matures and sees things as they really are.

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from both sides now: the poetry of the vietnam war and its aftermath

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From Both Sides Now: The Poetry of the Vietnam War and Its Aftermath

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The Vietnam War, America's longest -- and in some ways most devastating -- conflict, changed the course of a generation and left millions wondering, "Why?" Here, in the first-ever collection of poetry from both sides of the war, Vietnamese and American poets use their art to ponder this haunting ...

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The Poetry of the Vietnam War | Poetry Foundation

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Poems from and about the American involvement in Vietnam.

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Vietnam War Timeline - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com

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Find out more about the history of Vietnam War Timeline, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com

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Color the big number 19 with the colors which can represent your feelings after reading this book.

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Choose your favorite picture from this book and tell an original story about what they are doing, thinking, and how they are feeling, etc.

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Write a book review.

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1. Make an artifact to be put against the wall.
2. The PowerPoint page.

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Vocabulary

Immigrant [i-mə-grənt] (noun) a person who comes to a country to live there

Procedure

1. Before beginning the lesson, consider checking with parents or guardians to discuss the activity and to find out if they have concerns about a 'personal history' activity. There may be sensitivities in families with non-traditional configurations, adopted children, those in which children are living in foster care or those with ancestors who were forcibly brought to this country, in which case students might not know historical information about their families. Consider checking in advance with parents or guardians to discuss the activity and to find out if it might raise sensitive issues with their children.

If parents are uncomfortable with the lesson, you can alter the format for the entire class and focus on interesting facts about each student's immediate family. (In this instance, students can still collect family objects, share them with peers, and make a class quilt, but the mapping portion would be omitted as well as any research on ancestors.)

Encourage families to talk with their children about their choices in completing the activity. For example, adopted children may want to include both sets of parents or solely the adoptive parents.

2. Prepare your students for the lesson by reading a variety of short stories that focus on immigration. Be sure to include stories about the First Americans - those indigenous to the land - and about African Americans who were forcibly transported to America as slaves.

Here is a sampling of possible resources:

The Mats by Fransisco Arcellana (Kane/Miller)

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco (Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books)

Leaving for America by Roslyn Bresnick-Perry (Children's Book Press)

Families by Aylette Jenness (Houghton Mifflin)

Encounter by Jane Yolen (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich)

Two Lands, One Heart by Jeremy Schmidt and Ted Wood (Walker and Company)

Wood-Hoopie Willie by Virginia Kroll (Charlesbridge)

Itse Selu: Cherokee Harvest Festival by Daniel Pennington (Charlesbridge)

Grandmother's Song by Barbara Soros (Barefoot Books)

Look through your own classroom or school library for other suitable stories. Read aloud a few selected titles or sections to the class. Discuss the themes and issues presented in the literature. Ask: Why do people from all over the world come to America? Where do they come from? How do they get here? Discuss how an influx of immigrants may affect those who are already here.

A Homework Assignment

1. Give each student a copy of the Family Data Sheet.

2. Review the sheet's instructions with your class.

3. Provide students with a due date. One week is probably sufficient time to complete this assignment, and you may want to include the week and the weekend in your time frame to accommodate parents' diverse work schedules.

Classroom Activity

1. Using objects they've gathered from home and the Family Data Sheet, pair students up to share their personal histories with each other or take turns in front of the whole group. Emphasize that students should project their voices, use inflection, make eye contact and add feeling to their oral presentation. First demonstrate by sharing your family history with your class.

2. All storytellers should conclude their presentations by locating their locations of ancestry on the map and by marking those nations with color pushpins.

3. Create a map key for student identification, which students can fill in as part of the activity. (If you run out of pin colors, you can repeat colors if you make a dot on the second round with a permanent pen to differentiate between students.)

Note: You can wait and have students use their nine-patch quilt blocks when presenting stories if you prefer. (See Family Quilting Activity below)

Part 2: Family Quilting

1. Hand out a copy of the "nine-patch sheet" to each student.

2. Ask students to decorate the middle square to provide background for a photograph of themselves. Decorating it before putting the photo down will ensure that they don't get marker on their pictures.

3. The rest of the family symbols are organized into the eight remaining squares. (Coloring all of the squares first will be easier than working around items that are glued down.)

4. Some students may have traced their ancestry to several countries or locations. They should write the names of the countries and cities somewhere in the squares with the objects that represent those communities. In one square, students may write the names of two or three locations around a single item.

5. When all of the squares are complete, students may use their nine-patch to tell their stories in the Do Something activity.

6. Upon completion of quilt blocks, students can glue their pieces onto construction paper backings. Then have students work together to join their individual blocks on a large piece of butcher paper to form one class quilt. Alternatively, pupils may connect their blocks horizontally along the wall in a banner form.

Extension Activity

Ask students to share their presentations with family and community members. Ask other family members to add to the "quilt."

Alignment to Common Core State Standards: SL.1, SL.2, SL.4, SL.5, SL.6, W. 3, W.4, W.9, R.3, R.7

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Immigrant [i-mə-grənt] (noun) a person who comes to a country to live there 1. Before beginning the lesson, consider checking with parents or guardians to discuss the activity and to find out if they have concerns about a 'personal history' activity.

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Vocabulary

affidavit [ afiˈdāvit ] (noun) a written declaration upon oath made before an authorized official

evict [ iˈvikt ] (verb) to expel (a person, especially a tenant) from land, a building, etc., by legal process, as for nonpayment of rent

foreclosure [ fôrˈklō zh ər ] (noun) the act of taking possession of a mortgage property or pledge

landlord [ ˈlan(d)ˌlôrd ](noun) a person or organization that owns and leases apartments to others

lease [ lēs ] (noun) a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another.

slander [ slandər ] ( noun) a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report

tenant [ tenənt ] (noun) a person or group who rents and occupies land, a house, an office, from another for a period of time

Procedure

1. Before reading a poem about being homeless, take a few moments to imagine what it must be like to be part of a homeless family. To help you build a picture, brainstorm any questions you may have. You might raise questions, such as: Where is a place that you'd go to sleep? Would you feel it's a safe place to rest?

2. Get together with a partner and share the questions you raised. Take turns answering each other's questions, then share your discussion with the class.

3. Read the poem "Homeless." The poem was actually written by someone who was homeless and who used the name "Homeless" to sign the poem. What does that tell you? What do you think the poem means?

4. Using the handout, list as many items as you can. Below are some guiding questions:
What are the most important relationships in your life? Your parents or caregivers? Your grandparents? An aunt or uncle? Your best friend at school? Do you realize that every homeless person is someone's child and is (or was) loved as deeply as you love the people who are your important relationships?

Homelessness knows no boundaries. Homeless people can be of any race or ethnicity. What is the racial makeup of your community?

Think about your schedule for the day. You have school and responsibilities, such as homework. Perhaps you have chores to do after school. What do you think homeless people do if they have no home or job?

Have you ever seen homeless people in your community? What do you think and feel when you see homeless people? Have you ever thought of what they might be thinking about you? When you see someone who is homeless and you are in close proximity to them, what do you do, how do you act?

Think about what you do at home when homework and chores are done and you are simply relaxing. What are some of your favorite activities to do at home?

Take a moment and think about your bedroom. How is it set up? How much space do you have? Do you share a room or do you have your own? Do you have a dresser or closet for your clothing? Do you have art hanging on the walls? Do you have special items that you especially treasure?

5. Use your list and place your own thoughts and experiences in the blank spaces of the poem on the right side of the handout. Remember that most homeless people have people who love them, they probably grew up with beds and closets of clothing, and they enjoyed doing many of the same kinds of activities that you do today.

6. Share your poems with your family and friends.

Applying What You've Learned

Effective learners connect what they learn to their own lives. Think about what you have learned in this lesson. Discuss the following questions with a classmate or answer them in a journal.

Are homeless people lazy and that's why they lose their homes?

Why do you think the general stereotype of homelessness is so negative?

What are reasons people lose their homes? Are any of these reasons out of their control? Are any of these reasons unfair?

When you think about your own home now, what thoughts do you have?

Extension Activity

1. There are at least two ways to lose your home today. One is to be evicted and the other is through foreclosure. What do you already know about this topic? What is the purpose for studying this topic? Share your opinions with your classmates.

2. One reason people get evicted is because they can't pay their rent. With a partner, discuss the question: Whose fault do you think it is when people can't pay their rent? Then silently read the poem by Robert Flanagan and answer the questions at the bottom of the handout.

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affidavit [ afiˈdāvit ] (noun) a written declaration upon oath made before an authorized official evict [ iˈvikt ] (verb) to expel (a person, especially a tenant) from land, a building, etc., by legal process, as for nonpayment of rent foreclosure [ fôrˈklō zh ər ] (noun) the act of taking possession of a mortgage property or pledge landlord [ ˈlan(d)ˌlôrd ](noun) a person or organization that owns and leases apartments to others lease [ lēs ] (noun) a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another.

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Vocabulary

alien [ay-lee-uhn] ( noun) person coming from another place; foreign

citizen [sit-uh-zuhn] ( noun) person belonging to a certain country

illegal [il-lee-gull] ( adjective) going against the law

immigrant [im-uh-grint] ( noun) person from another place who moves to a new country to live

immigration [im-uh-gray-shun] ( noun) the act of moving from one place to another to live

unauthorized [un-aw-thur-ized] ( adjective) something that is not permitted

undocumented [un-dock-uy-ment-ed] ( adjective) not having the required paperwork

Procedure

1) As a class, briefly discuss some of the issues surrounding immigration. Use the following guiding questions to spark the conversation:

What is immigration? What is the process for immigrating to a new country?

Where do many immigrants come from? Where do many immigrants settle?

Why might someone immigrate to the United States?

( Note: After the discussion, highlight that this is in the context of "immigration debate.")

2) Then, working in pairs, complete the handout Key Terms in Immigration Debate to familiarize yourself with the vocabulary surrounding this issue. An alternative is to have students work with a partner to define the following words. For each term, write a definition, the part of speech and a sentence correctly using the word.

alien

citizen

illegal

immigrant

immigration

unauthorized

undocumented

3) Denotation is the exact meaning of a word. Connotation, on the other hand, is more than just the dictionary definition of a word. Connotation is the suggested, or implied, meaning of a word. For example, the denotations of the words "cute" and "gorgeous" may be similar, but their connotations are different. (Note: Encourage students to list the connotations of the words "cute" and "gorgeous.")

4) ( Note: List the words illegal and unauthorized on the board.) Individually, write down the connotations for these words. Then, compare your responses with a partner. Discuss:

Are your responses similar or different? Any surprises?

Have you ever done anything "unauthorized"? What were the consequences? Did you break a school rule or a household rule?

Is doing something that is unauthorized the same as doing something that is illegal? Why or why not? (Note: An example might be that entry into the cafeteria after lunchtime is unauthorized. If a student enters, what should the punishment be? Is this a bad thing? Can you think of instances when a student might make the decision to enter even though it's not authorized? What if entry into the cafeteria after lunchtime were illegal? How does this change the situation?)

5) Review the vocabulary you read at the beginning of this lesson, which includes some of the terms in the immigration debate. Then read this New York Times article about immigration: What Part of 'Illegal' Don't You Understand?

6) Now that you've read one writer's opinion about language, take some time to think about the language of immigration. Use the handout Connotations to explore the meanings of the words in this lesson's vocabulary list. (Note: Encourage students to use this handout for the first vocabulary word. Then, have them draw the web on separate sheets of paper for each of the other words in the list.)

7) Share the webs from your Connotations handout in small groups. Discuss the following:

Were your connotations similar to your classmates'?

Where do you think your connotations came from? (Note: Point out that students may have been influenced by the media or by the attitudes of family or friends.)

Which vocabulary terms had positive connotations?

Which had negative connotations?

Why do you think some words have positive connotations, while others have negative connotations?

8) Reread the New York Times article about immigration: What Part of 'Illegal' Don't You Understand?

9) Now that you've analyzed which terms have positive connotations and which have negative connotations, consider the following: The author of "What Part of 'Illegal' Don't You Understand?" believes that language is an important part of the issue of immigration. Do you agree? Write a response to the article in which you EITHER

a) agree that terminology is important and that undocumented immigrant or unauthorized immigrant are better terms than illegal or alien

OR

b) disagree that terminology is important and argue that any terms are fine to use

10) Share your letter with another student who has the opposite viewpoint. Use this as a way to discuss your point of view about the language of the immigration debate, and to rework your letter so it's more effective and persuasive. Finally, send your letter to the newspaper editor.

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alien [ay-lee-uhn] ( noun) person coming from another place; foreign citizen [sit-uh-zuhn] ( noun) person belonging to a certain country illegal [il-lee-gull] ( adjective) going against the law immigrant [im-uh-grint] ( noun) person from another place who moves to a new country to live immigration [im-uh-gray-shun] ( noun) the act of moving from one place to another to live unauthorized [un-aw-thur-ized] ( adjective) something that is not permitted undocumented [un-dock-uy-ment-ed] ( adjective) not having the required paperwork 1) As a class, briefly discuss some of the issues surrounding immigration.

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Activities

1. Can you think of a time-maybe during an argument with a friend or when the boy or girl you liked hurt your feelings-when you wished that someone understood how you felt? When we try to relate to what another person is going through, we're being empathetic.

2. Do you think you're an empathetic person? Respond to each statement on Are You Empathetic? with "yes" if it describes something you do or "no" if you don't do what is described.

3. If you answered mostly "yes," you probably do a good job of showing empathy toward other people. The statements you answered "no" to are things you could do to be more empathetic.

4. As a class, use Are You Empathetic? to discuss how you can follow the behaviors suggested to show empathy toward others:

One way you can try to imagine what it feels like being in someone else's shoes is to ask yourself, "How would I feel in this situation?" How else can you try to understand how others feel?

When you listen to others, making eye contact, not interrupting the speaker, and asking follow-up questions can show that you're making a genuine effort to understand what they're going through. What other behaviors might show someone that you are being an empathetic listener?

What can you do to be more attuned to other people's feelings? For instance, when you talk to your friends, how many "you" questions do you ask compared to the number of "I" statements you make?

5. Now you are going to practice what you've learned about being empathetic. Pair up with a classmate. Tell your partner one of the following: an embarrassing moment, a time you were scared or something that made you sad. If you are not comfortable sharing a real-life experience, you may pretend to be a fictional character and tell his/her story (e.g., as Juliet, talk about how scared you were to drink the potion the Friar gave you). Your partner should practice being empathetic as he is listening to your story. Then, switch roles: Practice being empathetic as your partner tells you what he experienced.

6. With your partner, discuss how she showed empathy toward you, how it made you feel and what you wish she had done differently. Use statements like, "I could tell you were really listening to me because you maintained eye contact with me during the entire conversation, and that made me feel like you care."

7. Everyone in the class should now stand. Go around the room, sharing something you learned about practicing empathy, sitting after you share. If someone else shares your thought, sit down. Continue around the room until everyone is sitting.

Extension Activity

Make an effort to practice empathetic listening at home with a guardian or sibling.

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Can you think of a time-maybe during an argument with a friend or when the boy or girl you liked hurt your feelings-when you wished that someone understood how you felt? When we try to relate to what another person is going through, we're being empathetic. Do you think you're an empathetic person?

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The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by the year 2042 U.S. residents who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites, meaning that ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation's population. This has been called a "watershed moment" that shows us just how multicultural we have become.

Just how the United States will adjust to this evolving identity is yet to be determined. Will the demographic shifts lead to greater equality or will they drive us further apart? And what role will students play in embracing the new face of the United States and promoting equality for all people who live in the United States?

"Changing Demographics, Changing Identity, Changing Attitudes" is a four-lesson series that focuses on how the nation's identity has and will continue to change as we move toward a plurality nation, how the nation responds to that evolving identity, how changing demographics relate to issues of equality, and what we can do to promote equality for all people who live in the United States.

The series is organized by the four anti-bias domains: identity, diversity, justice, and action.

Lesson One: How Does Immigration Shape the Nation's Identity? asks students to consider what it means to be a resident of the United States, using an opinion piece about the "American Identity Crisis" and several related videos as central texts. They answer a series of text-dependent questions, debate their opinions, write a brief constructed response, and make their own video that reflects their interpretation of "the face of America."

Lesson Two: Changing Demographics, How Will Our Nation Adjust? asks students to examine current statistics related to our changing demographic and consider how we as a nation adjust to our evolving identity.

Lesson Three: How Will Human Rights Play Out with Changing Demographics? challenges students to consider how the nation's changing demographic relates, if at all, to social justice and equality as they learn about the everyday experiences of those who are were not born here through the eyes of an undocumented Harvard graduate.

Lesson Four: What Can We Do To Promote Respect? invites students to consider and implement actions that promote respect and ensure equality for all people who live in the United States.

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"Changing Demographics, Changing Identity, Changing Attitudes" is a four-lesson series that focuses on how the nation's identity has and will continue to change as we move toward a plurality nation, how the nation responds to that evolving identity, how changing demographics relate to issues of equality, and what we can do to promote equality for all people who live in the United States.

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Born with several genetic abnormalities, 10-year-old August Pullman, called Auggie, dreams of being "ordinary." Inside, he knows he's like every other kid, but even after 27 surgeries, the central character of "Wonder" bears facial disfigurations so pronounced that people who see him for the first time do "that look-away thing" - if they manage to hide their shock and horror.

"Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse," he says of his face as the book begins. He's used to the stares and mean comments, but he's still terrified to learn that his parents have gotten him into middle school at Beecher Prep and want him to go there rather than be home-schooled. But they persuade him to give it a try - and by the time this rich and memorable first novel by R. J. Palacio is over, it's not just Auggie but everyone around him who has changed.

Stories about unusual children who long to fit in can be particularly wrenching. At their core lurks a kind of loneliness that stirs primal fears of abandonment and isolation. But Palacio gives Auggie a counterweight to his problems: He has the kind of warm and loving family many "normal" children lack. Among their - and the book's - many strengths, the Pullmans share the, um, earthy sense of humor that all kids love. Over the years his parents, Nate and Isabel, have turned the disturbing story of Auggie's birth into high comedy involving a flatulent nurse who fainted at the sight of him, and they persuade him to go to Beecher by riffing hilariously on the name of the school's director, Mr. Tushman. It also helps that the Pullmans' world - they live in a town house in "the hippie-stroller capital of upper Upper Manhattan" - is the privileged, educated upper-middle class, that hotbed of parents who hover and micromanage the lives of their perfectly fine children. It's somehow weirdly satisfying to see what happens when something actually alarming enters this zone of needless anxiety. Palacio carves a wise and refreshing path, suggesting that while even a kid like August has to be set free to experience the struggles of life, the right type of closeness between parents and children is a transformative force for good.

But it's Auggie and the rest of the children who are the real heart of "Wonder," and Palacio captures the voices of girls and boys, fifth graders and teenagers, with equal skill, switching narrators every few chapters to include Auggie's friends and his teenage sister, Via, who wrestles with her resentment, guilt and concern. "We circle around him like he's still the baby he used to be," she observes ruefully. And we see the vicious politics of fifth-grade popularity played out as the class bully targets Auggie and starts a campaign to shun him, culminating in an overnight school trip that turns scary and shuffles the social deck in ways no one could have imagined.

While I sobbed several times during "Wonder," my 9-year-old daughter - who loved the book and has been pressing it on her friends - remained dry-eyed. She didn't understand why I thought Auggie's situation might upset her. "I like kids who are different," she said. I realized that what makes her cry are stories in which children suffer because they have missing or neglectful parents and no one to take care of them. Perhaps Palacio's most remarkable trick is leaving us with the impression that Auggie's problems are surmountable in all the ways that count - that he is, in fact, in an enviable position.

WONDER

By R. J. Palacio

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Born with several genetic abnormalities, 10-year-old August Pullman, called Auggie, dreams of being "ordinary." Inside, he knows he's like every other kid, but even after 27 surgeries, the central character of "Wonder" bears facial disfigurations so pronounced that people who see him for the first time do "that look-away thing" - if they manage to hide their shock and horror.

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Now a feature-length film starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, "Wonder" is based on a children's novel by R.J. Palacio and documents the story of a young boy with a genetic disorder called Treacher Collins syndrome. It's a movie that may have many taking the opportunity learn more about the features and complications that go along with this condition.

Below are answers to some of the more common questions about this disorder.

What is Treacher Collins syndrome?

Treacher Collins, also called mandibulofacial dysostocis, is a genetic condition that affects the development of bones and structures of the face. It was first described in 1900 by a physician named Edward Treacher Collins.

This condition can be diagnosed in a pregnancy through invasive prenatal genetic testing such as amniocentesis, in which doctors collect a sample of the amniotic fluid that surrounds a developing fetus and analyze it in a lab. However, the diagnosis is usually first suspected during a physical exam of a young child after birth.

Not all facial deformities are caused by Treacher Collins. Other disorders with similar characteristics include Nager syndrome, Miller syndrome and Goldenhar syndrome -- just to name a few.

How does someone get this disorder? How common is this?

Treacher Collins is caused by an abnormality in someone's genes, and it arises before they are born. The specific anomaly is found in a gene known as TCOF1. Genetic mutations are usually thought of as inherited, but the majority of the mutations that cause this syndrome are found in people without any affected relatives. Treacher Collins is normally caused by a new mutation that occurs at random in a sperm or egg cell before or at the time of conception. There are over 120 different identified mutations that can cause this disorder.

The disease itself, however, is very rare. It affects approximately 1 in 50,000 children, and doctors do not routinely screen for it unless there is a concern that a parent who carries the gene will pass it along.

What are the features of this disease?

The mutation in Treacher Collins results in abnormal development of multiple body parts as an embryo. Commonly seen in this condition are abnormalities of the external ears, hearing loss, abnormally developed eyelids and abnormal development or complete absence of facial bones -- including the jaw, cheekbones and palate. However, cognition and intelligence are usually not affected in these individuals.

There are a spectrum of symptoms and findings with this condition, meaning some individuals may be so mildly affected that they are never even diagnosed, while others may develop serious or life-threatening complications.

Is there a cure?

There is no cure for Treacher Collins. Researchers are looking into the use of stem cells to treat it, and they are also studying the way the disease affects the cells on a microscopic level to try to develop ways to better treat this condition. Treacher Collins patients usually require the care of multiple medical specialists that treat the problems unique to the individual.

Patients will commonly need help with ensuring their airways remains open, and they may in some cases require a tracheostomy -- an incision on the neck opening a direct airway in the trachea. Those with hearing loss may need devices or procedures to improve hearing. Some patients need craniofacial reconstruction surgery to repair cleft palates, jaws, or even repair bones in the skull. Speech therapists and educational counselors also play an important role in helping these patients maximize their potential.

What is the prognosis?

Patients usually grow to become functioning adults with normal intelligence levels. In fact, life expectancy for these individuals is about the same as those without Treacher Collins. There are, however, advanced cases where patients die around the time of birth, usually due to airway issues. Overall, those with Treacher Collins should be integrated into regular schools and activities, and it is important to educate young children and community members about those living with the diagnosis.

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Treacher Collins syndrome: What you need to know

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Now a feature-length film starring Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson, "Wonder" is based on a children's novel by R.J. Palacio and documents the story of a young boy with a genetic disorder called Treacher Collins syndrome. It's a movie that may have many taking the opportunity learn more about the features and complications that go along with this condition.

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AFTER 21 years, Jake Westbury finally has a face.

But it has taken more than a dozen major surgeries, as well as extraordinary support from his family and enduring the misguided judgment of a world obsessed with beauty.

Jake was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects about one in 50,000 children. It prevents the skull, cheeks and jawbones from developing properly, causing facial defects and hearing loss. Jake only had earlobes, not the rest of his ears. He was also born with a cleft palate, making it difficult to feed and breathe properly.

But what he did have were amazing parents in Rona and Mick who lovingly guided their son, who they consider "completely normal to us" through life.

On one of her first outings with baby Jake, Mrs Westbury said a rude woman asked: "Oh my God, what is wrong with him?"

Rather than hide away, she did the opposite.

"I just put him on my shoulders and went shopping and anyone that wanted to stare could," she said.

When he was three they met Professor David David from the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide. Prof David is a world leader in the complete care of a Treacher Collins child.

"The very first thing that had to happen was to establish hearing because of his absent ears and at the same time to establish feeding and breathing regimes," Prof David said.

Operations are performed according to age and stage of development.

"The first series of operations consisted of aligning his eyelids and reconstructing part of his eye sockets.

He then proceeded to have extensive orthodontic management and ultimately surgery to his jaws and further surgical intervention to assist with his speech," Prof David said.

Like the 10-year-old boy with Treacher Collins syndrome in the hit book Wonder - which is the basis of a new movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and a young Jacob Tremblay - Jake was acutely aware he looked different to other children.

Now, 18 years on, Prof David has finally given Jake his forever face, the one he fronts the world with pride.

Earlier this year, he had his jaw reconstructed. Then, in another major operation, Jake's new cheek bones were fashioned out of his own ribs.

His teeth, for the first time in his life, now align so that he can finally smile. The 21-year-old, who works two jobs - at Coles and a service station - said he has a new lease on life.

"It's allowed me to smile, I'm so glad I've had the surgery, I am happier and I feel more confident," he said.

"Professor David, his work is amazing, he's got massive hands, and he has done well.

"I reckon it has changed my life. I feel I can talk to people more easily and I don't get looked at as much, I'm more hidden in the crowd now."

Mrs Westbury said her son has never felt sorry for himself and made it through childhood without being picked on.

"I'm proud of him, I think he looks amazing," she said.

"He says he has a disadvantage, not a disability.

"He's just a great kid with a great attitude and if anyone doesn't accept him, he thinks they are not worth knowing.

"In all his school photos he never smiled, now he laughs and jokes and smiles and I've noticed the change, people say he looks really good."

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AFTER 21 years, Jake Westbury finally has a face. But it has taken more than a dozen major surgeries, as well as extraordinary support from his family and enduring the misguided judgment of a world obsessed with beauty. Jake was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects about one in 50,000 children.

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We’re All Wonders may be Auggie’s story, but it taps into every child’s longing to belong, and to be seen for who they truly are. It’s the perfect way for families and educators to talk about empathy and kindness with young children.

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Auggie & Me gives readers a special look at Auggie’s world through three new points of view. These stories are an extra peek at Auggie before he started at Beecher Prep and during his first year there. Readers get to see him through the eyes of Julian, the bully; Christopher, Auggie’s oldest friend; and Charlotte, Auggie’s new friend at school. Together, these three stories are a treasure for readers who don’t want to leave Auggie behind when they finish Wonder.

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Oliver is different. He enjoys his solitude. He likes playing with his friends, who are puppets, stuffed animals, and other toys. With his rich imagination, Oliver’s day is never dull. There are bridges to cross, sharks to fight, and treasures to find! But maybe toys don’t always give a boy everything he needs. Maybe he needs another kind of companion. Will Oliver discover a way to be, well, different? When his tennis ball rolls across the lawn into the yard of the girl next door, he just might be surprised.

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Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party . . . until, that is, a new kid comes to class.

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Just like other kids, Zinkoff rides his bike, hopes for snow days, and wants to be like his dad when he grows up. But Zinkoff also raises his hand with all the wrong answers, trips over his own feet, and falls down with laughter over a word like "Jabip."

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Zackary's Treacher Collins Syndrome Journey

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☆♡ You are the poem I dreamed of writing, the master piece I longed to paint. You are the Shining Star ☆ I reached for in my ever hopeful quest for life fulfilled. You are my child now with all...

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Post by HopeForMyFighter.

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Reporter: It is nearly midnight on a frigid February Friday in Manhattan. Nurses on the labor and delivery ward at saint Luke's hospital are urging one of the expectant mothers to keep trying. Magda Newman with her husband russel has been in labor for hours the endless waiting nearly as agonizing as the physical pain. What was the doctor telling you about why the labor was taking so long? "Well, it's the first delivery, you know. You just gotta push harder. They finally come in and say, "Look, we gotta get this kid out. He's showing some signs of distress." And then, our life changed forever. Reporter: Tell me what you saw. It didn't look like a human being. Reporter: It didn't look like a human -- He didn't look like a person. It was that different. ??? Reporter: A crushing blow to a dream of parenthood, which itself had just been born three years earlier. When Magda and russel Newman met during a walk on the beach. I was bartending in the Hamptons. And I saw her walkin' on the beach. And I asked one of the waitresses who that was. And they're like, "That's the nanny." 22-year-old Magda was a classically trained pianist originally from Poland. She had taken a summer job in the U.S. As an au pair. 33-year-old russel saw an opportunity and seized it. I -- I was a pretty rudderless ship in my early 30s. And -- she just grounded me right away. My life skyrocketed after I met her. Reporter: The two married in 2002 and immediately got down to business. Family business. So, you got pregnant. Were you excited? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Very excited. Reporter: Everything was healthy? Absolutely no blips on the radar screen. Magda was 24 years old, incredibly healthy. So, they don't do a lot of tests when you're in that group. She was the ultimate low-risk pregnancy. Reporter: But back in that hospital room, after nearly 17 hours of labor when Magda finally delivers, it is not a scene of happiness but of horror. I don't remember fainting. But I -- I certainly remember screaming -- You -- he was screaming so loud that I thought he was-- "-- Oh, my god. Oh, my god. What--" -- Dead. That's what I thought. "-- What happened? What's happened? What's happening?" I saw just shock on people's faces, big eyes and L -- "What's going on here? Who -- what -- what happened?" And I see they put him in a little back room. There's 20 people running in there, doing something. I don't hear baby crying. No noise -- Reporter: And nobody's telling you anything? -- Silence. Nobody's -- No. -- Telling me anything. I'm like, "What's going on? Is he alive? What's going on? I wanna see the baby." And they didn't wanna show it to me. Reporter: They didn't wanna -- They were scared to show me. Reporter: -- Show you your own baby. I -- I think they were scared at first. Because he had no cheekbones and no -- upper or lower eyelids. Just completely disfigured. Reporter: And even more terrifying, the baby is not breathing. Magda is left alone on the delivery table while doctors frantically work to save her baby's life. While that was going on, a doctor called me out of the room to show me a textbook written in, like, the 1960s. It -- I just remember it being an old, black-and-white picture of a teenager with treacher-collins. And I remember thinking, "That's gonna be my kid?" Reporter: Treacher Collins is an extremely rare congenital cranial facial disorder. It affects just one in 50,000 people. I can't imagine first-time parents. You were so excited to have a baby. In one nanosecond, everything, every single thing changed -- Oh, it was -- it was -- it was -- it was surreal -- Reporter: They name their child Nathaniel and contact the institute of reconstructive plastic surgery at nyu's medical center. Leading hospital working with children who have teacher Collins. They leave a message and within hours receive a fateful phone call back. I said hello, who's this?" She goes, "It's Shelley Cohen. Congratulations." That was the first person who said to us, "Congratulations --" No one had congratulated us yet. It was, like, 10:00 or 11:00 -- "-- Had a baby." Nobody even said, "Yay. You have a baby. Like, he's --" -- And this woman Shelley, before I could even tell her, she goes, "Hey, Mr. Newman, you had a baby boy, I heard. That's wonderful." And I remember', "Are you freakin' nuts? Reporter: Do you remember that conversation? I do because I said congratulations before we talked about anything else. Reporter: You were the first person. People were paralyzed. They didn't have an idea of what to do. And she said, "Lemme just tell you, your son is gonna live a long, healthy, happy, wonderful life." And I believed her. Like, it was just this voice on a phone. And I believed her. Reporter: Nathaniel is transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at nyu where he will spend the first month of his life. The Newman's meet nurse pat chibaro. An angel in a white lab coat. What do you remember most about that day that you met the Newman's? They were absolutely devastated. Families will say, "Well, when is the surgery? When is the surgery that's going to make this all -- Reporter: All better. -- All go away." Reporter: Right. And unfortunately, it's a urney. It's not a surgery. Reporter: And for the Newman's the journey was just beginning. They say it was something unexpected that happened in the hours after Nathaniel was born, that sustained them through the early days, and then later months and years ahead. We turn on the TV, and it was the grammy awards. The show starts with Christina Aguilera singing the song "Beautiful." ??? ??? I am beautiful no matter what they say ??? ??? no matter what ??? ??? words can't bring me down ??? ??? no ??? I mean you talk about time and "No matter what people say, no matter what people do, you're beautiful in every single way." ??? We decided, like, he's going to be beautiful not because of his appearance because of his personality, 'cause he's going to be a beautiful person. ??? ??? we are beautiful ??? ??? in every single way ??? I swear she was singing to us that night, I swear, as cheesy as that sounds. And that song just resonated. And we got up outta the bed. And we went down to the NICU. And we held Nathaniel for the first time. We held our son. Sorry. ??? And it was awesome. And then the journey started.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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Video: Parents recall night son was born with rare craniofacial disorder: Part 1

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Reporter: It is nearly midnight on a frigid February Friday in Manhattan. Nurses on the labor and delivery ward at saint Luke's hospital are urging one of the expectant mothers to keep trying. Magda Newman with her husband russel has been in labor for hours the endless waiting nearly as agonizing as the physical pain.

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How Do YOU Define Yourself    Lizzie Velasquez at TEDxAustinWomen

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Wonder (2017 Movie) Official Trailer – #ChooseKind – Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson

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Boy living with Treacher Collins has 53 surgeries by age 11: 20/20 Part 2