Educators

 Classroom Resources & Teaching Connections

The following texts are designed to support classroom discussions on migration, identity, labor, perception, and belonging across Social Studies and English Language Arts settings.  

For Social Studies & Interdisciplinary Classrooms

 
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A Fight for a Cup of Chai

A Fight for a Cup of Chai: A Journey Through Labor, Loss, and Hope has been adopted in high school classrooms to support conversations about labor rights, migration, globalization, and human dignity. Grounded in lived experience, the book invites students to examine how global systems shape everyday lives while centering resilience, responsibility, and hope. 

Written by a school counselor and educator, this memoir is designed to meet students where they are: curious, questioning, and navigating a complex world. 

A Spanish edition is also available to support bilingual classrooms and multilingual learning communities. 

Suggested Grade Levels

 Grades 9–12 (ELA, Social Studies, Global History, Human Rights electives) 

Common Classroom Applications 

  • Memoir and nonfiction study
  • Globalization and labor units
  • Immigration and migration narratives
  • Social justice, ethics, and civic responsibility
  • Interdisciplinary collaboration


Key Themes

  • Labor and dignity
  • Migration and displacement
  • Global supply chains
  • Identity and belonging
  • Loss, resilience, and hope


For English Language Arts Classrooms

 
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From the Window: The City of What-Ifs


From the Window is a contemporary novella that explores perception, interpretation, identity, and the quiet ways individuals construct meaning. Through a deeply interior narrative voice, students examine how assumptions shape relationships, self-concept, and emotional experience.

The text invites close reading, character analysis, and discussion of narrative reliability and the psychology of interpretation.

Suggested Grade Levels
Grades 10–12 (ELA, Creative Writing, Psychology electives)

Common Classroom Applications

  • Literary analysis of interior monologue
  • Narrative voice and point of view study
  • Character psychology
  • Identity and belonging themes
  • Discussion of perception vs reality


Key Themes

  • Identity formation
  • Perception and projection
  • Belonging and alienation
  • Emotional self-awareness
  • The search for meaning

 

 Classroom Resources

To support educators, a free Classroom Guide is available, including: 

A_Fight_for_a_Cup_of_Chai_Classroom_Guide.pdf 311.77 KB
Pronunciation Guide for A Fight for a Cup of Chai.pdf 66.93 KB

  • Discussion questions
  • Thematic lenses for instruction
  • Ideas for reflective writing and dialogue

 Additional materials for From the Window are available upon request. 

 Adoption, Bulk Orders, & Classroom Sets

  • Classroom sets and bulk orders are available.
  •  👉 Order classroom copies via Ingram: Bulk Classroom Orders 
  •  For orders over 100 copies or international requests, please contact: sanman@sanmanthapa.com