It is important for students to have functional background knowledge of Mexico before reading the novel Esperanza Rising. Therefore, this lesson plan will focus on investigating different aspects of Mexican culture. Students will use the TIDES website to gain this information and to help set the mood for the story. In order to complete this lesson, students should have basic reading, writing, and computer skills.

Created by Keli Jacewitz, November 2007

Reading/Literary Response. The student expresses and supports responses to various types of texts. Connect, compare, and contrast ideas, themes, and issues across text (4-8). Including answering questions to connect ideas:

• Connect signs/messages to plot
• Compare and contrast characters
• Compare ideas
• Compare themes

Both within and across (paired) texts. Including recognizing theme as: the “central or dominating idea—the message implicit in a work. The theme is seldom stated directly. It is an abstract concept indirectly expressed through recurrent images, actions, characters, and symbols and must be inferred by the reader or spectator. Theme differs from subject in that theme is a comment, observation, or insight about the subject.
TEKS §110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6. (b)(11)(D)

Geography. The student uses maps, globes, graphs, charts, models, and databases to answer geographic questions. Pose and answer questions about geographic distributions and patterns for selected world regions and countries shown on maps, graphs, charts, models, and databases.  Five themes of geography:

• Movement
• Region
• Human environment Interaction
• Location
• Place

1. Ask the students to think about what it would be like to come to America for the first time. What is one thing that they think would be very confusing? How would they explain this strange new thing to a newcomer? Have students write these explanations in their journals.



2. After students have had a chance to respond, take about 10 minutes to share responses. Point out to students that just because something is easy for us to use, it may be hard for a newcomer. We know how to use almost everything in America. Even if we don’t, most things have instructions, but they are usually in English. Discuss all of these obstacles.



3. Explain to the students that today they are going to research different cultural aspects of Mexico through the TIDES site. All of these areas will be significant in the story Esperanza Rising.



4. Before handing out the computers, give each student a post-it note. Have each person write down one rule they remember about using the laptop computers. Have them switch post-it notes with a partner and check their answers. Review some of the answers and then pass out the laptop computers.



5. Hand out the Anticipation Guide to the students. Instruct them on how to navigate to the TIDES website. Explain that the students are not to navigate from this page. Depending on the student’s familiarity with the site, the teacher may choose to do number one on the anticipation guide with the students.



6. The students will tell their elbow partner one new thing they learned about Mexico today.



7. Independent Practice: The students will complete the Anticipation Guide.

Students can choose one of the pictures they saw today in their research. They can print out the picture and paste it into their journal. Then they can write a one page response to the picture.

Remediation:

• ESL students can work with a partner
• SPED students can work with a partner, CM/resource per mods

Assessment/Rubrics: Anticipation Guide

Resources: The Children’s Theatre Company “Student/Teacher Study Guide.”

Images of Mexico on TIDES Anticipation Guide – 1 per student Teacher Laptop
Teacher projector
COWS (Computers on Wheels) – 1 laptop per student
Post-It Notes – 1 per student