In this lesson plan, students will demonstrate their progress and comprehension of the novel Esperanza Rising, and of the concepts characterization, conflict, and point of view.
Created by Keli Jacewitz, November 2007
Objective(s): The student will show understanding of the novel, characterization, conflict, and point of view by taking the Esperanza Rising Final Test.
Standard(s):
Reading/Comprehension. The student comprehends selections using a variety of strategies. Draw inferences such as conclusions or generalizations and support them with text evidence and experience. Write to inform/tell/explain/define. Including:
- Inferring: take specific information (from text and/or prior experience/learning) in order to draw a conclusion or form a generalization; an inductive process; “reading between the lines.” [The writer implies; the reader infers.]
- Drawing and Supporting Conclusions With and Without Text Evidence: A statement about an individual person, place, thing, or event that is supported by accurate information [Note: On TAKS, that information must come from the text.] Conclusions are “some” or “sometimes” statements. There are many different kinds of conclusions, e.g.:
- a statement about an individual person, place, thing, or event;
- a statement/conclusion about the future = prediction; and
- a statement/conclusion about why something happened = cause/effect
- Forming Generalizations: A statement about a group/class of persons, places, things, or events supported by accurate information. [Note: On TAKS, that information must come from the text.] There are many different kinds of generalizations, e.g.
- a straightforward statement about a group/class of persons, places, things, or events
- a statement/generalizations about the future = prediction
- a statement/generalizations about why something happened = cause/effect Inductive process: draw conclusions and then validate/support it with text evidence, primarily direct quotations from the text
- Deductive process: validate/support conclusions and generalizations with text evidence (primarily direct quotations from the text)
TEKS §110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6.(b)(10)(H)
Reading/Comprehension. The student comprehends selections using a variety of strategies. Represent text information in different ways such as in outline, timeline, or graphic organizer. Including:
- Drawing Conclusions;
- Analyzing Characters and Events.
And using:
- Venn Diagram: Comparison/Contrast of Traits/Characteristics of Two Characters
- Web: Characteristics of a Character
TEKS §110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6.(b)(10)(L)
Reading/Literary Response. The student expresses and supports responses to various types of texts. Support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences (4-8). Including:
- Analyze Characters/Motivation
- Analyze Characters/Traits
- Analyze Characters/Conflict
- Analyze Characters/Changes They Undergo
And support those responses with accurate, connected text evidence.
TEKS §110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6.(b)(11)(C)
Reading/Text Structures/Literary Concepts. The student analyzes the characteristics of various types of texts (genres) Describe how the author s perspective or point of view affects the text (4-8). Including:
- why the author included certain pieces of text (e.g., introduction),
- why the author chose to tell the story from a narrator’s point of view
- why the author wrote the text (e.g., to inform, to persuade, to entertain)
And the traditional literary concept of point of view: Point of View
- Point of View: The perspective/attitude/stance toward an event, issue, another character Point of view is “the vantage point, or stance” from which a story is told, the eye and mind through which the action is perceived and filtered. …. (this) is sometimes called narrative perspective.”
- 1st Person—“The narrator stands inside the story. The narrator may be the protagonist, a minor character, or a character who is not directly involved in the action but who functions as an observer and recorder. … Employing first person point of view has several advantages. One of these is credibility. A strange or fantastic story is easier to believe if told by someone who is supposedly relating a first-hand experience. And it is far more natural for a character to reveal her own thoughts than it is for the author to tell us what she is thinking and feeling. Another advantage is in intimacy. The ‘I’ narrator seems to address the reader directly and from the heart, sharing his personal observations and insights with an interested listener. But first-person narration also has disadvantages. The reader can see, hear, and know only what the narrator sees, hears, and knows. The reader’s perceptions of other characters are colored by the narrators predispositions, prejudices, and personal limitations.”
- 3rd Person/ Omniscient—This is the most common 3rd person narrative perspective. “Here the narrator, standing outside the story, assumes a god-like persona, moving about freely in time and space, revealing the thoughts and motives of all the characters, knowing the past, present and future, and (sometimes) commenting on or interpreting the actions of the characters. The major advantage of this approach is its obvious freedom and unlimited scope. Its major disadvantage is a relative loss of vividness, involvement and intimacy. This disadvantage is overcome somewhat if the narrator assumes limited omniscience?
- 3rd Person/Limited Omniscience—In 3rd person limited omniscience, the narrator focuses on the “thoughts of a single character and presents the other characters only externally. This more restricted approach surrenders the privileges of seeing and knowing everything and typically follows one character throughout the story, presenting only those incidents in which the character is involved.”
- 3rd Person/Objective—This point of view “is an even more restricted type of 3rd person limited omniscience that prevents any subjective commentary by the author…. (This approach) also abandons freedom of movement in time and space, examination of motives, and revelation of thoughts, and restricts the narrator to only those objective details that can be seen and heard by an invisible witness. (This is sometimes) called the scenic method or the fly-on-the-wall technique.
TEKS §110.22. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6.(b)(12)(H)
Prerequisite Skills: The students must have finished reading the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. They must also be able to apply characterization, conflict, and point of view skills.
Anticipatory Set: Journal: Create a Venn Diagram in your journal. Compare YOUR everyday life with Esperanza's everyday life. What are some of things you have in common?
Modeling: Quickly review the skills of characterization, conflict, and point of view. Ask the students if they have any questions before the test begins.
Hand out the test to the students. Go over the directions for each section of the test. Ask the students if they have any questions. If there are no questions, allow the students to begin the test.
Check for Understanding: Ask the students if they have any questions about the test or the directions. Answer any questions they may have about the test.
Guided Practice: If the teacher chooses to do so, she may show the students how to do one of the problems on the test.
Closure: When all of the students have finished the test, pass out a note card. On one side, have them write down one test question that they thought was the hardest. On the other side, have them write down one question they wish had been on the test.
Independent Practice: The students will complete the Esperanza Rising final test on their own to demonstrate mastery of skills.
Enrichment: Students can pick from any of the following activities.
- Students who finish the test with time left over can complete the "I'm Through...Now What Do I Do?" Students can illustrate the four types of conflict in Esperanza Rising on construction paper.
- Students who finish quickly can take their journal entry and draw it on a piece of construction paper. Instead of writing words in the Venn Diagram, they can draw pictures.
- Using the instructions located in the back of the novel, students can create a yarn doll. The dolls can be collected and donated to a local charity.
Remediation:
- ESL - Students can take a modified test.
- SPED - Follow the students IEP. Students can take a modified test. Students can take the test in CM. The test can be read aloud to the students. The students can use the book.
- GT - Students can turn in one of the enrichment projects as part of their test grade.
Assessment/Rubrics: Esperanza Rising Final Test
Esperanza Rising Final Test - 1 per student
Esperanza Rising Final Text Answer Key
"I'm Through...Now What Do I Do?” - optional activity
notecards - 1 per student
construction paper - optional activity
markers and crayons - optional activity
Yarn Doll Instructions - optional yarn – optional
scissors – optional
ruler – optional
Esperanza Rising novel - optional
