MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Homework Due: Annotations
Grammar Rule of the Week: Oxford Comma
Rule: Use a comma to separate each item in a list,
including the item before and
Example: I like ice cream, cookies, and brownies.
Please write original examples that fit this rule.
Learning Targets:
I can model appropriate listening and speaking skills.
I can share my annotations.
“CATHY, QUEEN OF CATS”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions
This chapter is written partly with Esperanza as the
narrator and partly with Cathy narrating. What is the first
line narrated by Cathy?
Why do you think the author decides to write part of this
chapter from Cathy’s point of view?
What does Cathy say to hurt Esperanza?
How are Cathy’s parents and Esperanza’s parents alike?
“OUR GOOD DAY”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions
Briefly describe Lucy and Rachel.
Why do you think Esperanza likes them?
Why do you think Esperanza decides to buy the bicycle with Lucy and Rachel, knowing she will make Cathy “mad forever”?
What does Esperanza learn about herself and the kinds of friends she wants to have?
“LAUGHTER”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions
In what ways is Esperanza’s sister, Nenny, similar to
Esperanza?
This is an episodic novel written in small vignettes or
literary sketches. What observation about family do
you think Cisneros is making in this chapter?
“GIL’S FURNITURE BOUGHT & SOLD”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions What are the “gold glasses floating in the dark”?
In what way is Esperanza both disappointed in the music box Nenny finds and delighted with it?
To what extent may the box be considered a metaphor for Esperanza’s neighborhood?
Why do you think the old man does not want to sell the music box?
Contrast Nenny’s behavior toward the old man who owns the junk shop with Esperanza’s. Why doesn’t Esperanza talk to the old man?
“And then I don’t know why, but I have to turn around and pretend I don’t care about the box so Nenny won’t see how stupid I am.” What do you think Esperanza is feeling?
“MEME ORTIZ”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions
Why do you think Meme and his dog both have two names?
Support or refute the following statement: The huge tree in Meme’s backyard is a metaphor describing how the outside world views Esperanza’s neighborhood. What can the red balls represent?
“This is the tree we chose for the First Annual Tarzan Jumping Contest. Meme won. And broke both arms.” What does this suggest about Meme’s character?
“LOUIE, HIS COUSIN & HIS OTHER COUSIN”
Share your most important annotations
Call on 3-5 students to share theirs
Call on students to answer the questions Why do you think Marin stands in the doorway of her home, snapping
her fingers and singing the same song over and over again?
If she is employed selling cosmetics, why does she still need to babysit the younger girls?
Support or refute the following statement: Louie’s cousin might have gotten away with stealing the yellow Cadillac if he had not gone back to Mango Street to give his family a ride in the car.
After Louie’s cousin is arrested for stealing the yellow car, why do Esperanza and his family all wave to him as the police drive him away? Why aren’t they upset he has been arrested?
Why do you think Esperanza describes this incident with Louie’s cousin as being “important”?
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 Homework Due: Annotations
Quote/Response: “I hate the idea that, when it comes to books and learning,
hard is often seen as the opposite of fun. It’s strange to me that we should be so quick to give up on a book or a math problem when we are so willing to grapple, for centuries if necessary, with a single level of Angry Bird.” John Green
Agree? Disagree? What does it make you think of? Why do you think we give up so easily on things that matter? Implications for the future and its learners?
Learning Targets: I can make inferences about characters while annotating.
ANNOTATIONS
Alliteration
Comments
Conflict and kind
Figurative language and kind
Identify and explain gender roles
Questions
Style
Symbols
ASSIGNMENT
Annotate the following vignettes (pages 26-34)
“Marin”
“Those Who Don’t”
“There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many
Children She Didn’t Know What to Do”
“Alicia Who Sees Mice”
“Darius & the Clouds”
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 Homework Due: Annotations and Study Island 2C-2G
Vocabulary of the Week stark (adj): grim and barren; bleak; austere; desolate
Days after the atomic weapon test, the blast area had become a stark field of smoking gravel, devoid of life.
commandeer (verb): to seize property for official use Detective Hammer commandeered a citizen’s car, speeding off in pursuit of the fleeing
serial killer.
nepotism (noun): favoritism shown to family or friends by those in power, especially in business or hiring practices I was qualified for the job, but Uncle Mike refused to hire me because he did not want
to be accused of nepotism.
enmity (noun): deep-seated hostility, often mutual Angry stares revealed the mutual enmity between Steve and his supervisor.
imbue (verb): to inspire or influence; instill; pervade Her hard-working mother imbued Jane with a solid work ethic.
Learning Targets: I can model appropriate listening and speaking skills.
THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET
Protagonist: Esperanza
12 years old
Setting: Chicago ghetto, early 1980s
Duration of story: one year
“house” is symbolic
Reinventing herself
Coming-of-age
ANNOTATIONS
Alliteration
Comments
Conflict
Figurative Language
Questions
Gender roles
Style
Symbolism
ASSIGNMENT
Share your annotations
Call on students to share theirs
Ask comprehension questions
New WFA (Creative)
Typed and printed rough draft due 10/7 for peer
editing
Typed and printed final essay due 10/14
“MARIN”
Many critics believe this novel expresses many feminist views. From the perspective of a feminist, what is wrong with Marin’s “dream” as described in the following passage?
“she’s going to get a real job downtown because that’s where the best jobs are, since you always get to look beautiful and get to wear nice clothes and can meet someone in the subway who might marry you…”
What does the following passage suggest about Marin’s fate? What are her chances of finding someone to rescue her from her life on Mango Street?
“Marin, under streetlight, dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know. Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life.”
“THOSE WHO DON’T”
What does the sentence “All brown all around, we
are safe” mean?
Support or refute the following statement:
Cisneros believes people of all races feel fear and
prejudice and fit into the category of “Those Who
Don’t.”
“THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN SHE HAD SO MANY
CHILDREN SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO”
Cisneros presents many examples of women’s
lives on Mango Street. What do you think
Esperanza learns about a woman’s life from Rosa
Vargas?
Why do the neighbors “give up” on the Vargas
children?
What can you infer about Angel Vargas’ fate by
his name?
“ALICIA WHO SEES MICE”
What is Alicia doing to escape from Mango
Street?
Support or refute the following statement: The
description of mice is a metaphor for a woman’s
life on Mango Street.
Why do you think Alicia is afraid of “four-legged
fur. And fathers”?
“DARIUS & THE CLOUDS”
Do you notice any rhythmic patterns or personification used to create images in this chapter? What are some examples?
What do you think the sky represents in the following sentence?
“You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky.”
Support or refute the following statement: Esperanza believes God is looking down at the people on Mango Street and supports their hopes and dreams for the future.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
Homework Due: Annotations
Literary Term of the Week: Antagonist
The antagonist is a character, group of characters, or
institution that opposes the protagonist or main character.
Voldemort is the main antagonist in the Harry Potter
series. He opposes the main character, Harry.
Come up with some examples from popular movies/books!
Learning Target: I can make inferences about
characters.
ANNOTATIONS
Alliteration
Comments
Conflict
Figurative language
Gender roles
Questions
Style
Symbolism
ASSIGNMENT
Read and annotate (pages 35-42)
“And Some More”
“The Family of Little Feet”
New WFA (Creative)
Typed and printed rough draft due 10/7 for peer editing
Typed and printed final essay due 10/14
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 Homework Due:
Annotations and
AOW
Photo Response:
Pick one of the photos
and begin writing a
creative story.
Learning Target: I
can make inferences
about characters.
ANNOTATIONS
Alliteration
Comments
Conflict
Figurative language
Gender roles
Questions
Style
Symbolism
TODAY
Share annotations
Ask for annotations
Ask questions
Illustrate a scene from the book so far (provide a
quote from the book along with the page number)
New WFA (Creative)
Typed and printed rough draft due 10/7 for peer editing
Typed and printed final essay due 10/14
“AND SOME MORE”
What evidence is there in this chapter that Rachel and Lucy are learning to be prejudiced against people with dark skin?
In the beginning of this chapter the girls are talking about many names for snow and cloud. What do you think Cisneros is saying about names in this chapter?
Cisneros is well known for her unusual style of writing. Besides the poetic structure of the sentences, what is unusual about her style of writing in this chapter?
Why are the conversations between the girls sometimes difficult to understand?
“THE FAMILY OF LITTLE FEET”
Support or refute the following statement: Feet
are a symbol of growing up in this chapter.
Why do you think Esperanza seems to be
surprised that girls “have legs”?
What motivates the grocer to threaten the girls
with the police if they don’t take off their high
heels?
Why do you suppose “no one complains” when
Lucy’s mother throws away the shoes?
