For the next week, we’ll be working in both the computer lab and in the classroom. We’ll be reading a novel that I think will be enjoyable for everyone.
Have you ever hear of a book entitled The House On Mango Street?
It is written by a female author named Sandra Cisneros, who is of Mexican ancestry. In her book Ms. Cisneros describes what it is like to grow up female and Mexican, in an urban setting. Actually, she talks about what it’s like to grow up in Chicago. We have an advantage in reading this book, because we, too, live in Chicago. We know what many of our neighborhoods look and feel like. We really have an insider’s view into the places and situations that the author will describe and in her book.
At this point, we don’t know anything about The House On Mango Street except what little I’ve just shared with you. Based on this, let’s do some predictions about the story. In the spaces below, type in 5 predictions about
events that might occur in this book. There are no right or wrong answers at this point…just try to make some educated guesses about what we’re going to read.
1.____________________________________________________________
2.____________________________________________________________
3.____________________________________________________________
4.____________________________________________________________
5.____________________________________________________________
When you’re done, take a few minutes to share your predictions with the person next to you. Are any of them the same?
We’re going to explore an activity called an Anticipation Guide.
We’re now ready to begin reading The House On Mango Street. We will be reading, discussing, and doing activities connected to this book for 1 week. Each night you’ll be doing entries in your Reflective Journal. Journals will be collected during class on Friday, and graded according to the rubric that we use for all of our journal entries. If time allows, we may be able to do another week of follow-up projects related to the book.
Tonight’s homework is to read pages 3-27. In your Reflective Journal, respond to one of the following prompts:
"How I got my name." (hint…ask your family!)
"The meaning of my name." (hint…ask your family!)
or
(for my computer people) click on "Trace The Origin Of Your
Surname" and complete the activity, download, and include in your
