Embedded Files
"Everything is waiting to explode like Christmas. I want to be all new and shiny. I want to sit out bad at night..."
Born Bad - pages 62 to 81 - Vertext or Group Work : You may notice there are a lot of Group Works for this Unit. As I said before, that has a lot to do with students taking AP tests during the time we usually read The House on Mango Street - and I needed a way that students could make up the missed class (until we were no longer allowed to even ask students to make it up). But after I started making audio recordings of my class - I discovered that by posting the Vertext (the Power Point presentation with quotes) and the class recording - students could just as easily (and without having to do 5 group works in a row) make up a class discussion as well. I am giving you both the Vertext and the Group Work - I think they are both pretty good - allowing you to choose which one you'll do with your own class. This lesson covers "Elanita, Cards, Palm, Water", "Geraldo No Last Name", "Edna's Ruthie", "The Earl of Tennessee", "Sire", "Four Skinny Trees", "No Speak English", and "Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays".
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
The quiz
The quiz
Because this reading is a little longer than the others - I counted this for 150, rather than the usual 100 points. If you decide to do the Group Work - and they didn't read - they can't get into a group. See my page on Group Work for more.
The Vertext (Power Point)
The Vertext (Power Point)
See my page on Class Discussions for how to conduct a student-centered Vertext Discussion. The discussion covers 62 to 77 (reserving 78-81 for the next lesson). It starts with "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water" - and the prediction about a "home in the heart" - which is in many ways the heart of the book. Esperanza doesn't yet realize how true this prediction is - and how it will come to pass, and that is quite simply, the beauty of this novel. Like Esperanza, Sandra Cisneros lets the reader slowly and subtly put the pieces of the puzzle together.
The Vertext ends with "No Speak English". This chapter, perhaps more than any other, deals with Esperanza's identity and the identity of her community - and it is reason enough for why Esperanza must find that "home in the heart".
The Group Work
The Group Work
Please see the actual Group Work below for precisely what's in it and my page on Group Work for more of the "why" do it. Here are some of the points that the Group Work goes over. After they are done with the quiz, they begin the Group Work. Those who did not read should not get into a group. (I always scanned or graded the quizzes immediately while they get started on the GW).
Some main points of the Group Work (see the handout for much more)
Esperanza's first job and her "growing up"
The poem "Autowreck" by Karl Shapiro is first read and analyzed then compared to what they are reading.
Esperanza's guilt that she carries
What is it exactly that Esperanza wants?
More of the guilt and the game that Esperanza played - mimicking those she loved.
Again - an examination of what each chapter's "House" is.
Vertext - pages 62 to 78
Vertext - pages 62 to 78
Vertext - Pgs 62 -78 "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water" to "No Speak English" PPTX PDF
Vertext - Pgs 62 -78 "Elenita, Cards, Palm, Water" to "No Speak English" PPTX PDF
Remember - you need to time this so that you get all 27 of the slides, and that every student in the class (unless you have more than 27 students) gets a chance to read one of the quotes. See above for more of the specifics and my page on Class Discussion Techniques for more on Vertexts.
Group Work - Born Bad
Group Work - Born Bad
Most Recent Handouts
Most Recent Handouts
Group Work "Born Bad" pages 52 to 81: Docx PDF
Group Work "Born Bad" pages 52 to 81: Docx PDF
For some specifics on the Group Work, see above in my Lesson Overview - but of course the best place to get details is the Group Work itself - and there is always my page on Group Work for the why and how of it.
Quiz
Quiz
Most Recent Quiz
Most Recent Quiz
Reading Quiz 33 to 52 ("Darius & the Clouds" thru "Hips" : Docx PDF
Reading Quiz 33 to 52 ("Darius & the Clouds" thru "Hips" : Docx PDF
The reading quiz - like most my quizzes - is designed simply to see if the students did the reading - not, if they understood it. As always, I ask the students to first answer if they did the reading or not - if they didn't - they are expected to not guess.
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
These are some page with my 30 years of notes. My group work is generated from the text and my notes - and I'm always looking for connections to what has come before (and what will follow). So much gets added over the years - and of course, as I've stated many times on this site - I believe the teacher should reread every work that they assign to their students and they should stop teaching a text when they see nothing new in it.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
Group Works can be done wonderfully using remote "rooms".
Somewhere, someplace there must be Discussion Notes for a teacher-led (Ringmaster Teacher) type discussion or (perhaps, more likely) - the notes for the discussion are contained with the pages of the book with my overlaying notes. In any case, towards the end of my career (maybe as long as the last 10 years), I started covering these pages with a Vertext. And since this book is very much like a long, prose poem - the words are so beautiful - they are so succinct and powerful. Which means a Vertext makes even more sense.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
Because the book and our time together is SO short - I almost hate to give that time up with a Group Work. However, it is also a time of year when students are absent a lot - especially for AP Testing. Originally - my first 10 years or so of teaching - students were only excused for the the 1/2 of the day that their test was - that changed - making it almost impossible to hold classes that built one lesson upon the next.
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