Embedded Files
"They will not know that I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind."
Coming Back - 94 (79) to the end Discussion : When I say discussion - this lesson is again the rare Ringmaster Teacher kind of discussion. Though, because it is our last discussion of the novel - every student will have brought in at least one thing to say about the book as well. I have included a Group Work as well - but I can't imagine ending a book on a Group Work - it really needs a discussion for the type of summing up, and closure that this incredible masterpiece of an extended prose poem deserves. The last lesson may have covered up to page 93 ("What Sally Said"); I do selfishly, as their teacher, still want to talk about much of that content together. That means we have an awful lot to cover - three pages of Lesson Notes (probably a record). It's more than worth it - but will take the teacher being on top of the pacing - and focusing as much as possible. I love this final class. In fact, the final discussion of this book led to one of the greatest epiphanies that I ever experienced in my 33 years of teaching. And the really great part was that the epiphany came from a student - and not from me - though it has stayed with me over these many years.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Overview
The Quiz
The Quiz
Oftentimes, because this discussion is SO important, I make the quiz worth 200 or more points. This becomes especially important as I taught this novel at the end of the year - and so many seniors would otherwise be absent. It really is amazing how attendance can be boosted when teachers put so much into a class - and the expectations are that the student will be there.
The Class Discussion
The Class Discussion
See my page on Class Discussions for more on Ring-Master teacher kinds of discussions. Much of what is covered in the Group Work (directly below) can also be found in the discussion. If you can read my handwriting, the complete instructions for having a teacher-led discussion can be found below as well. I have included just a few of the things that this final class discussion will cover:
Raphaela wishing for a more "exotic", "sweet" life (like her drinks)
Sally and her father - and how this prepares for Sally and her husband
Minerva's writing as a clue for what Esperanza also hopes for.
"Beautiful & Cruel" as both a link to Esperanza and to Sandra Cisneros
The incredible "Monkey Garden " and its link to the "Garden of Eden" - it is the place Esperanza loses her innocence
Esperanza's horrific assault at the carnival and how society has set her up for the horrors of what happens.
Sally's House is NOT what Esperanza has wanted this entire novel.
The double standard of how Daughters VS Sons are treated by parents
The Three Sisters as the Three Fates
THE GIANT EPIPHANY THAT A STUDENT HAD - and that I try to get my students to see on their own without giving it away - by this point in the novel - they have all the pieces: The House that Esperanza has wanted since the first page of this novel IS this book, "The House on Mango Street" - and by writing it she will come back for the others who cannot leave.
A beautiful connection to The Things They Carried - by writing the author can lesson the terrible weight and load of their life.
The Group Work (a much lesser alternative to the dicussion)
The Group Work (a much lesser alternative to the dicussion)
If you can do it, by all means have a discussion for this final lesson. However, if a student is absent (and you don't record your classes) you could give this Group Work as an alternative). 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)
The Monkey Garden, Sally, and the Garden of Eden.
Sally and Esperanza at the carnival and how Sally and Society have let Esperanza down.
Sally's house and how it is completelly different than the House that Esperanza desires.
The Three Sisters and their message for Esperanza.
This book as the House that Esperanza desires.
The Students on this Book
The Students on this Book
If you time this right - you will have just enough time to go around the classroom as every students expresses the question, comment, or quote that they brought in for today.
Class Discussion Instructions
Class Discussion Instructions
I hope you can read my writing - there is a lot here and the page number (and usually the chapter name as well) is given for each part of the discussion. These are the notes that I used for the last seven years that I taught. I am sure older Lesson Notes exist - but I have yet to find them.
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
A Sample Reading Page with my notes
These usually have some 30 years of notes. However; I lost the last section of the book with my notes in it - and in 2017, I started anew. My class discussion & the group work are respectively both generated from the text and my notes - and I'm always looking for connections to what has come before (and what will follow).
Group Work - The House as Book - through the end
Group Work - The House as Book - through the end
Most Recent Handouts
Most Recent Handouts
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. Note: This two-sided Group Work also has an upcoming homework schedule, the lyrics to Ingrid Michaelson's "You and I" (see question 3) and the poem "The Truth" (see 4a) and the lesson that we did on that poem.
Quiz
Quiz
Most Recent Quiz
Most Recent Quiz
NOTE: We begin the discussion before what is quizzed - that happens a lot. It allows the teacher to break up the readings which require different times 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. If we are doing the Group Work - students who did not read (I check quizzes immediately) should not get into a group.
MangoHouseFinakDisc_per5_20170515.mp3Class Recording
Class Recording
We finish our discussion of this wonderful book. Today, it is ring-master Scotese - and we pick up where we left off - with Rafaela and her tower and we end with Esperanza, and hopefully our class's realization about the house that Esperanza wanted so badly - what is is - what it has become. We also talk about the Monkey Garden and the Red Clowns and the connections in between.
Remote Enhancements
Remote Enhancements
This final discussion was done twice remotely and worked incredibly well. Group Works can be done wonderfully using remote "rooms", while the traditional RingMaster teacher discussion is a natural for remote learning.
The House on Mango Street naturally lends itself to an Illuminated Text Project. The novel truly is a long, prose poem - and the words just naturally flow into images and movement. And it was one of the original novels that I had an Illuminated Text project attached to. However, when the novel got moved to the end of the year - rather than being at the beginning, it conflicted with other projects (the Civil Rights Newspaper - and in later years: the end of the year Illuminated Text Project. And yet, it remains perhaps one of the most adaptable books to use for an Illuminated Text. By using the original handout, along with the tutorial and later handouts for other books, it becomes more than doable.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
Thoughts on the Lesson
There is a lot in this book that requires the teacher to be sensitive and very much aware of their students. Rape, assault, parental abuse of children, intolerance are just some of the topics that are touched on - often in very subtle ways. This book requires that the teacher "be there" for their students and to guage their reactions to what is discussed - and of course, to give them the opportunity for that discussion.
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