Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• RI.8.2 – Work Time A: Students will closely read an excerpt from The Latin American Story Finder. This excerpt is an informational text about folklore of Latin America. Students have been introduced to La Llorona in chapter 3 of the novel Summer of the Mariposas, so they have a purposeful reason to begin building more knowledge about the topic. During this close read, students focus on determining a central idea, analyzing how it has been developed through the text, and writing an objective summary. The Close Reading Guide lists the text excerpts, key questions to ask students, and instructional moves required. Continue to use discussion protocols (e.g., Think-Pair-Share, Conversation Cues, and total participation techniques) to engage all students in a collaborative discussion about the text.
• RI.8.1 – Work Time A: Students will use evidence to support their work in determining a central idea, analyzing how it has been developed through the text, and writing an objective summary.
• L.8.4 – Work Time B: Students will examine the role of affixes and relationships between words in determining the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary in a Language Dive with a sentence from an excerpt from The Latin American Story Finder.
• In this lesson, students focus on working to become ethical people by showing respect as they reflect on the content of the informational text, some of which may be familiar to students.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• The informational text makes mention of different folklore stories from Latin America. Students could research to find and read these stories.
• Students could also use the close reading note-catcher to analyze another informational text about Latin American folklore.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In previous lessons, students have been reading Summer of the Mariposas, which introduces some Mexican culture and La Llorona, a figure from Latin American folklore.

Support All Students

• The Close Reading Guide is written for the text to be read aloud to students as they read along silently; however, it is important to determine how students will read the text according to their needs. Options could include the following: reading the text aloud to the class, having students read in groups/pairs, or read independently. ▲
• Note that there is a differentiated version of Close Read: The Latin American Story Finder Excerpt, Page 1 note-catcher ▲ used in Work Time A in the supporting materials download.
• Students may need additional support with recording their answers on their note-catchers. Seat those students in a group together for support when necessary. For ELLs and students who need additional support, use the differentiated note-catcher. ▲
• In Work Time B, use strategic grouping during the Language Dive to form small groups of students who share the same home language, with one or more proficient native English-speaking students added to each group to create a balance and range of similar and diverse perspectives on the structure of the English language. ▲

Assessment Guidance

• Invite students to share their ideas with the whole group and listen for misconceptions to address as whole group teaching points. After the lesson, review students’ Close Reading note-catchers and Language Dive note-catchers, particularly the summaries, to identify common issues to use as teaching points.

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students will continue to read Summer of the Mariposas to analyze point of view. Independent research reading in which students read texts on the topic is also launched in the next lesson.