Research a Monster from Latin American Folklore | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M1:U2:L7

Research a Monster from Latin American Folklore

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • W.8.7, W.8.8

Supporting Standards: These are the standards that are incidental—no direct instruction in this lesson, but practice of these standards occurs as a result of addressing the focus standards.

  • RI.8.10, W.8.3, SL.8.1, L.8.6
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can research to choose a monster from folklore of Latin America for my narrative. (W.8.7, W.8.8)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket (W.8.8)
  • Work Time B: Student-created research note-catcher (W.8.7, W.8.8)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Research Model: Monster from Latin American Folklore - W.8.7 (15 minutes)

B. Research Practice: Monster from Latin American Folklore - W.8.8 (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Choose a Monster - W.8.3 (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text: Students should preread chapter 17 of Summer of the Mariposas in preparation for studying an excerpt from the chapter in the next lesson.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • W.8.7 – Work Time B: Students will conduct short research projects to answer inquiries about the monster they chose to research.
  • W.8.8 – Work Time B: Students will use relevant search terms and the internet to research and choose a monster to use in the narrative. They are guided through the process of researching using the Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference). If technology isn’t available for students to research online, use the websites in the Technology and Multimedia section and print articles.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Students may research the other monsters from Latin American folklore for homework. Students may write about the origins and cultural impact of these monsters on people in Latin America.
  • Students may research a monster from another culture and compare the origins and folklore to the monster they researched in their learning center.
  • Students may create an artistic expression of one of the monsters they learned about during the whole class share out.
  • Students may write an objective summary of a theme that is present in two or more of the monster folklore legends discussed during the class share out.
  • Students may role play a potential encounter between one of the monsters and the Garza sisters in Summer of the Mariposas.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • In the previous lessons, students read Summer of the Mariposas, discussed the point of view of different characters, and identified themes within the story. In Lesson 6, students analyzed a model narrative and identified the characteristics they should include in their own stories. This lesson introduces students to monsters in Latin American folklore that they can explore in the narratives they create.

Support All Students

  • Some students may find the content scary. Identify students who may be sensitive to these materials in advance, and identify sources appropriate for those students to work with. Also work with those students as they research as necessary. 
  • Students may need support with conducting research in a limited amount of time. Encourage students who struggle with reading and time management to focus on the materials available at the learning center instead of using the internet to conduct research. Preselect websites for students to conduct their research.
  • Students may need support reading the provided materials at each learning center. Prepare a variety of texts at different reading levels and include visuals. Highlight the most relevant facts in the provided texts for students. ▲
  • Students may work together to draft a summary about their monster on paper. Other students in the group can sketch an imagined visual of their monster to present to the class during the whole group share. ▲
  • In Work Time A and B students will read about monsters from Latin American folklore. Some students may be sensitive to scary stories or to mythological creatures. Consider discussing this task with families, individual students, or groups as needed.
  • Students may want to spend more time researching each monster and taking notes. Schedule an extra period for exploration and research.

Assessment Guidance

  • Monitor students’ I Notice/I Wonder note-catchers to ensure they are on the right track for reading and making inferences about the research on their monster.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will create a character profile for their monster based on the Latin American folklore research from this lesson. Students will also create a setting for their monster based on the plot in Summer of the Mariposas. Students will develop aspects of their story and ultimately write a narrative.

In Advance

  • Prepare the following:
    • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7
    • Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference).
  • Work with a technology teacher to support students in participating in internet research.
  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7 at each student's workspace.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 8.I.A.1, 8.I.A.4, 8.I.B.6, 8.I.B.7, 8.I.B.8, 8.II.A.1, 8.I.C.10, 8.I.C.12, and 8.II.A.1.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson engages students in a scaffolded research task that connects directly to previous work with Summer of the Mariposas and the narrative writing task. Students carry out structured research on monsters from Latin American folklore in small groups using preselected resources.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to synthesize information from multiple sources to include on their note-catchers. Use strategic grouping in this lesson to pair ELLs with peers with strong English language proficiency. Encourage students to ask their families for stories about monsters or other supernatural beings that could be compared with those introduced in the novel as a way of bringing students' individual cultural backgrounds into the experience as students explore traditional and modernized tales of legends. 

Vocabulary

  • N/A 

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Performance Task anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time B)
  • Criteria for an Effective Literary Summary anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 2, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
  • Model Narrative: "Peuchen" (one per student; from Unit 2, Lesson 6, Work Time A)
  • "The Peuchen" (one per student; from Unit 2, Lesson 6, Work Time D)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7 (answers for teacher reference)

  • Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference)
  • Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7 (one per student)
  • Choose and Use Credible Internet Sources (one per student and one for display)
  • Articles and texts about each monster (enough for each student to choose one)
  • Markers (one per student)
  • Paper (one piece per student)

Assessment

Each unit in the 6-8 Language Arts Curriculum has two standards-based assessments built in, one mid-unit assessment and one end of unit assessment. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize students' understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: As students arrive, invite them to complete Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as previous lessons.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Research Model: Monster from Latin American Folklore – W.8.7 (15 minutes)

  • Review appropriate learning target relevant to the work to be completed in this section of the lesson:

“I can research to choose a monster from folklore of Latin America for my narrative.”

  • Remind students of the question they responded to on Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 7 as they entered the classroom:

1. When researching to find out more about monsters in folklore of Latin America, which of the following do you think would be the most effective search terms?

a) Folklore Latin America (This doesn’t contain monster—we are looking for information about monsters.)

b) Monster folklore (This doesn’t include Latin America and therefore could bring up monsters in any folklore.)

c) Monster folklore Latin America (Correct. This contains all of the necessary search terms.)

d) Monsters in Folklore of Latin America (This one will work, but has lots of unnecessary words.) 

  • Confirm the correct answer, and explain while using the descriptions in parentheses above.
  • Remind students of the Performance Task anchor chart and that they will be writing their own scene for Summer of the Mariposas modernizing a monster from the folklore of Latin America.
  • Display the Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference), and use the criteria to model researching:
    • Using a search engine: Display a search engine (such as Google) and model using the correct search terms in the selected response question in the opening activity or have a knowledgeable student do so.
    • Determining the relevance of sources: Model scanning the results page to identify the relevance of sources. Explain that relevance means “related to what is being discussed” and give examples from everyday life:

“If we are talking about our favorite fruit and I bring up shoes, my comment will have no relevance in this discussion. But if I bring up apples, then my comment does have relevance in this discussion.” 

    • If necessary, use visuals or sketches to illustrate relevance (pictures of fruit and a picture of shoes with question mark or x through it). 
    • Model scanning the results page and asking,

“Does this source look like it will answer my question?” Invite students to join in evaluating the relevance of the sources.

    • Determining the Credibility of Sources: Once relevant sources have been identified, explain that the next step is determining the credibility of a source. Explain that credibility means “being believable.” Distribute Choose and Use Credible Internet Sources, and read aloud the first bullet (about the publisher), asking students to follow along. Model using these criteria to evaluate the relevant sources on the results page. Invite students to join in evaluating the credibility of the sources. Click on one of the sources and read aloud each of the other bullet points from the Choose and Use Credible Internet Sources handout, using them as a checklist to verify the credibility of the source. Invite students to join in evaluating the credibility of the source. If students need additional support or practice, display several different sources and ask students to work together to label them as credible or not.
    • Gathering Information: Making a Note-Catcher: Ask students to Turn and Talk about what kinds of information they need to gather in order to be able to write a narrative modernizing a monster. Invite students to retrieve their copies of “The Peuchen” and remind students this was the information the author used to write the model narrative. Explain that students will create their own note-catcher to record information. As a class, generate a list of the information that should be on the note-catcher, and record on the board physical characteristics—what it looks like and what it does to victims.
    • Gathering Information: Paraphrasing and Quoting: Model skimming and scanning the first one or two paragraphs of the source for information. Model taking notes on the board if necessary.
    • Gathering Information: Citing Sources: Model using the citing sources format at the bottom of the Researchers Do These Things anchor chart (example for teacher reference) to cite the model source. Invite students to help find each item (author’s last and first name, article title, website, etc.). Consider even making the finding of items like a game—the first to find the item shouts it out or runs up and points it out.

For Lighter Support

  • In Work Time A, to further students’ understanding of how to use search terms effectively, extend the discussion by having students experiment with the search term options provided. Invite students to share with the class what they find using each one. This will give students tangible examples of the results that search terms yield. 

B. Research Practice: Monster from Latin American Folklore - W.8.8 (20 minutes)

  • Distribute paper and give students 5 minutes to draw a note-catcher to capture their research notes. For students who struggle to organize their thinking suggest the following:
    • Name of Monster:
    • What does it look like?
    • What does it do to victims?
    • Source
  • Tell students they are likely to see many different monsters that interest them, so they should collect information about those they would like to write about and modernize in a new scene of Summer of the Mariposas.
  • Invite students to begin researching.
  • Circulate to support students as they research and identify common issues to use as teaching points.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

For Lighter Support

  • During Work Time B, for students who are using the suggested note-catcher, encourage them to start filling in information by first drawing the monster in Column B before adding a verbal description. This will help students to clarify their vision of the monster before putting their thinking into words. 

For Heavier Support

  • During Work Time B, display a list of key questions to answer about the monster being researched to guide students as they create a note-catcher and carry out their research:
    • What does the monster do? 
    • Where does the monster live? 
    • Where did the monster come from, and when?
    • What is most dangerous about this monster?
  • Use "The Peuchen" as an example, and answer the questions together as a class to demonstrate how students might approach using the informational texts they will use for research. As an enrichment activity, students can also use these questions to investigate stories of other monsters from folklore with their families. 

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

A. Choose a Monster - W.8.3 (5 minutes)

  • Direct students to Think-Pair-Share about the following questions:

"What monsters from Latin American Folklore did you learn about?"

"Are any of these monsters compelling characters for your narrative? Why?"

  • Invite students to choose one of the monsters they researched to use in their narrative.
  • Use total participation techniques to select students to share their chosen monster and the information they collected about the monster.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.

For Lighter Support

  • N/A

For Heavier Support

  • Provide sentence starters for students to use while sharing about the monster they have selected 
    • "The monster lives in . . ."
    • "The monster came from . . ." 
    • "The monster has . . ." 
    • "The monster is dangerous because . . ."
  • For additional support, provide examples of sentences using these stems (e.g., "The monster is dangerous because he eats people who live in the woods"). 

Homework

Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text

Students should preread chapter 17 of Summer of the Mariposas in preparation for studying an excerpt from the chapter in the next lesson.

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