Compare and Contrast Depictions of La Llorona, Part II | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M1:U3:L5

Compare and Contrast Depictions of La Llorona, Part II

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.9

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.

  • RL.8.4, RL.8.10, SL.8.1, SL.8.4, L.8.3, L.8.4, L.8.4a, L.8.6
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Daily Learning Targets

  • I can demonstrate understanding of the excerpt of chapter 20 of Summer of the Mariposas.
  • I can compare and contrast depictions of La Llorona in La Llorona with those in Summer of the Mariposas. (RL.8.1, RL.8.9)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket (RL.8.4, L.8.4a)
  • Work Time A: Gist on sticky notes
  • Work Time B: Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (RL.8.1, RL.8.9)
  • Work Time D: Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher (RL.8.1, RL.8.3, RL.8.9)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 20 Excerpt (10 minutes)

B. Compare and Contrast Depictions of La Llorona - RL.8.9 (10 minutes)

C. Whole Group Share - RL.8.9 (5 minutes)

D. Compare and Contrast Modernized Monster - RL.8.9 (10 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflect on Learning Targets (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Compare and Contrast: Using Homework: Modernization of Characters, students compare and contrast the modernized and original depictions of a popular fairy tale character.

B. Independent Research Reading: Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

  • RL.8.3 – Work Time B: By contrasting the depiction of La Llorona in La Llorona with the depiction in Summer of the Mariposas, students will analyze how these different depictions reveal different aspects of character.
  • RL.8.9 – Work Time B: By contrasting the depiction of La Llorona in La Llorona with the depiction in Summer of the Mariposas, students will analyze how McCall drew on myths and also rendered her story new.
  • RL.8.1 – Work Time B: Students will choose strong evidence to support their contrast of the original myth of La Llorona and McCall’s reimagined telling.
  • In this lesson, students are writing the first essay about La Llorona so that they will be comfortable and confident in writing the second essay about their monster. The first is practice for the more independent writing of the second.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • In Work Time A, students can research the mythology of the Ursa Major constellation and how it connects to La Llorona’s story.
  • In Work Time A, students can research Malintzin’s historical and mythological significance and connection to La Llorona.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • The reading in this lesson builds on the previous lessons as students continue to read the Summer of the Mariposas, identify the gist of each chapter, and record new vocabulary in their vocabulary logs. 
  • In previous lessons, students read the model essay for gist and analyzed its purpose. Students read and summarized La Llorona and began comparing the depictions of La Llorona in La Llorona and in Summer of the Mariposas. Students continue to draw comparisons and then focus on how Guadalupe Garcia McCall modernized the depiction of La Llorona in order to contrast the two depictions.

Support All Students

  • In Work Time A, provide choice in how to carry out the reading portion of the lesson: some students may prefer to read independently and silently, while others (especially ELLs) may wish to read aloud in groups with peers and/or with support, while others may wish to read silently for a few pages and then process with a group. This format of choice could potentially be built into the reading time within each lesson. ▲
  • As in previous lessons, in Work Time A, present additional options for recording gist rather than just the sticky notes, such as using a separate notebook, graphic organizer, using highlighters and annotating, or a voice recorder. Additionally, give students options for expressing their understanding of gist (oral, written, drawing). Also, build in different options for expressing comprehension of the text (written reflection, voice recording, discussion with partners/groups). ▲
  • Note there is a differentiated version of the Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher used in Work Time B in the supporting materials download. ▲
  • Note there is a differentiated version of the Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher used in Work Time D in the supporting materials download. ▲
  • In Work Time B and Work Time D, allow those students proficient in making connections between the texts to work independently or in mentoring roles with other students. These students can also begin thinking about their overall interpretation of the evidence and how it may influence their essay.
  • In Work Time B and Work Time D, support students in creating a Venn diagram to provide a visual of similarities and differences between texts for visual learners. ▲

Assessment Guidance

  • Throughout Work Time A, check student vocabulary logs for accountability in recording vocabulary.
  • Check gist statements to ensure students are recording quick notes about what Summer of the Mariposas is mostly about.
  • As students compare and contrast the depictions of La Llorona in triads in Work Time B and compare and contrast their monster in Work Time D, circulate to listen for misconceptions. Once complete, review students’ compare and contrast note-catchers to ensure they are on the right track.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will learn the structure of the Painted Essay® and begin outlining an analysis with a partner based on the depiction of La Llorona in Summer of the Mariposas and La Llorona. For the end of unit assessment, students will apply these analytical skills to write a compare and contrast essay about the monster that they wrote about in their narrative in Unit 2. Students will finish the novel in the next lesson.

In Advance

  • Prepare Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 5.
  • Refer to La Llorona Compare and Contrast sample student response (for teacher reference), paragraph 3, in advance to see what students are working toward in this lesson.
  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 5 at each student's workspace.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).
  • In preparation for students Performance Task at the end of the unit, consider continuing to plan for a website launch party and inviting family and community members to attend.

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout previous modules to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided in part by CA ELD Standards 8.I.B.6, 8.I.B.7, and 8.I.B.8.

Important Points in the Lesson Itself

  • To support ELLs, this lesson builds upon the previous lesson's compare and contrast work with the La Llorona legend. Students will continue thinking about the similarities they identified between La Llorona and Summer of the Mariposas in Lesson 5, and build upon this work by considering differences as well. The use of a note-catcher to capture these identified similarities and differences serves as a tool to help students organize their evidence for the upcoming compare and contrast La Llorona essay. In Work Time D, students' evolving understanding of comparing and contrasting is applied to a new topic and set of texts: the traditional depiction of a monster in Latin American folklore and the students' own narrative writing in Unit 2 modernizing that monster.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to identify differences between the two depictions of La Llorona and between the two depictions of their monsters. Meanwhile, the parallel work with two different topics in this lesson and upcoming lessons may be confusing for some students. Continue to remind them of the end of unit assessment essay prompt to bring relevance to the tasks being carried out. Reinforce that the compare and contrast work with La Llorona is valuable practice for the same kind of writing that they will be doing on the end of unit assessment, but that the topic that they will be writing about is their own monster.

Vocabulary

  • contrast, depictions, rivulet (A)

Key

(A): Academic Vocabulary

(DS): Domain-Specific Vocabulary

Materials from Previous Lessons

Teacher

Student

  • Academic word wall (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Opening A)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 4, Opening B)
  • Chart paper of Spanish words (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Text Guide: Summer of the Mariposas (for teacher reference) (Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time D)
  • Equity sticks
  • Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (for teacher reference) (from Unit 3, Lesson 4, Work Time B)
  • Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart (one for display; from Module 1, Unit 2, Lessons 4-5, Work Time D)

  • Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
  • Summer of the Mariposas (text; one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time C)
  • Vocabulary logs (one per student; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Opening A)
  • Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (one per student) (from Unit 3,
  • Lessons 4–5, Work Time B)
  • Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher ▲ (from Unit 3, Lessons 4–5, Work Time B)
  • La Llorona by Joe Hayes (one per student; from Unit 3, Lesson 3, Work Time A)
  • Completed narrative from End of Unit 2 Assessment with feedback (one per student, returned in Unit 3, Lesson 2, Opening A)
  • Storyboard graphic organizer (one per student, from Unit 2, Lesson 9, Work Time A)
  • Synopsis: Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 20 (one per student)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 5 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher (for teacher reference)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 3, Lesson 5 (one per student)
  • Synopsis: Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 20
  • Sticky notes (one per student)
  • Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher (one per student)
  • Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher ▲ 
  • Homework: Modernization of Characters (one per student; in Unit 3 Homework Resources)

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 3, Lesson 5.
  • Once all students are ready, invite students to Turn and Talk about their entrance ticket. Ask them the following sequence of questions: 

"What meaning did you determine for the meaning of the word rivulet?" (A very small stream.)

"How did you come up with that definition? What clues did the context give you?" (Student responses will vary, but may include how the word thin precedes the word rivulet, so we can infer that a rivulet is small. The sentence also says that a rivulet "of a tear fell." A rivulet must contain water. If it is falling down quietly, it must not be very large or wide. Moreover, the suffix -let means small (e.g., anklet, starlet, booklet) and since there is a tear, which contains water, riv- could refer to a river.)

"What words could you replace it with to have a similar meaning?" (Small river.)

  • Invite a student to add rivulet and its definition to the academic word wall, with translations in home languages where appropriate.
  • 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.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine to focus students on the words contrast (to note the differences between two things) and depictions (description of someone or something) in the learning targets and to use a dictionary to define the words. With students' support, record the meanings of the words on the academic word wall. Invite students to record the terms in their vocabulary logs. 
  • Students may also use the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart to deconstruct each term and add any relevant notes to the vocabulary strategies on this chart.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Read Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 20 Excerpt (10 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same process as with previous lessons for students to read chapter 20 of Summer of the Mariposas, using the Text Guide: Summer of the Mariposas (for teacher reference). Instruct students to read the chapter independently and support struggling students as needed. If students do not finish reading the chapter within the allotted reading time, distribute Synopsis: Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 20 to each student to review the key details from the chapter. Then have students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary, add words to the chart paper of Spanish words, reflect on their reading as they choose, and record the gist on sticky notes using the following resources as appropriate: vocabulary logs and Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart.
  • Gist: Odilia discovers the roses are for La Llorona, not Mama.
  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.
  • N/A

B. Compare and Contrast Depictions of La Llorona – RL.8.9 (10 minutes) 

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

“I can compare and contrast depictions of La Llorona in La Llorona with those in Summer of the Mariposas.” 

  • Invite students to retrieve their Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher. Reorient students to the handout and be sure they notice that they will be working with the right side (contrast side) of the note-catcher in this lesson. For ELLs and students who require additional support, the Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher ▲ can be used for this activity to help guide students’ thinking. This resource includes sentence starters to help students articulate comparison and contrast points. 
  • Briefly model how to complete the right side of the note-catcher by asking students to Think-Pair-Share about differences between the depictions of La Llorona in La Llorona and Summer in the Mariposas. See Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (for teacher reference). If necessary, prompt students with questions such as "What causes La Llorona’s children to drown in each text? What kind of person is La Llorona in each text?" 
  • Ask students to take out copies of La Llorona and Summer of the Mariposas. Tell students that the purpose of this activity is to gather more facts and evidence from the two texts that reveal difference in the two depictions of La Llorona. 
  • Instruct students to work with a partner to revisit La Llorona and Summer of the Mariposas, pages 46–55, searching for facts and evidence to record on their Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher.
  • Prior to setting students out to work, ask them to review the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, citing ways in which they hope to show perseverance in today’s partner work.
  • Circulate and support students as they plan, prompting students to notice and record specific words and phrases from the texts that demonstrate the similarities between the depiction of La Llorona in La Llorona and the depiction in Summer of the Mariposas. Refer to the Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (for teacher reference).

For Lighter Support

  • In Work Time B, as in Lesson 4, as an alternative to using the Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher ▲, display a list of categories or key phrases to help guide students’ thinking during the La Llorona contrasting activity (e.g., La Llorona’s appearance; La Llorona’s children; key events in the legend).
  • Use the Model Essay: “Peuchen” compare and contrast points to model all the available choices for how students might plan using their Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher (e.g., write full sentences, jot, and sketch their ideas) to empower students to make the decision that works best for their planning style).

For Heavier Support

  • In Work Time B, as in Lesson 4, provide students with a list that includes accurate contrast points of the two versions of the La Llorona legend, as well as some red herrings. Students can choose appropriate items from the list to include in their own list of differences between the informational text and the novel (e.g., “In the original tale, La Llorona drowns her children, but in the novel, the children fall into the river themselves”). Carrying out the task using this support will not only help students as they organize their thinking, but it will also create an opportunity for students to practice thinking about the meaning of isolated sentences as they evaluate items on the list. 

C. Whole Group Share – RL.8.9 (5 minutes)

  • Refer to Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher (for teacher reference) as necessary.
  • Use equity sticks to invite responses from the group:

“What are the differences between the depiction of La Llorona in La Llorona and Summer in the Mariposas?” (Responses may include the following: In La Llorona, she seized her two children and threw them into the river. In Summer of the Mariposas, she did not throw them, they fell. In La Llorona, she is cruel, angry, and a danger to children. In Summer of the Mariposas, she is protecting the girls and teaching them to be kind and humble.)

  • Invite a student to record student responses on an overhead display or board during the share-out to provide visual, written reinforcement of the differences discussed. Encourage students to check their own list of comparisons against the group-compiled one and add any new facts or evidence that is shared. ▲
  • If productive, use a Goal 2 Conversation Cue to encourage students to listen carefully:

“Who can repeat what your classmate said?” (Responses will vary.)

  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.
  • Remind students that they will use the Compare and Contrast La Llorona note-catcher to plan their practice essay and ensure that they are meeting all criteria for a strong informative essay.
  • N/A

D. Compare and Contrast Modernized Monster – RL.8.9 (10 minutes)

  • Remind students that they will write an essay about how they modernized a monster from Latin American folklore in their narrative from Unit 2 for the end of unit assessment:

“What about your monster from folklore of Latin American have you kept the same and what have you modernized in the new scene you have written for Summer of the Mariposas? Why?”

  • Distribute the Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher. Students will use this note-catcher to identify the similarities and differences between the depiction of their monster in Latin American folklore and the modernized depiction in their narrative. For ELLs and students who require additional support, the Compare and Contrast Monster note-catcher ▲ can be used for this activity to help guide students’ thinking. This resource includes sentence starters to help students articulate comparison and contrast points. 
  • Invite students to retrieve the following materials:
    • Completed narrative from End of Unit 2 Assessment with feedback
    • Storyboard graphic organizer
  • Circulate and support students as they plan, prompting students to notice specific words and phrases from the texts that demonstrate the similarities and differences between the depiction of their monster in Latin American folklore and the depiction in their narrative from Unit 2. 
  • Encourage students to use sketching as a method for activating their knowledge of how their monsters are portrayed in traditional folklore and their own narratives from Unit 2. ▲
  • Remind students that they will be returning to this activity when they plan their essay in Lesson 11 and will have a chance to deepen and refine the connections they’ve identified today.
  • N/A

Closing & Assessments

Closing

A. Reflect on Learning Targets (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Invite students to reflect on their progress toward the relevant learning targets.
  • Incorporate reflection on and awareness of the following academic mindsets: "I can succeed at this," and "My ability and competence grow with my effort."
  • Ask students to Turn and Talk about the following sequence of questions: 

"What helped you to be successful at that task? How much effort did you put in on this task? How did your effort affect your learning?" (Possible responses: I was successful at that task because I collaborated with my classmates. I also used my dictionary when I needed to know the meaning of a new word.)

Homework

Homework

A. Compare and Contrast

  • Using Homework: Modernization of Characters, students compare and contrast the modernized and original depictions of a popular fairy tale character.

B. Independent Research Reading

  • Students read for at least 20 minutes in their independent research reading text. Then they select a prompt and write a response in their independent reading journal.

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