Introduce Themes: Summer of the Mariposas | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA 2019 G8:M1:U1:L12

Introduce Themes: Summer of the Mariposas

In this Lesson

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Focus Standards: These are the standards the instruction addresses.

  • RL.8.1, RL.8.2

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

  • I can demonstrate understanding of the excerpt of chapter 10 of Summer of the Mariposas.
  • I can identify themes in Summer of the Mariposas and how they have developed over the course of the text. (RL.8.1, RL.8.2)

Ongoing Assessment

  • Opening A: Entrance Ticket (L.8.1)
  • Closing and Assessment A: Theme and evidence on index cards (RL.8.1, RL.8.2)

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Read Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 10 Excerpt (15 minutes)

B. Introduce Themes: Summer of the Mariposas - RL.8.2 (20 minutes) 

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Reflect on Learning Targets (5 minutes)

4. Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text: Students should preread chapter 11 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

  • RL.8.2 – Work Time B: Students will examine the narrator’s point of view thus far in the novel to reveal the themes, or messages, that the author believes are important.
  • RL.8.1 – Work Time B: Students will use evidence to support their analysis of theme.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

  • Have students identify an additional theme on their own, finding supporting evidence for this theme across multiple chapters of the text.
  • Encourage students to identify the theme in several popular novels and movies. If some students are taught about theme in advance, they could aid in delivering this lesson by preparing visuals (posters, slideshows) in advance that illustrate examples of themes in well-known texts and movies.

How It Builds on Previous Work

  • Previously, students have found the gist of each chapter of text and have also analyzed the points of view of various characters in the text. Having this basic idea of what is happening throughout the plot while also thinking about character perspectives and how they impact the reader will help students consider what message(s) about the real world the author is trying to convey.

Support All Students

  • At this point in the unit, students should be familiar with the reading routine. Facilitate opportunities for students to vary the routine of their in-class reading (e.g., encourage them to switch their reading partner[s] or read independently in a new part of the classroom).
  • Students may need additional support discerning theme from topic. Remind students that the themes of a text are the statements or observations that an author is making about life or the “real world.” It is a message rooted in the text but relevant to a broader audience. The author reveals his or her opinion on a topic through a recurring theme in the text (e.g., “Good always triumphs over evil” is a theme; “folklore of Latin America” is a topic). 
  • Pair students in home language groups to allow for deep discussions of theme. Allow peers to translate important points during whole class discussion to ensure that ELLs understand the concept of theme and its representation in the novel. ▲
  • Chapter 10 again brings up the potentially sensitive topic of the supernatural. The girls meet with a seer who tells them about Cecilia’s desire to plague the girls with her “immortal children crafted by the devil himself” and lets the girls know they will encounter a warlock, a chupacabra, and evil owls. As previously noted, supernatural content may be scary or a may be a restricted topic for some students. Allow for time to process and respond to these topics during discussion, and reach out to families as needed. 

Assessment Guidance

  • Review student themes and supporting evidence after the lesson to check whether they are on the right track. Use common issues as teaching points for the whole group in the next lesson on theme.

Down the Road

  • In the next lesson, students will generate discussion norms in preparation for a discussion in the end of unit assessment. In the next unit, students will continue to analyze the development of theme in Summer of the Mariposas.

In Advance

  • Prepare the following:
    • Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 12
    • Determine the Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart
  • Ensure there is a copy of Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 12 at each student's workspace.
  • Post the learning targets and applicable anchor charts (see Materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Work Time A: Students complete their notes online—for example, using Google Forms—or they complete it in a word-processing document, such as a Google Doc, using speech-to-text facilities activated on devices or using an app or software such as http://eled.org/0103.

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 provides opportunities for students to consider and identify the real-world messages that Guadalupe Garcia McCall wants us to take away from Summer of the Mariposas and how these messages are developed throughout the text. 
  • ELLs may find it challenging to grasp the concept of theme, at first. Remind them that they have successfully navigated unfamiliar concepts (like point of view) before, and that it's normal if their understanding develops over time. Pair students who share a home language during discussions of theme in Closing and Assessment A to facilitate rich discussion. 

Vocabulary

  • develops (A)
  • themes (DS)

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)
  • Domain-specific word wall (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, Work Time A)
  • Chart paper of Spanish words (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart (one for display; from Unit 1, Lesson 4, Opening B)
  • Text Guide: Summer of the Mariposas (for teacher reference) (Unit 1, Lesson 2, Work Time A)
  • Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart (example for teacher reference; from Unit 1, Lesson 1, 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)

New Materials

Teacher

Student

  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 12 (answers for teacher reference)
  • Determine Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart (example for teacher reference)
  • Determine Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart (co-created during Work Time B)
  • Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 12 (one per student)
  • Synopsis: Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 10 (one per student)
  • Sticky notes (one per student)
  • Index cards (one 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

OpeningLevels of Support

A. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: As they arrive, students complete Entrance Ticket: Unit 1, Lesson 12.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as with 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 in previous lessons.
  • Repeated routine: Follow the same routine to focus students on the word themes (the messages of the story, lessons, or truths that can apply to the story itself and to the world outside of the book) and develops (builds over time) and to use a dictionary to define the words or the vocabulary strategies on the Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart. With students' support, record the meaning of themes on the domain-specific word wall and the meaning of develops on the academic word wall. Invite students to record the words in their vocabulary logs. 

For Lighter Support

  • Add additional run-on sentences for students to analyze to deepen students' understanding of sentence structure and to provide further opportunity for practice.

For Heavier Support

  • Have students work in groups to generate run-on sentences for their classmates to edit. Working in this way will require students to think carefully about the structure of sentences and how we use punctuation to communicate ideas clearly.

Work Time

Work TimeLevels of Support

A. Read Summer of the Mariposas, Chapter 10 Excerpt (15 minutes)

  • Repeated routine: Follow the same process as with previous lessons for students to read the excerpt of chapter 10 of Summer of the Mariposas, using the Text Guide:  Summer of the Mariposas (for teacher reference). Instruct students to read the excerpt 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 10 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: How the sisters meet the seer, who tells them they will face three big trials on their journey.
  • Prompt students to Turn and Talk about aspects of Habits of Character they read about in Chapter 10. Refer to the Work to Become Ethical People anchor chart, as needed. 

"In what ways do the characters behave with integrity or compassion in this chapter?" (Answers will vary, but might include when Odilia guides the sisters to Teresita's house and shows bravery as she takes them on the next unknown step of their journey, she is being compassionate to her sisters. )

For Lighter Support

  • In advance, write themes from the Summer of the Mariposas on sticky notes and read them aloud to students while distributing them. ELLs can choose ones that they feel apply to the discussion. For example:
    • Culture shapes who we are.
    • Things are not always at they seem.
    • Bonds between siblings are important.

For Heavier Support

  • Invite students to orally "complete" the Determine Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart in home language small groupings. Then they can write notes in their home language or English or make sketches as placeholders, and, finally, discuss in English with the whole class. 

B. Introduce Themes: Summer of the Mariposas - RL.8.2 (20 minutes)

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

"I can identify themes in Summer of the Mariposas and how they have developed over the course of the text."

  • Introduce the Determine Themes:  Summer of the Mariposas  anchor chart, and invite a student to read aloud the definition. Provide the example "appearances can be deceiving" that could be developed in a novel as a character encounters other characters throughout a novel that behave differently to what their appearance suggests.
  • Focus students on the non-examples, and invite students to make other suggestions of non-examples.
  • Distribute index cards. Explain that students are going to work in pairs to identify a theme in Summer of the Mariposas and that they are going to record this theme on their index cards. 
  • Remind students of the Entrance Ticket they completed at the beginning of the lesson:

"I am being rude I have not introduced myself."

"This is a run-on sentence. What do you think a run-on sentence is? How would you revise this to not be a run-on sentence?"

  • Remind students that a run-on sentence has two parts that could each be their own sentence. The revision should look like this: "I am being rude. I have not introduced myself." Tell students that as they write on their index cards, if writing sentences, they should avoid run-ons.
  • Invite students to pair up and to go back through their sticky note gist statements for each chapter and to talk with a partner about some of the recurring ideas in the text, conflicts or changes Odilia and her sisters have experienced and learned from, and any advice the girls have received from older characters. Provide the expectation that each pair should come up with one theme and two places in the novel where this theme is evident. 
  • Circulate to support students as they analyze the text. Listen for any misconceptions and clarify.
  • After 10 minutes, invite students to share out to the whole group and to suggest where in the book this theme is evident. Clarify misconceptions, and record appropriate student ideas on the Determine Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart. See Determine Themes: Summer of the Mariposas anchor chart (example for teacher reference), and ensure the suggested themes are represented in preparation for Unit 2.
  • If productive, use a Goal 1 Conversation Cue to encourage students to expand their ideas by giving examples

"Can you say more about that?"

"Can you give an example?"
  • N/A

Closing & Assessments

ClosingLevels of Support

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 belong in this academic community," and "This work has value for me."
  • Ask students to Turn and Talk:

"How did you contribute to this learning community today? How were the tasks you completed valuable to you?" (Possible responses: I shared my ideas with my classmate and helped him/her to understand something new. Working with my partner helps me to learn how to collaborate well.)

For Heavier Support

  • Invite students to reflect on the learning targets by writing a short paragraph. Reinforce work with run-on sentences in earlier portions of the lesson by having students exchange paragraphs in a strategically arranged triads with mixed-ability levels. Invite them to revise any run-on sentences in their peers' writing. This will allow students to see examples of both strong and developing writing and require them to think critically about language while also considering the reading skills targeted in the lesson. Set the tone for this activity by reminding students of habits of character to ensure compassionate and supportive collaboration. 

Homework

Homework

A. Preread Anchor Text 

  • Students should preread chapter 11 of Summer of the Mariposas in preparation for studying an excerpt from the chapter in the next lesson.

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