Esperanza, the main character of House on Mango Street is a dynamic character that undergoes much change from the first vignette to the last. She is the main figure in the coming of age story, and it’s essential that students understand who she is and how she changes through the course of the story. Continue reading
I love switching up the way I teach lessons. Last night, I had this great idea of changing how I teach the vignettes in House on Mango Street. What if I made my students and I switch roles? What if they were the teachers for the day? What would they teach me about the given vignettes? Continue reading
Themes are so important in House on Mango Street. From identity, home, and family to growing up, friendship, and culture, the book is filled with themes and it’s essential that students understand them. Thus I created a notes sheet and lesson designed to help students grasp the main ideas of each vignette. Continue reading
Today’s focus for Book Club is on the book, Sarah Plain and Tall, which is an easy read I selected to read with my students during the M-Th 30 minute class sessions. Continue reading
One of the major themes in House on Mango Street is growing up. As Esperanza grows up, she starts to realize things about herself and the adult world–hence why this is called a ‘coming of age’ novel! This is essential for students to understand, so I created a notes sheet to help students begin to think about this theme in selected vignettes. Continue reading
What’s better to middle and high school students than a game/competition/individual challenge? (The answer is nothing). That’s why I wanted to create an extension activity and figurative language activity that would engage my eighth graders and let them have a little fun. Continue reading
Students need a break from the same-ole-same-ole. That’s why I wanted to create a comic activity to spice things up! My students were reading “Those Who Don’t,” one of the shortest vignettes in House on Mango Street. Instead of a discussion, I wanted them to think deeply about the theme in the vignette and create a comic representation of what was happening–my goal was to get them to think critically and create their own visual! Continue reading
My students finish assessments at different points–this is a given–but it makes it essential to create extension activities and keep them busy and focused on the classroom curriculum. For an extension activity once my students were finished with their I Am Assessments, I created this–a reading and writing activity for the vignette “Darius & the Clouds” which we were not reading as a large group. Continue reading
I’m excited for today’s activity! For the past two weeks I’ve worked with my eighth grade students on understanding figurative language. They did Notes, the My Figurative Language Family assignment for practice, and now this will be their actual assessment–but a fun one! Continue reading
