✅ Complete Writing Topic #11
LESSON 7: KINDNESS
Esperanza Rising (pages 158-198) written by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Esperanza devotes herself to her mother's care, as well as, to working to bring Abuelita to America. While reading this part of the novel, you will witness how Esperanza is touched by the kindness of others, and how she develops an awareness of the harsh realities facing farm workers.
The Kindness Unit will help you recognize the power of kindness. Through books and shared experiences, you will see how you can enhance your relationships by performing acts of thoughtfulness and care, and by being conscious of the impact you will feel in receiving kindness from others.
Esperanza devotes herself to her mother's care, as well as, to working to bring Abuelita to America. While reading this part of the novel, you will witness how Esperanza is touched by the kindness of others, and how she develops an awareness of the harsh realities facing farm workers.
The Kindness Unit will help you recognize the power of kindness. Through books and shared experiences, you will see how you can enhance your relationships by performing acts of thoughtfulness and care, and by being conscious of the impact you will feel in receiving kindness from others.
Quick Write
Comfort and Care
How might you take care of someone who is sick? What would you do to care for that person? Make some soup or a pot of tea? Go with them to the doctor's office? Make sure they have everything they need? Make a list of all the kind things you could do for a friend or family member who is sick.
How might you take care of someone who is sick? What would you do to care for that person? Make some soup or a pot of tea? Go with them to the doctor's office? Make sure they have everything they need? Make a list of all the kind things you could do for a friend or family member who is sick.
WORDS OF THE DAY
Review and add these words and definitions to your vocabulary tab:
repatriation (p. 170): the act of returning someone to their place of origin or ancestry
sympathy (p. 172): feeling for someone else's experience or situation
ritual (p. 176): a sequence of actions that is repeated regularly
expectancy (p. 186): the feeling or awareness of something that will happen in the future
repatriation (p. 170): the act of returning someone to their place of origin or ancestry
sympathy (p. 172): feeling for someone else's experience or situation
ritual (p. 176): a sequence of actions that is repeated regularly
expectancy (p. 186): the feeling or awareness of something that will happen in the future
Reading
Today, we will begin our Kindness Unit. Kindness is being tender toward others in the world who are in need, both near and far.
In today's reading, we will see many examples of kindness in the story. Let's take a moment to consider why kindness is important and how it affects our lives and the lives of others.
• What is an example of kindness? How does it make you feel when someone is kind to you?
• Why do you think it is important to be kind to others who are in need? How has the kindness of others affected Esperanza when her family needed help?
DURING READING
As you read, pause for discussion as noted below. Today's text begins on page 158 and ends on page 198.
AFTER PAGE 167: How did people in the farm camp show kindness to Esperanza as her mother's health got worse? How did Esperanza demonstrate kindness and care for her mother?
AFTER PAGE 172: What words and phrases helped you to visualize the women's working conditions? How did the author create a mood and show the issues and dangers the Mexican farm workers faced in California at this time in history?
AFTER PAGE 182: What details and descriptions does the author use to compare Esperanza's life in Mexico to her life in the farm camp? Why is this comparison important to the story?
AFTER PAGE 198: What did Esperanza learn about the discrimination against Mexicans on her trip to the market? What do you think caused Esperanza to show such kindness to the family at the striker's camp?
AFTER READING
Esperanza bravely faced the challenges of farm work and her mother's declining health. As she worked to raise money to bring Abuelita to America, she gained an understanding of the hardships and dangers Mexican farm workers face as well as sympathy and care for others who are in need.
•Over the course of today's reading, how did Esperanza change? What caused this change?
•What do you think are stand-out examples of kindness from today's text? How is showing tenderness toward others in need important to the story?
In today's reading, we will see many examples of kindness in the story. Let's take a moment to consider why kindness is important and how it affects our lives and the lives of others.
• What is an example of kindness? How does it make you feel when someone is kind to you?
• Why do you think it is important to be kind to others who are in need? How has the kindness of others affected Esperanza when her family needed help?
DURING READING
As you read, pause for discussion as noted below. Today's text begins on page 158 and ends on page 198.
AFTER PAGE 167: How did people in the farm camp show kindness to Esperanza as her mother's health got worse? How did Esperanza demonstrate kindness and care for her mother?
AFTER PAGE 172: What words and phrases helped you to visualize the women's working conditions? How did the author create a mood and show the issues and dangers the Mexican farm workers faced in California at this time in history?
AFTER PAGE 182: What details and descriptions does the author use to compare Esperanza's life in Mexico to her life in the farm camp? Why is this comparison important to the story?
AFTER PAGE 198: What did Esperanza learn about the discrimination against Mexicans on her trip to the market? What do you think caused Esperanza to show such kindness to the family at the striker's camp?
AFTER READING
Esperanza bravely faced the challenges of farm work and her mother's declining health. As she worked to raise money to bring Abuelita to America, she gained an understanding of the hardships and dangers Mexican farm workers face as well as sympathy and care for others who are in need.
•Over the course of today's reading, how did Esperanza change? What caused this change?
•What do you think are stand-out examples of kindness from today's text? How is showing tenderness toward others in need important to the story?
BRING THE TEXT TO LIFE: Scene Illustration
INSTRUCTIONS: Imagine that you are a book illustrator and you have been given the job of creating illustrations for Esperanza Rising. Take a few minutes to examine the words and phrases that the author uses to help us visualize Esperanza's first day working at the shed. Using these details from the text, create an illustration for this scene of the story. You may choose to focus on Esperanza or you may include all the women who are working in your drawing. You could show the women waiting, traveling on the truck, or working at the shed. You are the illustrator, so you get to make all of the artistic decisions! As you consider what you will include in your illustration, also think about how you can convey the mood of the scene in your drawing. Most importantly, remember to have fun and use your creativity!
- What did you notice about the illustrations? What details in the story were shown in the illustrations?
- Which illustrations conveyed the mood or feeling of the scene? What details or effects did the illustrator use to give the drawing this mood?
READING POWER: Analyze Word Choice
As the health of Esperanza's mother gets worse, Esperanza faces the harsh realities of life as a Mexican farm worker in America during the 1930s. The author's word choice provides us with a vivid picture of Esperanza's experiences, and it also affects the meaning and the mood of this part of the novel. Word choice is an author's selection of words based upon the meaning or feeling that the chosen words are intended to convey.
When we analyze word choice, we examine the particular words and phrases that the author uses to describe characters, events, and the setting of the story. Then we consider how these words and phrases affect our understanding the story and the story's mood, or feeling. For example, when I read page 167, I examine the words and phrases the author uses to describe Esperanza's first experience working at the shed. Words and phrases such as huddled and penetrating help me understand the cold and stark conditions in which Esperanza and the other women must work. The description of the fog creates a gloomy and mysterious mood for the scene.
When we analyze word choice, we examine the particular words and phrases that the author uses to describe characters, events, and the setting of the story. Then we consider how these words and phrases affect our understanding the story and the story's mood, or feeling. For example, when I read page 167, I examine the words and phrases the author uses to describe Esperanza's first experience working at the shed. Words and phrases such as huddled and penetrating help me understand the cold and stark conditions in which Esperanza and the other women must work. The description of the fog creates a gloomy and mysterious mood for the scene.
WRITING POWER: Kindness Storyboard
In our reading, the kindness of others made a difference in Esperanza's life, and Esperanza's kindness made a difference in the lives of others. Think about a time that someone was kind to you or a time when you were kind to someone else. When we face challenges, whether big or small, someone's kindness can impact our lives. Writing and reading about these experiences can help us better understand how kindness is important in our lives and in the stories we read. Today, you will create a storyboard with illustrations, captions, and speech bubbles to describe that event:
Clarify: Create a storyboard that tells of a time that someone was kind to you or you were kind to someone. The boxes of your storyboard should include captions, pictures, and speech bubbles to describe the key events of what happened in order.
- The first box of the storyboard should depict the setting of your story with a picture and a caption, e.g., "It was 2014, and I was a 5th grader in P.S. 201."
- Then use more boxes to describe what happened: First, Next, Then, Finally.
- The last box should show how you felt at the end of the experience
Clarify: Create a storyboard that tells of a time that someone was kind to you or you were kind to someone. The boxes of your storyboard should include captions, pictures, and speech bubbles to describe the key events of what happened in order.
SEL
Students will develop trust through collaboration in order to accomplish a task. Play Pens of Destiny. Students will hold a pen at shoulder length and do simple activities like sitting, circling, squatting while keeping their hands on the pen.