Click here for lessons for Esperanza Introduction and Chapter 1
Click here for lessons for Esperanza Chapters 2, 3 and 4
Click here for lessons for Esperanza Chapters 5, 6 and 7

Day 7: Review Chapter 1-7, Read Ch 8 & 9

When I had done this lesson, it was the week after Spring Break so with there being a week off since we read Esperanza, I wanted to come back and do a review activity in which the students could review what happened in Chapters 1-7.

PowerPoint for Chapters 8 & 9

(25 min) Jigsaw: In groups of 4, each student is assigned a number. Then tell students to go to the group with all of their numbers. Split into smaller groups if needed. (If 8 students are #1, split into 2 #1 expert groups). If in original group only has 3 members, then when they join back together they will learn the fourth topic from another team. If group of 5, two students are assigned one topic and instructed to work together. Set timer for each of following things and keep students on track and speaking in target language for the short timed portions.

• (8 min) In expert groups, students review the chapters they are assigned and create 5 sentences in Spanish (at least 5 word sentences) that best capture what happened in the chapters.  For B DAY FIT write 4 sentence in 6 minutes.
• (12 min) Once finished, students go back to original groups and each share their 5 sentences (set timer 2 min, 30 sec per person). Person 1 and 2 draw Ch 5-7 (5 min) and 3 & 4 draw 1-4 (5 min)– 4 drawings each as other members share again what they wrote. For B DAY FIT only have to draw 2 sentences in 3 minutes each group.  

(10 min) Review vocabulary Ch 1-7 – TPR Review – say words and students do the actions, remind students need to know words for next week’s quiz, homework is Quizlet over these words. Have students quiz their partner – set timer one minute for each person to quiz – say a word in Spanish and partner acts it out and says meaning.

(5 min) Write down these important words: el sindicato, la huelga, la frontera, esperanza and Ch 8 and 9 vocab

(15 min) TPR and PQA Ch 8 and 9: lleva (llevar), puede (poder o-ue), para (parar), sigue (seguir e-i), el abogado, está desesperado/a

(15 min) Read Ch 8 – Teacher reads while students do the motions for each vocabulary word (teacher does along with class) and teacher pauses along the way having students answer the Qué pasa en… with a partner, then call on a volunteer to answer for class for stamp. This activity is on my PowerPoint and was taken from Martina Bex's Ch 8 Esquema.

(10 min) Review facts from last week’s quiz about Immigration and Asylum – focus on main causes as well as what asylum is and the challenges for attaining it. They will see Esperanza in her attempt of getting political asylum. Why is she be applying for this? Try to integrate this essential question: ¿Qué deberes tiene el estado? Based on the US offering asylum in these situations, what does this show you about what the US believes are the right of citizens and the obligations of a nation? - have students answer with partner

(10 min) In Pairs: Begin reading Ch 9 together out loud.

Day 8: Chapters 9 & 10

PowerPoint for Chapter 10

(15 min) Warmup: In Pairs: Finish reading Ch 9 with partner. Fill out a four square story map on warmup calendar together. One box: Stressful moments, Another: Hopeful moments, One box: A question  Another box: Something important

(10 min) Review with the This or That PP on Stress or Hope from Martina Bex – show slide and have students say to partner if Causa Esperanza o Causa Estrés with partner – after showing all slides then go back thru and call on volunteer to share answer to class.  

(10 min) Talk with partner about the practice vocabulary questions for quiz

(20 min) Verbal Prediction with partner – what will happen at end of the book? Teacher reads Chapter 10 to class as students follow along and act out as vocabulary appears (last review of vocab before quiz next week!) – teacher acts along if needed. Read Epilogue to class.

(3 min) Descanso Cerebral: Simón Dice – set timer 3 minutes and have a student be the caller for the class, whoever is not out at end of 3 minutes gets a stamp.

(15 min) Show sections from Well Founded Fear which documents the US asylum process – shows the difficulty of being an asylum officer and the difficulty of granting asylum.
Watch Part 1: Start 2:40-4:02 and then 9:08-10:50
Watch Part 2: Glady’s – El Salvador start 3:44-7:32 and then start 8:02-11:25

It was a great novel and the students enjoyed it and enjoyed the comprehensibility of it! I had a student come to me afterward and asked if he could borrow a book to read to his grandmother who is Guatemalan. Wow!

Click here for Introduction and Chapter 1 of Esperanza
Click here for Esperanza Chapters 2, 3 and 4

Day 5: Chapters 4 & 5
(15 min) We didn't quite finish chapter 4 the other day, so we started by finishing Ch 4. I read it outloud to student and they listened they filled out the last scene (estación de autobuses) of Martina Bex's esquema for Ch 4 in sheet protector with a thin dry erase marker. Went over answers for stamps and then I showed pic of Guatemala City to Chiapas, Mexico on my PowerPoint.

Remember my classes are 90 minutes long so for the remainder of class we did the following
(15 min) TPR Vocabulary for Ch 5: llega, gente, le da & for Ch 6: está triste, parece, toma.  Personalized Question and Answer for Ch 5.  Have students use reactions during PQA!!

(15 min) Chapter 5 Silent Reading: Students read chapter 5 alone and answer the 8 questions on warmup calendar. Silent reading 10 minutes, give extension if needed, go over answers. Click here for the Chapter 5 PowerPoint with questions.

(3 min) Descanso Cerebral: Simón Dice

(20 min) Read to class Chapter 5, act out from beginning of Ch 5 to pg 27 (scene on bus) – up front have chairs/desks lined up like a bus, put a scene on screen/board (draw fake windows), on the other side of room draw a house with Alberto standing outside. Teacher is Esperanza, have actors for Lili, Ricardito, a few people for “gente” including one man, and two soldiers. Give actors fake quetzals (Esperanza needs 300 quetzales, rest can have 100). Give actors a copy of story highlighted on their role. Teacher reads story as students and teacher act out.

(15 min) Chapter 5 Word Sort activity by Martina Bex with partner – have the pieces cut up and placed in envelopes. Following instructions are from Martina.

1. Explain to the students that they must split up the words into categories. They must create their own categories for the words, but they may not create categories like “words” or “other”. They must fit every word into a category, and no category should have fewer than three words. (Try to include several words that don’t fit in well with anything else to make the activity more challenging!) They could keep it simple and do “people”, “places”, “things”, “adjectives”, etc., or they could try to be a bit more creative: create one category for each person or event, and put everything that has to do with that person or event in that category. Depending on which text you use, students can come up with some pretty awesome categories!!
2. As they work, walk around the room and ask students to explain to you (in the target language) what their categories are and why the words in it fit into that category. You will find that they come up with some pretty far-fetched and creative explanations to fit certain words together!
3. If a group finishes early, have them create new categories and re-organize the words.
   

Day 6: Chapters 5 & 6

(15 min) Review vocab from Ch 5/6 – múestrenme and then give groups of 3-4 one minute to go round robin and each say a sentence about what has been happened so far using just their vocab notes (no books) and keep going around till minute is up. Give them another minute this time saying you want them say 4-5 word sentences. Call on groups to share with class. Introduce and quickly TPR words for Ch 7: hacia, camina, va, paga

(20 min) Show picture of Presidente Cerezo – they will read about him in Ch 6.  Students take a quiz on cellphones on Socrative about the article about Immigation from Guatemala and Asylum.  When finished, quietly read Ch 6.  Chapter 6 and 7 PowerPoint

(15 min) Once all are finished, have students finish reading Ch 6 with partner and answer the questions from Martina Bex's esquema on warmup calendar (10 questions). Go over for stamps and then collect stamp pages and warmup calendars

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Guerra de Pulgares

(20 min) Teacher gives choice (either  calls on volunteers to read portions of Ch 7 to students as they follow along or teacher read to class) – have them pay attention to the time periods mentioned by looking at Martina Bex's esquema 7 but don’t write anything down. Clarify when needed.

(7 min) Assign each pair one of the 8 times on the cronología detallada –esquema 7 – They discuss the missing details for that time frame and do a Quick Draw (5 min): on a piece of paper draw picture of what is happening. They need to be able to say in Spanish the 5 facts. One is person A and the other B. 

(8 min) Slide the Line: One person is A and another is B. Stand across from one another and A has the paper. Person B slides down one time for a new partner. Persona A explains to this new partner including the 5 facts. This person B learns from that person A about that time period and then teacher tells person B to slide down again. Person B who just learned about it, has to explain. Person A can help by asking the questions on board (¿Qué hace?, ¿Dónde está?  and explain to next person coming. Keep switching back and forth while sliding. Students will have to pay attention since in just minutes is presenting the information.

Day 3: Chapter 2 and intro 3
Today was an 83 minute day. Click here to see what I did Days 1 & 2 (Intro and Chapter 1 of Esperanza)
Many ideas came from Martina Bex's blog so be sure to check there too!

(25 min) TPR Vocabulary for Ch 2: espera, llora, regresa, está contento/a, duerme and recycle/review Ch 1 vocabulary. See Chapter 2 and Intro Ch 3 PowerPoint.

(15 min) Free Reading: Students read Ch 2 on own and complete a four square story map (from Martina Bex) as they read the book. After free reading, have students hold up find 0-5 for comprehension.

(12 min) Choose 2 actors – teacher reads the story and plays the mom (Esperanza) while the two play the kids. Provide a copy to the actors with their lines highlighted. (If no volunteers then have ALL students act it out at their seat with a partner – one be Liliana and the other Ricardito and they have to say lines to partner) while teacher reads the narrator portion and acts out mom. This wasn't an issue for my classes! They were excited to see it acted out but just in case. :)

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos. See my PowerPoint above.

(15 min) Hand out envelopes of the Martina Bex's Ch 2 timeline activity and students assemble the timeline with partner. Raise hand and receive a stamp for finishing.  Martina has it where students cut and glue to the page but I just made a class set and put in envelopes and had them just place on without gluing.

(10 min) TPR vocabulary for Ch 3: está preocupado/a, le responde, tengo miedo, le (me) dice and recycle vocabulary from previous chapters (will be in Ch 3 again). Can do PQA (personalized question & answer with vocab)

It was a successful day! Great novel thanks to Carol Gaab and great activities thanks for Martina Bex!

Day 4: Chapter 3 and 4
Today was a 90 minute period. Chapter 3 has a scene in regards to Huelgas (strikes) and made for a perfect was to work on the essential question in regards to Global Challenges: ¿Qué derechos y deberes tienes como ciudadano?

(15 min) Quickly TPR the new words written and practiced yesterday and go over the PQA if didn’t get to it

(15 min) Teacher reads Ch 3 – clarify and explain pieces of the story that need clarification.

(15 min) Post Reading – students complete esquema for Ch 3 (from Martina Bex)- put worksheet in a page protector and have students complete with thin dry erase marker. They can reread and complete by discussing with partner. Go over answers and give stamps.

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos – show clip first without cups and having students follow along with hands.

(20 min) Handout worksheet on Huelgas (click here for Ch 3, Huelga and Ch 4 PowerPoint) in a page protector – go over what a huelga is, show example letreros on PP, show first 40 sec clip of Huelga in Guatemala. This is same video showed other day.....but now focusing on what a huelga looks like.
Students go to pg 15 when talks about the huelga and reflect and write 3 things they think the huelga signs might have said using a dry erase marker and writing on paper that is inside page protector (put frases útiles from PP up to help). Call on volunteers to share for stamps.
Ask students: ¿Qué derechos tienes como ciudadano?  Students choose a right they think is experiencing oppression and write what would be on their signs at the huelga on the right front side. After giving time to think and write, have them choose their favorite saying and using the back side of the worksheet (in page protector), have them write the phrase big and draw an image to represent cause.
If time, have students stand up and walk around speaking out about their cause (saying the things from their signs) and holding their paper up. Could have them write one of their sayings big on the back side of sheet protector and hold up that one sign. They try to find people with same cause as theirs and join together as a group. There might be all different causes or people demonstrating for the same rights.

(10 min) TPR & PQA with Ch 4 Vocabulary: corre, quiere, busca, come, escucha (recycle previous Chapter vocabulary)  

(10 min) Read outloud Ch 4 to students – while students listen they fill out Martina Bex's esquema for Ch 4 in sheet protector with a thin dry erase marker. Go slowly so students can number each event as it happens, have them label the places first. Clarify along the way, PQA along the way if needed. Go over answers and give stamps after #1 & #2. Did not get to #3 section of chapter. Will finish next class.

Today was another successful day and got to look big picture at their rights as citizens. After we had our "strike" I asked them "Do you believe citizen's have the right to go on strike?" Of course no right or wrong answer....just wanted to get them thinking about what rights all individuals should have.

First off a huge shout out to Carol Gaab, the author of her amazing book Esperanza and to Martina Bex for her amazing blog full of detailed lesson plans, ideas and worksheets!

This novel takes place during Guatemala’s 36 year war and is a perfect fit for the AP Theme: Desafíos Globales (Global Challenges). At my school, our curriculum is based on the AP Themes for all levels even starting with level 1.

Our essential questions for this 6 week theme of Global Challenges included:

• ¿A qué problemas políticos, sociales y ambientales se enfrentan las sociedades mundiales?
• ¿Cuáles son los orígenes de estos problemas? ¿Cómo pueden solucionarse?
• ¿Qué derechos y deberes tienes como ciudadano?
• ¿Qué derechos y deberes tiene el estado?

When I came across this novel, I thought right away that this would be a perfect way to not only work on reading skills, build vocabulary but also address these essential questions about political and social problems.

Day 1: Introduction of Guatemalan Civil War
Before beginning the novel, I wanted the students to understand what it was like for the characters in this book. To give them some context, I showed them parts of the documentary Cuando las Montañas Tiemblan and also a part of a documentary by PBS called Guatemalan Soil, Unearthing Evidence of Genocide. We have block scheduling so you will notice my lessons are for a 90 minute period and I see my students every other day.

Click here to see my detailed notes on what I showed, said, skipped, etc.

Day 2: Esperanza Introduction and Chapter 1
The following class I introduced the novel and we began Chapter 1. Again, I want to credit Martina Bex for her lessons and worksheets and you will see I use many of her great ideas. Here is an outline of my lesson plan:

(5 min) New seats, new bathroom passes, grab a novel from the table

(10 min) Introduce Esperanza novel – students read synopsis on back of book, students look at map of Guatemala inside, give a few facts about Guatemala (size, location, etc) on PowerPoint, discuss time period (one slide briefly describing Civil War) 

(5 min) Have students create a vocabulary list for Esperanza. Each chapter we will add vocabulary, all words will be repeated over and over throughout the novel so it is imperative that they be written down and referred to as they will continued to be recycled. By the end of the novel, they should know these words well. 

(15 min) TPR Vocabulary for Chapter 1 mira, le habla, pienso, llama, tiene hambre, agarra

(10 min) Pre Reading: Introduce Chapter 1 – El Teléfono.  Esperanza receives four phone calls: two from her mother and two from a mysterious caller.

PQA recycling words habla, llama, teléfono, put on board and have one partner ask and the other answer, then call on students for stamps

Examples (from Martina Bex’s website) ¿Tú hablas mucho por teléfono?, ¿Quién te llama mucho?, ¿Tus padres hablan mucho por teléfono? ¿Con quién?, ¿Qué haces cuando recibes una llamada de un número desconocido? ¿Respondes?, Hoy en día, ¿es más común hablar por teléfono, por mensajes de texto, o por Facebook?

15 min) During Reading – Teacher reads Chapter 1 to class – change voice to represent different characters, do sounds (respiración, clic, etc.), do some TPR while reading (grabbing phone for agarro, point to head for pienso, hand to stomach for tiene hambre, etc.) as this will reinforce the vocabulary. Pause along the way to ask personalized questions (Ex: ¿Tu mamá es una persona nerviosa? ¿Tu abuela llama a tu mamá mucho?)

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos - see my PowerPoint hyperlink above

(15 min) Post Reading- At the end of the chapter, ask kids to close their eyes and hold up 0-5 fingers for the amount that they understood (0=nothing, 5=everything). Complete the Martin Bex's Chapter 1 Esquema – put worksheet in a page protector and have students complete with thin dry erase marker. They can reread and complete by discussing with partner. Go over answers and give stamps

(10 min) ¿Qué es un sindicato? – Trade Unions – watch the 7 minute video about how dangerous it is in Guatemala even today to be in a unión-Guatemala: In Light of Justice.. Imagine the fear that Alberto and his family would have for him being in a union during the civil war. (Ch 2 Alberto es chofer para el Departamento de Transporte Público y es presidente del sindicato)

Stay tuned for the lessons I do for the rest of the book! So excited about this and so are my fellow Spanish teachers. For many of them this was the first time they had ever done TPR so they were enjoying how well the students were retaining vocabulary.