Teacher Guide for FAST-R Passage: Snow FAST-R: Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading Autobiographical narrative At a Glance Approximate Grade Range: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Genre: Autobiographical narrative Topic: Yolanda’s description of how she learned English in the 1960s gives readers a window into the immigrant experience during uncertain political times. Author: Julia Alvarez Source: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991) Snow from the novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez 1 Our first year in New York we rented a small apartment with a Catholic school nearby, taught by the Sisters of Charity, hefty women in long black gowns and bonnets that made them look peculiar, like dolls in mourning. I liked them a lot, especially my grandmotherly fourth grade teacher, Sister Zoe. I had a lovely name, she said, and she had me teach the whole class how to pronounce it. Yo-lan-da. As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them. Slowly, she enunciated1 the new words I was to repeat: laundromat, corn flakes, subway, snow. 2 Soon I picked up enough English to understand holocaust2 was in the air. Sister Zoe explained to a wide-eyed classroom what was happening in Cuba. Russian missiles were being assembled, trained supposedly on New York City. President Kennedy, looking worried too, was on the television at home, explaining we might have to go to war against the Communists. At school, we had air-raid drills: an ominous bell would go off and we’d file into the hall, fall to the floor, cover our heads with our coats, and imagine our hair falling out, the bones in our arms going soft. At home, Mami and my sisters and I said a rosary3 for world peace. I heard new vocabulary: nuclear bomb, radioactive fallout, bomb shelter. Sister Zoe explained how it would happen. She drew a picture of a mushroom on the blackboard and dotted a flurry of chalkmarks for the dusty fallout4 that would kill us all. 1 2 3 4 enunciate: to pronounce; articulate holocaust: great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire rosary: A set of beads used by Catholics to indicate a set of prayers. Each bead represents a prayer. fallout: the radioactive particles resulting from a nuclear explosion Difficulty Index: Considerate . . . . . . . . . . . . Challenging Structure: Purpose: Richness: Relationships: Vocabulary: Style: Lexile Measure: 1060L Richness: Although the structure of this brief narrative passage is considerate (with events occuring sequentially over the course of a few months), the content contains sophisticated issues of the immigrant experience, anxiety over nuclear war, and children and adults trying to cope with fears of impending disaster. Many 8th-10th graders may have had little prior instruction on the Cuban Missle Crisis or this time period in general. See especially: Questions 4, 7, 8, 9 Style: With a first-person child narrator, most of the language is fairly straightforward, but Alvarez does use similes and a great many descriptive details to characterize Yolanda and her teacher, and to create the ominous mood of the times. See especially: Question 3 Vocabulary: There are several instances in this paragraph where familiar words (“holocaust,” “trained,” “file”) are used in less familiar ways. The footnotes support readers for some of the less familiar words. See especially: Questions 3, 6 Vocabulary & Richness: This passage is unusual in that it features vocabulary as an explicit part of the story. At first, the words Yolanda learns reflect her concerns as someone new to the U.S., but in paragraph two she also learns words that reflect the national preoccupation with war. The shift in her vocabulary words mirrors a shift in the tone of the text. See especially: Questions 3, 4 Continued on next page FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. 3 The months grew cold, November, December. It was dark when I got up in the morning, frosty when I followed my breath to school. One morning as I sat at my desk daydreaming out the window, I saw dots in the air like the ones Sister Zoe had drawn—random5 at first, then lots and lots. I shrieked, “Bomb! Bomb!” Sister Zoe jerked around, her full black skirt ballooning as she hurried to my side. A few girls began to cry. 4 But then Sister Zoe’s shocked look faded. “Why, Yolanda dear, that’s snow!” She laughed. “Snow.” 5 “Snow,” I repeated. I looked out the window warily.6 All my life I had heard about the white crystals that fell out of American skies in the winter. From my desk I watched the fine powder dust the sidewalk and parked cars below. Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful. 5 6 Purpose: Alvarez, like many narrative writers, seeks to help readers understand the world from an unfamiliar perspective. The technique she uses, “making the familiar strange,” helps readers take the point of view of an immigrant girl who is learning English during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. See especially: Q10 random: having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective warily: on guard, watchful, cautious Spotlight On: Julia Alvarez Julia Alvarez spent the early years of her life in the Dominican Republic until an unsafe political climate forced her family to flee to New York. While she had heard many wonderful things about the United States, she experienced much homesickness, prejudice, and isolation soon after arriving to the new country. Reading became her escape: she soon immersed herself in books and later began to write. She went on to become a famous writer and scholar who continues to devote her stories to the challenges people face when they are torn between countries and cultures. Some of her most famous books include How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, When Tia Lola Came to Stay, Before We Were Free, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Yo! Ideas for Connected Writing Activities • Write a poem, letter, or essay for Sister Zoe explaining the impact she has had on Yolanda. • Write a poem, letter, or essay for a teacher who has had a positive impact on you. • Write a fictionalized vignette of a significant moment in your own life (have students identify techniques used in “Snow” first, like the use of dialogue, details, irony, humor, etc.). Humanities Connection: • Research the U.S. government’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. • Discuss or write about how living in fear of impending war affected Americans during that era; compare and contrast with other eras of conflict. FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. Teacher Guide for FAST-R Passage: Snow FAST-R: Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading Autobiographical narrative The annotated answer key below highlights common reasons students might choose each answer, and the sidebar gives more insight into the question types, to help you understand patterns of student responses. Always make time to follow up with students in conferences or small groups to probe their thinking, teach in response to patterns, and help them apply effective reading and thinking strategies to their everyday reading. Note: You may find it helpful to refer to the “Types and Levels of Questions on FAST-R” sheet from your teacher resource folder as you examine your students’ responses. The icon in the right-hand column, below, corresponds to that sheet’s more detailed explanations of the kinds of thinking each type of question asks of readers. 1. In the opening sentence, to whom is the narrator referring when she says “Our”? A. herself and her classmates (OOP2, ¶1) B. herself and her teacher (OOP2, ¶1) C. herself and her family D. herself and the Sisters of Charity (OOP1, ¶1) FE2: Recognize the explicit meaning from varied wording in the text 2. According to the passage, this scene takes place when Yolanda is in A. kindergarten. (OOB) B. first grade. (OOP2, “first year,” ¶1) C. fourth grade. D. sixth grade. (OOB) FE2: Recognize the explicit meaning from varied wording in the text 3. In paragraphs 1 and 2, words in italics indicate A. new vocabulary Yolanda was trying to learn in English. B. words in a song Yolanda was singing. (OOB) C. words in the rosary. (OOP2 ¶2) D. words Yolanda’s mother couldn’t pronounce. (OOB) MI5: Determine meaning by using an understanding of literary concepts 4. During an air-raid drill, Yolanda and her classmates imagined A. that the school burned down. (OOB) B. they got a snow day. (OOP2 ¶2) C. the bones in their arms became soft. D. saying the rosary. (OOP1, ¶2) FE1: Identify evidence explicitly stated in the text 5. Which of the following happened last? A. Sister Zoe explained that Russian missiles were aimed at New York City (OOP1, ¶2) B. President Kennedy explained that the U.S. might have to go to war with the Communists (OOP1, ¶2) C. Yolanda and her family prayed for world peace (¶2) D. there were air-raid drills at school (OOP1, ¶2) MI3: Determine implicit meaning by understanding the organization of information in the text 6. Words that are closest in meaning to “ominous” include: A. fearful, foreboding, threatening B. loud, disruptive, piercing (OOP1, ¶2) C. high-pitched, harmonious, melodic (OOP2, ¶2) D. enormous, grandeur, distinction (OOB) MI1: Determine implicit meaning from words in context FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. Grades 8-10 • Autobiographical narrative • “Snow” 7. What causes Yolanda to scream suddenly? A. seeing what she thought was radioactive fallout (¶3) B. touching bits and pieces of a mushroom (OOP2, ¶2) C. hearing a nuclear bomb (OOP2, ¶2) D. seeing a flurry of chalkmarks (OOP2, ¶2) MI1: Determine implicit meaning from ideas in context 8. Yolanda most likely came from a country A. where the kids did not go to school. (OOP2) B. where there had been a nuclear war. (OOP2, ¶2) C. where the climate was tropical. D. where it sometimes snowed. (OOP2, ¶5) MI4: Determine new meaning and apply it beyond the passage 9. At the end of the passage, Sister Zoe describes snow flakes for Yolanda. What deeper message is she trying to convey by describing snow in this manner? A. that Yolanda needed to get used to the idea of living in the U.S. (OOP2, ¶1) B. that Yolanda is also beautiful and irreplaceable (¶5) C. that Yolanda is melodramatic (OOP1, ¶3) D. that Yolanda is a very funny student (OOP1, ¶4) MI1: Determine implicit meaning from phrases & ideas in context 10. What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage? A. to help the reader appreciate life from someone else’s perspective B. to caution the reader about the dangers of nulear war (OOP1, ¶2) C. to portray life in the Catholic schools of New York City (OOP2, ¶1) D. to show the reader how hard it is to learn another language (OOP2, ¶1-2) MI2: Determine a singular meaning from the sum total of the entire text FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. FAST-R + Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading Name “Snow” • Autobiographical narrative Date Teacher/Class This excerpt from Julia Alvarez’s autobiographical narrative invites readers into the world of eleven-year-old Yolanda, whose family immigrated to the United States during the 1960s. Snow from the novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez 1 Our first year in New York we rented a small apartment with a Catholic school nearby, taught by the Sisters of Charity, hefty women in long black gowns and bonnets that made them look peculiar, like dolls in mourning. I liked them a lot, especially my grandmotherly fourth grade teacher, Sister Zoe. I had a lovely name, she said, and she had me teach the whole class how to pronounce it. Yo-lan-da. As the only immigrant in my class, I was put in a special seat in the first row by the window, apart from the other children so that Sister Zoe could tutor me without disturbing them. Slowly, she enunciated1 the new words I was to repeat: laundromat, corn flakes, subway, snow. Spotlight On: Julia Alvarez 2 Soon I picked up enough English to un2 derstand holocaust was in the air. Sister Zoe Julia Alvarez spent the early years of her life in the Dominican Republic until explained to a wide-eyed classroom what was an unsafe political climate forced her happening in Cuba. Russian missiles were family to flee to New York. being assembled, trained supposedly on New While she had heard many wonderful York City. President Kennedy, looking worried things about the United States, she too, was on the television at home, explaining experienced much homesickness, we might have to go to war against the Comprejudice, and isolation soon after arriving in the new country. Reading munists. At school, we had air-raid drills: an became her escape: she soon ominous bell would go off and we’d file into immersed herself in books and later the hall, fall to the floor, cover our heads with began to write. our coats, and imagine our hair falling out, She went on to become a famous the bones in our arms going soft. At home, writer and scholar who continues to Mami and my sisters and I said a rosary3 for devote her stories to the challenges people face when they are torn world peace. I heard new vocabulary: nuclear between countries and cultures. bomb, radioactive fallout, bomb shelter. Sister Some of her most famous books Zoe explained how it would happen. She drew include How the Garcia Girls Lost Their a picture of a mushroom on the blackboard Accents, When Tia Lola Came to Stay, and dotted a flurry of chalkmarks for the dusty Before We Were Free, In the Time of fallout4 that would kill us all. the Butterflies, and Yo! Continued on next page 1 2 enunciate: to pronounce; articulate holocaust: great destruction resulting in the extensive loss of life, especially by fire 3 4 rosary: A set of beads used by Catholics to indicate a set of prayers. Each bead represents a prayer. fallout: the radioactive particles resulting from a nuclear explosion FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. 3 The months grew cold, November, December. It was dark when I got up in the morning, frosty when I followed my breath to school. One morning as I sat at my desk daydreaming out the window, I saw dots in the air like the ones Sister Zoe had drawn—random5 at first, then lots and lots. I shrieked, “Bomb! Bomb!” Sister Zoe jerked around, her full black skirt ballooning as she hurried to my side. A few girls began to cry. 4 But then Sister Zoe’s shocked look faded. “Why, Yolanda dear, that’s snow!” She laughed. “Snow.” 5 “Snow,” I repeated. I looked out the window warily6. All my life I had heard about the white crystals that fell out of American skies in the winter. From my desk I watched the fine powder dust the sidewalk and parked cars below. Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful. 5 6 random: having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective warily: on guard, watchful, cautious FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. FAST-R + Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading Name “Snow” • Autobiographical narrative Date Teacher/Class Directions: Answer the following multiple-choice questions by filling in the circle for the best answer on your answer sheet. 1. In the opening sentence, to whom is the narrator referring when she says “Our”? A. herself and her classmates B. herself and her teacher C. herself and her family D. herself and the Sisters of Charity 2. According to the passage, this scene takes place when Yolanda is in A. kindergarten. B. first grade. C. fourth grade. D. sixth grade. 3. In paragraphs 1 and 2, words in italics indicate A. new vocabulary Yolanda was trying to learn in English. B. words in a song Yolanda was singing. C. words in the rosary. D. words Yolanda’s mother couldn’t pronounce. 4. During an air-raid drill, Yolanda and her classmates imagined A. that the school burned down. B. they got a snow day. C. the bones in their arms became soft. D. saying the rosary. 5. Which of the following happened last? A. Sister Zoe explained that Russian missiles were aimed at New York City B. President Kennedy explained that the U.S. might have to go to war with the Communists C. Yolanda and her family prayed for world peace D. there were air-raid drills at school Continue on the next page FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. Name School Date Teacher/Class 6. Words that are closest in meaning to “ominous” include: A. fearful, foreboding, threatening B. loud, disruptive, piercing C. high-pitched, harmonious, melodic D. enormous, grandeur, distinction 7. What causes Yolanda to scream suddenly? A. seeing what she thought was radioactive fallout B. touching bits and pieces of a mushroom C. hearing a nuclear bomb D. seeing a flurry of chalkmarks 8. Yolanda most likely came from a country A. where the kids did not go to school. B. where there had been a nuclear war. C. where the climate was tropical. D. where it sometimes snowed. 9. At the end of the passage, Sister Zoe describes snowflakes for Yolanda. What deeper message is she trying to convey by describing snow in this manner? A. that Yolanda needed to get used to the idea of living in America B. that Yolanda is also beautiful and irreplaceable C. that Yolanda is melodramatic D. that Yolanda is a very funny student 10. What is the author’s main purpose in writing this passage? A. to help the reader appreciate life from someone else’s perspective B. to caution the reader about the dangers of nuclear war C. to portray life in the Catholic schools of New York City D. to show the reader how hard it is to learn another language FASt-R: Formative Assessments in Student Thinking in Reading.The passage text by Julia Alvarez is from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (1991). Copyright © 1991 by Julia Alvarez. All other materials are Copyright 2007 by the Boston Plan for Excellence. Teachers: Please duplicate and use this answer sheet only for students for whom you did not receive a pre-printed answer sheet! FAST-R Answer Sheet Name School Date Grade Passage Title Teacher Name Completely fill the circle for the correct answer. 1. A B C D 2. A B C D 3. A B C D 4. A B C D 5. A B C D 6. A B C D 7. A B C D 8. A B C D 9. A B C D 10. A B C D Class Write your answer to the open response prompt in the lined space below if your teacher directs you to do so. OFFICE USE ONLY RESEARCH: Y N OPEN RESPONSE: 2 3 1 4