Paige Baker
English 9
Text: The House On
Mango Street by
Sandra Cisneros
Lesson topic(s) and/or Essential Question(s)/Essential
Understandings
Standards
What standards will be addressed by this lesson?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2 Determine a theme or central
idea of a text and analyze in detail its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and
refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the
text.
How are our identities based on where we come from and our
communities?
How is descriptive language used to develop characters and
themes?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of
words and phrases as they are used in the text, including
figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative
impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how
the language evokes a sense of time and place; how it sets a
formal or informal tone).
Objectives
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s
choices concerning how to structure a text, order events within
it (e.g., parallel plots), and manipulate time (e.g., pacing,
flashbacks) create such effects as mystery, tension, or surprise
What will your students know and be able to do as a
result of this lesson?
SWBAT identify themes of the text and use textual support for
their claims.
SWBAT recognize and later use descriptive language to create
their own poems and pieces
Instructional
Materials and
Resources
What materials, texts, manipulatives, visuals, etc. will
you need for this lesson?
What technological resources (if any) will you need?
Computer
Projector
Pens/pencils
Notebook paper for each student
Handout of poem
Highlighter if students desire
Popsicle sticks with students names on them
Student copies of text
Learner Factors
How does this lesson accommodate different development levels
of students? How does this lesson accommodate individual
differences in approaches to learning, create connections
between the subject matter and student experiences, and/or
include provisions for students with particular learning
differences or needs?
Students will be able to share about themselves; this assignment
allows for them to express how their community (or
communities) has affected their lives. Also, it allows for
students to express their creativity in varying levels; students
who like poetry may be more creative with it, and students who
aren’t fond of it will still have well written poems for their
effort. Students, having written a poem about their own
community will then be able to empathize with and think about
other communities and the ones existent in The House on
Mango Street. Struggling readers may be able to make
connections about the theme of community while completing
this assignment by looking at their own, while advanced readers
may look into the community within the text and begin to
predict and draw conclusions from the communities that are
being presented.
Environmental
Factors
What student grouping will be used? What changes will you
need to make in the classroom due to instruction, materials,
safety, etc., if any?
Students will work individually at their own seats. All desks
will be facing towards the front board in the room. Materials
will include worksheets, copies of text, a computer and
projector, markers and writing utensils.
Instructional
What activities will you and your students do and how are they
Activities and Tasks
connected to the objectives?
Pre-reading journals- students will begin thinking about the
themes of community and how it shapes identities.
Out loud reading and verbal comprehension
questions/discussion- Annotated The House on Mango Street.
I’m from poems- Students complete their poems after
discussion. Poems will help them identify their communities,
and think about how they have affected their personal identities.
Student presentation of poem- students will read their poems to
the classroom. Other students will be allowed to ask
appropriate questions.
Paragraph reflection on the poem- can be about why they wrote
what they wrote, what they learned about their community, or
perhaps what they think Esperanza may have written, and what
they think community may have to do with the upcoming
chapters of the book.
Assessment
Activities
How will you determine what the students know and are able to
do during and as a result of the lesson?


Classroom discussion
Collect poems
What activities will you and your students do and how are they connected to
Instructional tasks and
(Make sure to include timeframes)
activities
What will you be doing?
What will the students b
Before class: Write “What is a noun? What is an adjective?
Examples?” on the board for a small refresher lesson
1: 00-1:05 Beginning of class: Greet class. Begin with the prompt
displayed on board, “If you guys remember from last class, we
discussed nouns and adjectives. Can anyone tell me what a noun
is? What an adjective is?” Write students’ definitions of nouns
and adjectives on the board. “Can anyone give me examples?”
Write student examples on the board. Use corresponding colored
markers for nouns and adjectives as are used on the reading text.
Ensure that students are praised for their examples and
participating.
Students participate in grammar recap—
explain what a nouns and adjectives are,
1: 05 Hand out annotated reading for the day. Ask students to
look at handout and ask what they notice about the text.
1: 07 “That’s right. They are highlighted to give you a resource
and examples of how nouns and adjectives are used in writing.”
1:10 “Alright class. Can someone sum up what we read last
time?” If students are struggling, help by asking questions or
calling on students if they are not participating.
1:12- “Thank you for helping us remember what happened last
time. Alright, everyone read along as I read the passage out loud.
Be prepared to answer questions, and if you have any please raise
your hand. Is everyone ready?” Begin reading.
1:12-1:20- Read aloud, and occasionally stop to ask
comprehension questions and answer student questions. “What
does Esperanza think of her name? Why does she want to change
it? What do you think a name says about you? What do you think
Esperanza feels about her grandmother?
1:21- “Good job with answering the questions today guys. We’re
going to move on to our assignment now.” Display blank version
of “I’m from” poem.
1: 23 Introduce the I’m From poems; “To get a sense of where we
Students raise their hands and share wha
text—the nouns and adjectives are highl
Students volunteer to summarize past rea
Students read along.
Students answer or ask questions as we r
come from, and how much the people and places we’ve
experienced affect who we are, we’re going to get creative and
begin working “I’m From” poems today. Tell me, what do you
notice about this poem?”
1: 27 “Good. So what you’re going to is fill out these nouns and
adjectives that best describe you in this poem. But we’re going to
do an example together first as a classroom. So, our name is
‘noun’ the ‘adjective’. What noun do you guys think describes
our classroom? What are we? What about the adjective? What
describes this class?” Fill in the students answers to the projected
example on the board.
Students raise their hands and describe t
the blank adjectives and nouns.
Students help to fill out nouns and adjec
example of the poem.
1: 30- “Good job guys, we are ‘English’ the ‘eighth grade class’.
What about the second line? Where are we from? What noun can
we put down here, what location?
Students help fill in a noun.
1:33- “Lansing, that’s good. What about an adjective that
describes Lansing?”
Students help fill in an adjective.
1:35 “Great job you guys. Does this example help you understand
what is expected of you? “Answer any questions
Students ask questions if they have any
1:37 “For the rest of the class period, I’d like to you work on
these poems. Think hard about the nouns and adjectives that
really define you. If you’d like, you can use whatever language is
comfortable for you. You’ll notice that there are examples of
nouns and adjectives in the boxes on your worksheets. You don’t
have to use those words, but if you get stuck, you are welcome to
use them. Any questions?
Students ask questions if they have any,
assignment.
1: 42-1:50 Walk around and answer any questions students may
have, check on progress.
1:53- “Ok class, take the next couple of minutes to finish up what
you have. If you aren’t finished at the end of the class period, take
your poem home and complete it for homework. You will turn it
in at the beginning of class tomorrow”
1:55 “Alright, work time is up. Is everyone just about finished or
completely done with their poem? Alright, I’ll share with you
guys the poem I wrote, and then you guys will get the chance to
Students finish up poems
share with us your poem” Share my poem, give students the
opportunity to share theirs.
Students share their poems
2:00- Collect completed poems. Dismiss class. Remind them that
if they had not completed their poems that they are due first thing
tomorrow.
Students turn in completed poems or bri
then pack up and leave.
Accommodations explained:
The student I chose to accommodate this lesson for has a mild cognitive
impairment that affects her comprehension and focus. After viewing her IEP, I noticed
that the majority of her required accommodations focused on giving her extra time for
reading, as well as giving her the opportunity to have text read aloud to her. Therefore, in
my lesson, I tried to accommodate everything to an ‘out loud’ format along with the
written text: the piece is read aloud as well as the directions for the assignment are given
out loud.
Bea also has a tendency to lose focus and forget what the class is going over. In
order to keep the class focused and remind them what the class is going over, I have
incorporated a cyclical lesson plan that keeps hitting the notes I want the students to go
over—Students begin with a reminder grammar lesson, grammar is highlighted in the
reading, and grammar is a main part in their assignment. Also, the ideas of home and
identity begin with the reading and continue into the assignment. My hope was that the
connections between the mini-lesson, the reading with highlighted grammar, and the
assignment that incorporated in both themes of the classroom discussion and text would
help students keep focus and not get lost during the class.
Furthermore, instead of waiting to ask comprehension questions after the entire
text has been written, the lesson has them incorporated into the reading time, so the text
can be discussed and questions can be answered in ‘real time’. These questions may help
guide students who have trouble with comprehension, and aid them in thinking and
remembering important parts of the text.
Repetition of visual cues is also an accommodation I have made from the first
version of the lesson. I have added a visual reminder of what nouns and adjectives are on
the board, on the reading text, and on the worksheet. Students will be surrounded by
visual reminders of grammar, an accommodation that will help the entire classroom.
The final accommodation I have made is the guided practice of the assignment.
Students are given the opportunity to explain what they see in the assignment, and then
practice filling out two lines of the poem as a class. There is also a plethora of examples
for students to refer to on their worksheet, as well as the ones they thought of on the
board during the beginning of the lesson when I ask for examples. Guided practice and
plenty of examples help students make connections between the parts of grammar I want
them to learn and their uses while thinking about themselves, their names and their
communities—themes that run through the text.
Visual reminders, cyclical structures, and ‘real time’ discussion questions are all
accommodations I made in order to aid comprehension. The constant reminders are
designed to help students focus, and the repetitive structures are aimed to help students
understand and constantly work with not only the grammar, but the themes being
developed in the text as well.
Response to Peer Feedback:
My peers, as a whole, agreed that my accommodations seemed appropriate for my
student. However, some commented that they thought that the word back I originally had
on my worksheet was confusing or too restricting. In response to this, I changed the word
bank to an example bank that students could draw upon if they got stuck during their
poem.
Some also commented that they thought that the poem may have been confusing
or limiting in relation to the piece. I tried to make the connection more evident in my
lesson plan, but I chose not to the grammar aspect of the poem as I think that practicing
grammar was a vital part of the lesson. I did change the content of the poem to more
reflect the themes of the piece we were reading in order to better connect the assignment
and the reading.
“My Name” from The House On Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros
Nouns; A person, place, thing or idea =Blue
Adjectives; a word used to describe a noun= Red
In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness,
it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my
father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, song like sobbing.
It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too,
born like me in the Chinese year of the horse – which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re
born female-but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexican, don’t
like their women strong.
My great-grandmother. I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so
wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and
carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That’s the way he did it.
And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the
way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with
what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be.
Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but don’t want to inherit her place by the window.
At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the
roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like
silver, not quite as thick as sister’s name-Magdalena-which is uglier than mine.
Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza.
I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one
nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze
the X will do.
I’m From: Exploring Nouns and Adjectives
Below there are six lines with blanks at the end. Fill in blanks with the appropriate type
of word, noun (labeled as ‘noun’) or adjective (labeled as ‘adj.’) that best describe you.
Use this opportunity to share something about yourself, so please be thoughtful about
what you fill in.
Nouns: A person, place, thing or idea.
Adjectives: A word that describes
something.
Examples: Courage, home, family,
companion, grades, school, class, sports,
freedom
Examples: strong, clever, stubborn,
confident, happy, determined, kind,
wonderful.
Notice: You do not have to use the words listed in the boxes, but you may if you are
stuck.
I am from…
My name is __________ the ____________
noun
adj
I am from ____________
adj.
___________.
noun
My family is ___________ and ____________
adj
adj
I am ___________, __________, and __________.
adj
adj
adj
I am good at ___________.
noun
I am proud of ___________ ___________.
adj
noun
When I am at school I am a ____________ ____________
adj
noun
When I am at home I am ___________ and __________
adj
adj
I want __________ ____________.
adj
noun