Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Lesson Plan for Esperanza Rising
Introduction
“This lesson plan is designed around the novel Esperanza Rising. The organizing
theme is why people immigrated and became migrant Farmworkers and how it affected
their lives. Through their reading and responses to this text, students will explore and
construct their ideas about workers’ conditions and rights which is important. Students
need to recognize where they get their daily nutrition and the hard work involved in
getting it to their homes. In addition, the lesson integrates concepts from social studies,
where students’ content reading about historical content (Mexican Revolution, Dust
Bowl, formation of the National Farm Workers Association, The Great Depression) is
supported by the context of the unit and their engagement with the novel is enriched by
the deeper content knowledge. Ultimately, by the end of the unit students will be able to
transfer the skills and concepts from this unit to have a deeper understanding of farm
workers’ rights and the agricultural seasons and economy.”
Novel Summary
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is an inspirational story about a young
Hispanic girl, who grew up in Mexico in the 1920s on a large family vineyard. Esperanza
faces the challenges in her life with hard work and perseverance. The story is full of
symbolism as chapters are entitled with the crops of the seasons. She was the only child
of Sixto and Ramona Ortega. She lived the life of a princess with servants, beautiful
clothes and plenty of food. She never imagined life to be different. She adored her father,
who taught her to listen to the heartbeat of the valley by pressing her ear to the ground.
Her father treated their employed farm workers kindly, almost like family giving
them pieces of his land. Alfonso was the head boss of the farm workers and a friend of
Esperanza’s father. His wife, Hortensia was the housekeeper and their son, Miguel was
being trained to fix things around the ranch. Miguel was also a friend to Esperanza. While
Esperanza spent a lot of time with the Farmworkers and was very fond of them, she was
taught by society there were differences between them and in a sense, they lived on
opposite sides of a deep river.
Mexico was still recovering from the revolution resulting in animosity against large
landowners, putting them in danger from bandits. The tragedy occurred during grape
season, which is also Esperanza’s birthday. She was anticipating her birthday celebration,
when her world was shattered by bandits who murdered her papa. Papa left the house to
mama, but because women could not own land, the land that the house was on was left to
his greedy, influential step-brothers Luis and Marco. Luis owned the bank and Marco
was the mayor.
Luis proposed marriage to mama as a resolution to their land conflict and because
he needed her influence, as he planned to run for governor. However, he wanted to send
Esperanza away to boarding school. To avoid the separation, Mama agreed to escape with
Alfonso and his family and move to California to work in the fields, where Alfonso’s sister
and her family lived and worked. He told her it would be different and hard work, but she
and Esperanza would be able to stay together and live with them. She chose to leave all
they had ever known.
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
They had to sneak away during the night in the back of a covered wagon because they
knew Luis would never allow them to leave. As they began their life as farm workers it
was a huge transition for both of them. Mama began working in the fields, while
Esperanza stayed behind to help care for Alfonso’s niece and nephew, cook and do
laundry. Esperanza did not know how to do any of this because she had never worked
before. However, she learned and became quite proficient with time. Their “royal”
reputation preceded them, so Esperanza struggled as a girl named Marta treated her
poorly out of jealousy.
After a severe dust storm Esperanza’s mama became sick with Valley Fever and was
hospitalized for five months. Although she was legally too young, Esperanza was forced
to go to work.
In a turn of events, Marta and others worked to orchestrate a strike due to the poor
living conditions and low wages of farm workers. When immigration came to deport
many of the strikers, Esperanza found Marta scared and hiding. However, when she did
not report her, it resulted in a mutual respect between them.
Mama finally was well enough to come home, yet still very fragile. This worried
Esperanza and resulted in an argument between Miguel and Esperanza. Miguel told
Esperanza she should not give up and to hold on to hope. Afterwards, Miguel secretly
went to Mexico to bring Abuelita, Esperanza’s grandmother, who had to stay in Mexico
because she had been injured in the fire, to California as a surprise for Esperanza. With
Esperanza’s family back together, she realized Miguel was right and there was more to
wealth than money and fine things. Family and hope makes a person rich.
Interdisciplinary Content
In this unit students will focus on the content area of language arts and social studies.
Students will develop clear language arts strands for reading, speaking, writing, and
listening. Vocabulary will be constant in the novel for vocabulary building. They will
determine; themes, and use informational text to build background knowledge about the
Depression, Dustbowl, immigration, and the Mexican Revolution. Esperanza Rising
shows the difficulties for the Latino culture during the 1920s as they migrated to the
United States in order to survive and work towards a better life for their families. During
this unit students will focus on these essential standards:
5.G.1-Understand how human activity has and continues to shape the United States.
5.G.1.4-Exemplify migration within or immigration to the United States in order to
identify push and pull factors-why people left/why people came.
Content Connections
Esperanza’s character endures contrasts and experiences throughout the novel.
For example, when she realizes that she is no longer a member of the wealthy class. She
is now a peasant, just like her poor Farmworkers and servants. To make it relevant to
students’ lives outside school students will see that it takes hard work and perseverance
to establish oneself in society. Esperanza suffers great tragedy, but she perseveres and
overcomes with great strength. Students can relate to her hardship and struggles in
many of their own lives. While it’s a sad story, it’s very inspiring and uplifting.
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Use of Language
The author uses symbolism as she entitles each chapter by the crop of the season
instead of numbering. This is also done with the time of the year instead of using
months or events, as to when each crop is harvested. Other symbols: roses, zigzag
crochet, trunk at the foot of Esperanza’s bed, Piñata, phoenix, heartbeat of land.
Students will be broken into groups and assigned two chapters to read and locate
an example(s) where the author uses symbolism. They will discuss and record what it
means. Afterwards, groups will come together and present what item was used and
what it symbolized.
Unit Support of Novel and Novel Connection
I chose this historical fiction novel because I believe it’s a story students can learn
from and relate to in one way or another. Our school has a very large Hispanic
population. While they may never have been in Esperanza’s situation, most of them
have felt like they didn’t belong for one reason or another. It’s a wonderful story about
heart break, perseverance, hard work, change, love, and hope. I believe students will
remain engaged as they anticipate what will happen next.
Esperanza Rising provides a loveable character with humanistic characteristics
that will draw students in. During the study of the novel, students will gain pertinent
knowledge of several significant historical events that still impact them today such as
the Depression, the Dustbowl, and the Mexican Revolution and their effects on human
migration and immigration. Students today will be able to connect to Esperanza’s move
as many of them have had to move with their families for jobs or have lost a friend who
has had to move to find work.
Relevance of Concepts /Skills
Through this unit, students will learn about the Great Depression, the Mexican
Revolution, the Dustbowl, migrant workers, and immigration. They will develop their
background knowledge of real life events in which the novel was inspired from, to
develop concepts and skills. They will learn how to think about words and use context
clues to gain a better understanding of unfamiliar vocabulary words. This is important
because it’s a skill that helps direct the reader to infer a word’s meaning. They will use
Internet Workshop to explore and visualize real life events while developing and
practicing their technology skills. Students will write poetry to compare and contrast
the character of Esperanza. They will read non-fiction books and learn to tag important
information and use it to summarize what they read. As students read, they will make
connections relating the text to: other text, their self, and the world. They will practice
inferring and predicting through discussion webs. In conclusion, students will make a
poster and explain the “Big Idea”-social class affects relationships.
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Lesson goals/objectives
Standards
RL 5.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text,
including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker
in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS 5 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of
strategies.
a. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the
meaning of a word or phrase.
Students will be able to
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Interpret the main theme of the story through the character’s dialog or
descriptive language.
Identify important words or phrases within the text that give a visual description
of the setting.
Recognize the social distances that separate Esperanza and her family from their
farm workers and peasants in Mexico.
Be able to list the challenges Esperanza learns to overcome when she leaves her
comfortable home in Mexico to begin a new life in the United States.
STRATEGY:
Connecting, visualizing, and inferring
Evidence of student understanding
Students will write an “I am” poem with the first stanza representing who Esperanza
was and the second stanza identifying who Esperanza has become.
(1st Stanza-before her father’s death, the fire, and the move)
Line 1-I am (Character’s first name)
Line 2-I am (two special characteristics)
Line 3-I wonder (something she might have been curious about)
Line 4-I hear (an imaginary sound)
Line 5-I see (an imaginary sight)
Line 6-I want (an actual desire)
Line 7-I worry (something that really bothered her)
Line 8-I understand (something she knew was true)
Line 9-I dream (something she dreamed of)
(2nd Stanza-who Esperanza has become since her father’s death, the fire, and the move)
Line 1-I am (Character’s first name)
Line 2-I am (two special characteristics)
Line 3-I wonder (something she might be curious about)
Line 4-I hear (an imaginary sound)
Line 5-I see (an imaginary sight)
Line 6-I want (an actual desire)
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Line 7-I worry (something that really bothered her)
Line 8-I understand (something she knew to be true)
Line 9-I dream (something she dreamed of)
Line 10-I am (repeat line 1-character’s first name)
APPLICATION:
Students will work with a partner to identify two major themes from the story and have
students write a paragraph and illustrate them. (Examples of themes: Do not be afraid
to start over, social distances that separate the rich from the poor-land owners and
farm/migrant workers, peasants or social classes separated by a “river”, perseverance,
family, change, hope, demanding basic human rights-threats to strike, etc.
Students will connect those themes by finding examples outside of Esperanza Rising
(text-text, text-self, text-world). They will write a paragraph about their connection.
Students can use the library, internet, or personal experiences for their connections.
(Example: Students may remember when they moved and had to start over at a new
school.) Students will share with the class what they wrote about their outside
connections and explain how their illustrations represent the theme chosen with their
partner. If one student is a better writer, they may write the paragraph while the other
student illustrates it.
Recognize the use of descriptive language to describe the setting on pp. 65-72.
Examples of descriptive language:
The locomotive arrived pulling a line of cars and hissing and spewing steam.
…a car with rows of wooden benches, like church pews facing each other, already
crowded with peasants.
Trash littered the floor and it reeked of rotting fruit and urine.
Students will be asked to listen as the teacher reads aloud pp. 65-72. They will be asked
to imagine how they think the setting would have looked, smelled, sounded, and felt like
as they listen to the author describe the setting. Students will then draw a detailed
picture of how they imagined it and a write a paragraph about their picture. They may
use descriptive words from the text in the illustration to help describe the setting.
Instructional procedures:
BEFORE:
ABK—
Students will:
 have some knowledge about social class and how it can affect relationships.
 identify the theme of the books/movies Aladdin
 brainstorm stories (books/ movies) about characters from ‘different worlds’ who
were prevented from being together
New information
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Students need to understand a theme is the life lesson of a story or the author’s message.
The author will not tell readers the theme or the lesson. Instead readers will have to
think about what the character did wrong or right and what they can learn from the
character’s experience.
Connecting – Talk about times in your students’ lives where they feel they have been
judged unkindly.
Visualizing – Mark descriptive and figurative language in the text that is used to
describe the characters and setting.
Inferring – Conclusions drawn on the language used in the text. Identify important
phrases and how they influence the text. How do we feel about the characters?
DURING:
Guided Practice
I will read the first paragraph of the excerpt and mark the text using an * for important
ideas, V for visualizing, I for inferring, and BK for connecting to background knowledge.
I will then read the second paragraph of the excerpt and have students to raise their
hands when they think it should be coded. I will help to guide students if they are
incorrect.
Peer-Led Practice
Beginning in paragraph three of the excerpt students will read in small groups and mark
the text using an * for important ideas, V for visualizing, I for inferring, and BK for
connecting to background knowledge while I monitor them.
AFTER:
Collaborative/Independent in-class:
Students will work together, sharing the information they marked and making
inferences in a 2-column journal (left column: pg. #/quote-right column: what I think).
Independent at-home:
For homework students will find examples from their lives, movies, or text where social
class affects relationships (Examples: the characters in Aladdin). They can print or draw
a picture and share with the class how these characters or real people compare to Miguel
and Esperanza (how their social class affects their relationship).
Examples of Visuals:
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Historical Fiction “Think Tac Toe!”
Write a letter to one of the
characters in your book. Ask
question about his/her life,
tell him/her your thoughts
about the book, etc.
Use correct letter format.
Design a new cover for the
book. Make sure that you
select a cover illustration that
matches an important scene
from the book and is based
off description the author
used. Include the title,
author, and any other “cover”
information.
Work neatly!
As you read, keep a
“dictionary” of new and
interesting words you
come across. Write
definitions., make
illustrations, or any other
way to show you know
what the words mean.
Try to have 12-15 words
in your dictionary.
Create an advertisement for
your book. This poster may
include key characters or
events but most certainly
should try to “persuade”
people to read the book.
Think about movie posters or
other ads and the phrases
they use to “brag” about the
product. Make it showy – and
make sure to include the title,
etc.
As you read, keep track of 68 examples of beautifully
written text. Write each
example and the page
number on the bottom sheet
of a booklet) and then sketch
the images that the author
painted in your mind…
especially help show that
your book is historical
fiction.
Pretend you work for a book
publisher and have been asked
to write a review of this book.
Ask your teacher to show you
samples of other book reviews,
and then use what you have
learned to write a book review
of your own.
Make a new table of contents
for your book. Make sure
you write a title for each
chapter. Under each title
write one or two sentences
explaining why that is an
appropriate title for the
book.
Write a summary of your
book. Remember to include
only the most important
information and to balance
the details from the
beginning, middle, and end
of the book.
Using paper, clay or other
materials, design an
important scene from the
book. Use an index card to
write a description of what
you have created. Capture
the feeling of that period
in history.
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
This lesson has multiple themes: migration, change, survival, and adaptation. It provides
additional activities for individuals that have a stronger need to know, longer attention span, and
superior communication skills. The activities incorporate higher order thinking, creative
thinking, and allows for the development of real products for real audiences. The management
tool used was a Tic-Tac-Toe menu.
I have invested more than 4 hours on this project as I have had to research the novel of
Esperanza Rising as well as investigate ways to differentiate the lesson for AIG learners. I chose
this novel as I have a large Hispanic culture in my classroom and I felt that they could relate to
the novel. The novel is about perseverance and survival. I think my students can learn from the
characters in this novel and come to appreciate the need to fight for success. I want my students
to know that they can do anything that they set their minds to but it will take hard work and
determination for them to be successful. I have found many resources during my investigation
and I am very excited to try this in my classroom and see how it goes.
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools
Jana H. Gissy
St. Stephens Elementary
Catawba Co Schools