Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: The House on Mango Street Name: Autumn Ojea

Content Area: Language Arts Grade Level: 9th or 10th grade
CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

CCSS ELA 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.

CCSS ELA RL.9-10.3: Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters,
and advance the plot or develop the theme.

CCSS ELA RL.9-10.5: Analyze how an authors 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.

CCSS ELA W.9-10.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Big Ideas/Unit Goals:

*How do our circumstances (family, culture, community, and socioeconomic status) shape our identity and our sense of home?
*Who should be responsible for helping those who cannot help themselves (because of age, cultural rules, financial struggles, etc.)?
*How is it possible to feel lost or out of place in a place youve always been?
*As gender expectations change, what gender expectations do you feel pressured to follow? How are these affected by culture?

Unit Summary:

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros will provide us with a look into what it's like growing up as a Mexican-American female in the barrios of Chicago. We will be
using this short but impactful novel to explore social themes and the ways in which particular writing methods can affect how a story is experienced. Although we will be
reading the text in class, students will be required to reread portions of the novel at home to prepare for your assignments. Students will be engaging in an ongoing online
discussion with classmates about some heavy topics (such as race, culture, and gender expectations), but they will also find a good deal of humor in how the main character
sees her life and observes those around her.

Assessment Plan:
Entry-Level: Formative: Summative:

*Quickwrite: What does my house or neighborhood *Class Debate: Using textual evidence, you will form *Presentation: Describe what your ideal house
say about me? and defend opinions to answer critical-thinking would be and how it would reflect the type of person
*Ranking Activity: You will rank eleven factors in the
order that you think they influence a persons life
choices.
questions. you hope to become.
*Concept Map: In groups, you will create a Popplet *Infographic: In small groups, students will create
that shows your understanding of symbols and motifs infographics showing the long-term effects of poverty,
or themes in the novel. gender, and race on achievement in the U.S.
*Webercise (graphic organizer): You will find and
show understanding of background info on the author
and the vignette writing style.
*Quickwrite: Write two short vignettes, one about a
personal observation of your own life and one about a
personal observation of your community
(neighborhood or school). Post on the online class
forum.

Lesson 1 (Teacher Lecture)

Student Learning Objective:
Students will be able to
assess norms and
expectations of gender,
race, and culture for
Mexican-Americans that
will affect characters
throughout the novel.
Lesson 2 (Webercise/ iPad Lesson)
Student Learning Objective:
Acceptable Evidence
(Assessments):
Completion of guided notes,
and completion of online post
and comments on two other
students posts.
Acceptable Evidence:
Lesson Activities:
Students will have completed an entry-level quickwrite assessment at the end of class the day before and a
ranking assessment as homework. The most interesting justifications from the ranking assignment will be
brought up for brief discussion.
A digital teacher lecture will be presented in class. Throughout the presentation, students will be filling out
the guided notes. As we get to the discussion questions, students will first write their initial thoughts and
then engage in a brief whole-class discussion before moving on in the presentation. With remaining class
time, we will read and discuss the first chapter of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Students
will then be asked to create a Padlet, Pinup, or Popplet to keep track of characters and events as they read
the novel. They will be required to enter at least 3 things they know about the main characters gender,
race, culture, or dreams/motivations from the first short chapter. They will continue adding characters and
information about them as they read.
Lesson Activities:

Students will be able to Completion of Webercise After having read chapters 1-10 (either in class or as homework depending on what time permits),
evaluate the benefits and activity. students will use either the Chromebooks or the computer lab during class time to access digital resources.
drawbacks of the vignette These resources will be used to examine information about the authors background, the use of Spanish in
writing style and predict this novel, and the vignette writing style. Whatever is not finished during class will become homework.
how the use of this style (as
well as author background
and the use of Spanish) will
affect the novel.
Lesson 3 (Graphic Organizer)
Student Learning Objective: Acceptable Evidence: Lesson Activities:

Students will be able to
select 3 symbols and motifs
or themes and
illustrate/support these
claims with quotes from the
text.
Unit Resources:
Creation of Popplet with
symbols and themes or motifs
and appropriate support
quotes.
We will read chapters 37 (A Smart Cookie) to 40 (Red Clowns) as a class. Because chapter 40 deals with a
dark topic and lends itself to a discussion of one of the units Big Ideas, we will spend quite a while talking
about it. Students will then be put into small groups, assigned a category of symbols/motifs or themes, and
will use whatever remaining time they have in class to begin finding textual support for these items. If
Chromebooks are available, students can access and reference their Padlets/Pinups/Popplets that they
have been using to keep track of the characters and events. Groups will need to create one collaborative
Popplet for this Graphic Organizer assignment and will complete it for homework.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Cisneros (authors background)

http://interactive.wttw.com/remembering-chicago/timeline (setting background)
https://quizlet.com/10527214/house-on-mango-street-spanish-words-flash-cards/ (quizlet for Spanish words in the novel)
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/examples-of-vignettes-in-literature.html (examining the vignette form)
Useful Websites:

Author:
http://www.makers.com/sandra-cisneros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXO8a6HYttw (Sandra Cisnerosinspiration for the novel)

Theater Performance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3V6sj82Zhk (part 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JryqbTk0ETQ (part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZEuOM0TRjY (part 3)

Vignette Resources:
https://litreactor.com/columns/storyville-15-unconventional-story-methods (guide to unconventional story methods, including the vignette, to exploreimagine how
each one might affect how the message was heard or how one might be more appropriate than another for certain stories)
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Vignette (guide to elements of the vignette writing style and tips on how to write your own for our assignment)

Different Poems about Culture Affecting Image

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46446 (maya angelou: still I rise) https://youtu.be/JqOqo50LSZ0
http://collegewritinglatelunchf2014.qwriting.qc.cuny.edu/files/2014/09/oranges-by-gary-soto.pdf
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/48985 (maya angelou: phenomenal woman) https://youtu.be/VeFfhH83_RE

Miscellaneous:
http://remezcla.com/lists/culture/sandra-cisneros-the-house-on-mango-street-exhibit/ (art exhibit on community)
http://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-house-on-mango-street/chart-board-visualization (interesting to look at how often certain themes show up by mousing over the theme
in the top key box and seeing how many chapters it appears in)
http://novelinks.org/uploads/Novels/TheHouseOnMangoStreet/Vocab%20Analysis.pdf
http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_12.02.06_u (analysis of development of the Latina voice in the novel)
https://www.varsitytutors.com/englishteacher/cisneros.html (amazing multi-faceted resouce!!)