Jennifer Valencia

ENG 482 1

I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 

Narrative Unit 
Chronology/Calendar:
WEEK 1: Journal:​ “Tell a Journal:​ When Journal​: Describe Journal: ​Who are Journal:​ What
brief story of… A have you failed? a moment with one the characters that heroic acts have
Intro to time you lost What have you of your favorite make your you performed or
narrative something, a time learned from it? people (your best hometown witnessed?
you were friend, mom, dad, interesting?
embarrassed, a time Inside/Outside sister, brother etc.) Writing
you got to do Circle activity: Describe the person Workshop​: Workshop​:
something you Students form two as best you can. Creating your own Students will
really wanted to” circles, inside and story arc/plot continue to develop
outside facing each Lesson: ​Character diagram: their own story
Mini Lesson: other & answer Development Will model with arc/plot diagram
Recognizing Plot questions: describe my own story then and finalize the
Elements the last movie you Characterization students will get to short summary of
saw, the last book, Presentation​ ​(to go develop their own their story
Plot Structure tv show episode with character and write a short
Mini Presentation development
etc. summary of their
(to go with Plot presentation)
story
Elements Introduce
presentation) Personal
Narrative ​Writing
Project

WEEK 2: Journal: ​What Journal:​What Journal: ​What is Journal: ​What are Journal:​ What are
annoys you? assumptions do your favorite place your the sounds that
Intro to people make about in your house? hobbies/passions? make up the
novel/Setting Read ​Ch. 1-3 I Am you? background noise
Development Not Your Perfect Students will select in your life?
Mexican Daughter Students will select Lesson/ one of their pieces
Chapters 1-7 & make one of their pieces Workshop: from the day before Writing
predictions/ask from the day before Setting & put the piece on Workshop:
questions & put the piece on Development one side of a note Students will get a
one side of a note card and their chance to develop
Students will also card and their thoughts on the their summary and
be asked to note 3 thoughts on the other side for​ Save ideas for characters
important quotes, other side for ​Save the Last Word and settings in their
phrases, scenes in the Last Word For Me Activity. narrative.
their journals and For Me Activity.
justify their chosen Reading time
piece- why does it Reading time with Lit Circles:
matter? Why did with Lit Circles​: CH 7-9 (students
you pick that CH 4-6 (students will still need to
particular piece? will still need to select 3 important
 Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 2

Explain your select 3 important pieces from the

thoughts behind pieces from the reading)
your pulled pieces. reading)

WEEK 3: Journal: ​What Journal:​ What is Journal: ​What Journal:​ What Journal: ​What
Sequence of objects tell the the most nicknames have places do you moments from your
Events story of your life? memorable thing you ever gotten or remember fondly past do you wish
you ever lost or given? from your you could return
Chapters 10-16 Sequence of found? childhood? to?
events workshop: Assessment: ​What
Class discussion on Students will select story do ​these Students will select Writing
sequencing in the one of their pieces doors​ inspire for one of their pieces Workshop:
novel. from the day before you? Use your from the day before Students will
Students will then & put the piece on imagination to & put the piece on continue to develop
exchange one side of a note write the opening one side of a note their narratives and
summaries/rough card and their of a short story or card and their pay special
drafts with a thoughts on the poem inspired by thoughts on the attention to their
partner where they other side for ​Save this illustration — other side for ​Save sequencing.
will highlight a the Last Word or tell us about a the Last Word
note in change of For Me Activity. memory from your For Me Activity. Students will also
events with special own life that this be able to
notice to sequence Reading time image makes you Reading time begin/continue the
words. The original with Lit Circles: think of. with Lit Circles: visual aspect of
author will then go CH 10-12 (students CH 13-16 (students their narrative.
back and review will still need to Writing will still need to
these places and select 3 important Workshop: select 3 important
make changes pieces from the Students will pieces from the
necessary using reading) continue to develop reading)
this ​guide their narratives and
pay special
attention to their
sequencing.
 Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 3

WEEK 4 Journal: ​How easy Journal: ​When do Journal:​ How Journal:​ How full Journal:​ What
or hard is it for you you feel most like competitive are is your glass? have you learned in
Dialogue to say no when you yourself? you? your teens?
want To? Students will select
Chapters 17-22 Students will select Writing Activity/ one of their pieces Writing
Lesson: ​Dialogue one of their pieces Assessment: ​What from the day before Workshop:
from the day before story does ​this & put the piece on Students will
Writing & put the piece on image​ inspire for one side of a note continue to work
Workshop: one side of a note you? card and their on their narratives
Students will card and their Use your thoughts on the with special
continue to work thoughts on the imagination to other side for​ Save attention to
on their narratives other side for ​Save write the opening the Last Word dialogue used or
with special the Last Word of a short story or For Me Activity. lack thereof.
attention to For Me Activity. poem inspired by
dialogue used. this illustration — Reading time Students will also
Reading time or tell us about a with Lit Circles: continue the visual
with Lit Circles: memory from your CH 20-22 (students aspect of their
CH 17-19 (students own life that this will still need to narrative.
will still need to image makes you select 3 important
select 3 important think of. pieces from the
pieces from the reading)
reading) Writing
Workshop:
Students will
continue to work
on their narratives
with special
attention to
dialogue used.

WEEK 5 Journal: ​What Journal: ​When Journal:​ Do you Journal: ​What Journal: ​What
rites of passage have you taken a look forward to old have you learned advice do you have
Strong Endings mark the transition stand that isolated age/growing up? from a young for younger
to adulthood in you from your person & what students?
Chapters 23-29 your community? peers? Writing Activity: have you taught an
What short story of older person? Presentations:
Lesson: Students will select love, friendship, Students will have
Strong endings one of their pieces family or any other Workshop: an opportunity to
from the day before kind of bonding Students will share their visual
Students will select & put the piece on can you tell? Tell finalize their component with the
one of their pieces one side of a note about a real narratives with a class in a gallery
from the day before card and their relationship, or focus on their exhibition.
& put the piece on thoughts on the make up a story, ending.
one side of a note other side for ​Save using these ​images
card and their the Last Word
thoughts on the For Me Activity​.
other side for ​Save
the Last Word
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 4

For Me Activity. Reading time Workshop:

with Lit Circles: Students will
Reading time CH 25-29 (students finalize their
with Lit Circles: will still need to narratives with a
CH 23-26 (students select 3 important focus on their
will still need to pieces from the ending.
select 3 important reading)
pieces from the
reading)
 Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 5

Personal Narrative 
A ​personal narrative​ allows you to share a 
story from your life and allow others to 
experience what you experienced through 
your words. Your job as a writer is to put the 
reader in your shoes. Give them the full 
experience; what you saw, what you heard, 
what you felt (physically and emotionally).  
You could tell about an emotional 
experience, a silly or serious event, a scary 
encounter etc. 
Whether the story is true doesn’t matter, as 
long as they are telling a good one through 
your words. 
 
 
You could: 
● tell a true story from your own experience, but 
write it as if it were a fiction piece, with fictional 
characters, in third person. 
● create a completely fictional story, but tell it in 
first person, which would give it the same feel as a 
personal narrative. 
● tell a true story that happened to someone else, 
but write it in first person, as if they were that person. 
For example, I could write about my grandmother’s 
experience of getting lost as a child, but I might write 
it in her voice. 

Your personal narrative should 

● be 3-5 pages double spaced MLA format 
● Include dialogue, sensory/descriptive language 
● Leave the reader with a lesson/emotional connection 
● Include a small visual component. This can look like a montage or a 
slideshow to accompany your narrative and you could record them as digital 
storytelling videos.    
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 6
Mini Lesson: ​Recognizing Plot Elements 

Recognizing Plot Elements 

Objective: ​Students will be able to identify and recognize plot elements in a short 
story and apply it to their own story in order to develop their own personal 
narrative. 

Plan: 
Opening   Brief overview of​ ​Plot Elements  10 minutes  
+10 minutes of 
journaling 

Class Work  As a class, we will read a short story (​The  30 minutes 

Flowers by Alice Walker​) and students 
will brainstorm significant events in the 
story, which will be written on board. 
Discussion about the difference between 
key events in a story and other events. 

Group Work  Then, using​ ​The Reader’s Guide to  5 

Understanding Plot Development​ ​with 
their groups they will identify where 
these events fall in the plot diagram. 

Class   As a class we will go over their responses  10 minutes 

(potentially fill out the diagram digitally 
here​) 

Closing  Students will go over the story they  5 minutes  

wrote in their journal and identify plot 
elements 

   
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 7
Lesson: ​Character Development 

Character Development 

Objective: ​Students will be able to identify character traits by reviewing how other 
creators develop their characters in order to apply these techniques to create their 
own characters.  

Plan: 
Opening   After journaling (10 minutes) and  10 minutes 
reviewing the​ c​ haracterization  +10 minutes of 
presentation,​ students will go back and  journaling  
write three things that make their 
character/person unique.  
Then they will go back into their story 
and highlight a few places where these 
details could be added.  

Class  We will read an excerpt from “I Am Not  10 minutes  

Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” pg 2 & 
6-7 

Group Work  Students will be assigned a question to  20 minutes 

their groups: 
● How did the author help the reader 
get to know the character? 
● How did your picture or 
understanding of the character 
change from the first sentence to the 
last? 
● What techniques did the writer use to 
develop this character? 
● How could you use some of these 
same techniques in your own 
writing? 

Class Closing  We will create posters for each of these  20 minutes  

questions for students to look back to 
during their writing process 

 
   
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 8
Lesson/Workshop: ​Setting Development 

Setting Development 

Objective: ​Students will be able to identify important aspects of setting, such as 
word choice and use them to apply them to the development of their own settings.  

Plan: 
Opening   Class Discussion on what setting is, why  10 minutes  
it is important and the setting in I Am Not 
Your Perfect Mexican Daughter 

Individual  Students will be put into 5 different  15 minutes  

groups with pictures of 5 different places. 
In these groups students will be asked to 
come up with words and phrases to 
describe these images. *Students should 
mostly be working on this individually.  
*Also no peeking at the images of the 
other groups!* 

Partners  Students will be partnered with someone  16 minutes 

from a different group and each student 
will have 8 minutes to describe the image 
from the group and the other student will 
have to draw the place that they are 
imagining during the description and 
after they will get to identify the image 
being described. 

Class Discussion  Whole class will come back together to  10 
discuss our findings: What does a setting 
need? What should we include? Were our 
descriptions effective/ accurate? 

Class Closing  Students will get an opportunity to  20 minutes  

develop their own setting for narrative. 
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482 9
Lesson: ​Dialogue 

Dialogue 

Objective: ​Students will be able to identify and recognize the ways in which a 
character’s personality is portrayed and changed through the use of dialogue in 
order to apply these techniques to their own writing. 

Plan: 
Opening   Class discussion:   10 minutes  
● When should you include actual dialogue  +10 minutes of 
in a piece  journaling 
● When should you simply report what was 
said? 
● How can dialogue reveal character? How 
does it affect the pacing of a story?  
● Does every narrative essay ​require 
dialogue? 

Class Work  As a class, we review what we’ve read in  20 minutes 

the novel so far… We will reread parts of 
CH 15, pgs 185-188 and consider: 
● What does this conversation tell us about 
Lorena and Julia? 
● What is the effect of varying spoken 
conversation with thoughts about the 
conversation? 
● How does the writer help the reader keep 
track of who is talking? 

Closing  Students will go over their own narrative  30 minutes  

and consider:   
● Are there places where you could tell your 
story more effectively through dialogue? 
Why? What can dialogue do in your piece 
that narration alone might not? 
● Are there places where a conversation is 
best simply described, or where only a 
line or two is needed? Why? How can you 
make the dialogue you add have the most 
impact? 
● Are there places where it might be useful 
to vary dialogue with the thoughts of a 
narrator? What could that add to the 
story? 
Jennifer Valencia
ENG 482
10
Lesson: ​Strong endings 

Strong Endings 

Objective: ​Students will be able to identify and recognize the elements of a strong 
ending in multiple texts in order to apply it to their own narrative 

Plan: 
Opening   Class discussion: What do strong endings  10 minutes  
always have?  +10 minutes of 
journaling 

Class Work  As a class, we will read “​The Monster of  35 minutes 

King’s Island”​ & “​An American in Mexico​”- 
two very different stories but both with 
meaningful endings 

Closing  As a class, we will discuss the endings to  15 minutes  

both of these short essays and consider: 
● What is your takeaway from this 
essay? That is, what would you say the 
writer wanted you to learn, 
understand or realize? How do you 
know? 
● How did the writer impart this 
information? What sentences or 
details in the essay do this? 
● How does the writer build toward this 
larger message? Does it seem “tacked 
on,” or does it flow naturally? Why? 
● What else do you notice or admire 
about this essay?  
● What lessons might it have for your 
own writing and how can you apply 
them?