5 Reasons Why You Should Teach a Novel Unit Using Esperanza Rising

Can I just say that I LOVE the book Esperanza Rising? Out of all the literature out there for kids, this one sings to me. Pam Muñoz Ryan is a wonderful author and the character of Esperanza is such an evolving character, and the plot allows for rich discussion. I could go on and on about this book, but rather, I'll give you the rundown of the  5 big reasons why you should use this book in a novel study. 

1. Symbolism
Teaching symbolism is so fun and kids are amazing at it. If you've ever done a poetry unit, you know what I mean. Kids are incredibly poetic and have such a unique perspective that it gives me goosebumps when I read their thoughts. This book allows for looking symbolically. Each chapter is a fruit or vegetable that is being harvested on the farm, but beyond that they represent something significant in the chapter and to Esperanza's evolution as a character. 

Here are what a few of my sixth graders wrote on some of the chapters:

"I think the onions represent how when you cut into one, you may start crying. that's the feeling Esperanza is feeling in this chapter."

"I think the Potatoes symbolize when it grows eyes it sees everything and Esperanza is seeing that she needs to start working."

"We read the chapter called los aguacates. I think the avocados represent how Esperanza is trying to smooth out her life like the avocados are smooth out her hands."


I've done projects that expand on symbolism too, which leads me to #2 and 3...

#2 & 3 Extension Projects and Spanish

This book is a great way to work in some foreign language into your classroom. Native Spanish speakers LOVE it and non-native Spanish speakers enjoy learning words in a new language. I have done a variety of projects that incorporate some of the Spanish. One year we made mobiles with the fruits on one side and the symbolism on the back. This example is beautiful, but may not be the best example of symbolism writing. If I were to do it again, I'd have them explain their reasoning more on the back. That's the beauty of teaching though, right? Modify and improve as time goes on!

Another project we did was making a zigzag "quilt" and wrote "Spanglish" poetry on it. We looked at all the Spanish we gathered through reading the book, we read The Color of My Words, By Lynn Joseph, and I had other Spanish-English poetry books as examples like Poems to Dream Together/Poemas Para Soñar Juntos, and Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Que Rico! All of which can be found on Amazon.

The artwork we made looks like this: 

We cut a zig-zag shape out of card stock for our template and used chalk to make them. We colored each section moving the template up or down and changing colors each time, and then wrote our poems on top with Sharpie. 

4. Teaching History

This book takes place during the Great Depression. There is so much you can do to integrate this story into a unit on this important time in American history. An amazing visual resource that I use is from the Oakland Museum of California: http://picturethis.museumca.org/timeline/depression-era-1930s/migrant-farm-workers/info . It has a lot of photos from the time this book takes place that help students visualize the setting better and to better understand what was going on.

The character of Marta and the organizing of protests help launch into a lesson on Caesar Chavez as well. Even though he comes later in American history, the battle for equal rights was the same.

This book also helps to address immigration and discrimination. Both are sensitive topics, but both are so important to address. This book helps to approach it in a meaningful way, and can be used to springboard into more current events related to the same topic.

5. Growth in Comprehension and Summary Writing

How can I not resist talking about the importance of reading comprehension?!  I created a set of images to teach summary writing chapter by chapter. I revealed one clue at a time and they wrote them down prior to reading the chapter. They  then used the three clues to write a summary of the chapter. My students went from writing either minimal summaries or long rambling summaries, to concise, clear, and focused summaries using picture clues. I give them 3 clues, they use a template that looks like this: 

We read the chapter called ____________________________________. I think ______(name of fruit/vegetable)___ symbolizes ________ because _______. This chapter is about _______(clue #1)___________________. In this chapter ________(clue#2)____________________. At the end of this chapter _______________(clue#3)______________________.

We did this for every chapter and their summaries got better and better, their thoughts on symbolism got better and better. My ELL students, my IEP students (who were able to read this level of book but had a writing IEP), and my strategic students were successful. They also gave me feedback that they preferred this presentation of the material.  It took a long time to put one of these sets of clues together, so if you are short on time,  you can buy one in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Get-Your-Teach-On-762

Here is a sample of one chapter's 3 clues:

Included in the Esperanza Novel Study  is a sample summary of each chapter to help you prepare. It's just that simple! I have had students write their summaries in a notebook. Our school switched to having Chrome Books for every students, so I later had students type each entry in a Google Doc, and I wrote comments and grades on the side. I found this to be much easier than collecting 28 notebooks every day or every 2-3 days.  

I have done other novels this way and will be adding them to my TPT store this summer. Look for these titles soon: Freak the Mighty, The Watsons Go To Birmingham, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.