GRADE 5: MODULE 1: UNIT 2: OVERVIEW

Case Study: Esperanza's Story

In this second unit, students apply what they've learned about human rights by studying how a fictional character responds to challenges to those rights. This unit focuses on the Reading Literature strand of the New York State Common Core Learning Standards (NYSP12 CCLS), using the novel Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan (a book with a 740 Lexile reading level—a measure of text difficulty). Students also read nonfiction texts that explain the story's historical background. They will follow Esperanza's journey: she is a young girl born into a comfortable, privileged life in Mexico in the 1930s, but she is forced to flee to California and must find the strength to overcome hardship.

This unit is designed to build students' habit of writing regularly to deepen their understanding. Almost every day, they will write short informational pieces in their reading journals, recording their interpretations of specific details and quotations from the book. They will examine how characters respond to challenges and analyze how Esperanza changes over the course of the story. For the mid-unit assessment, students will read and analyze a new chapter on their own, focusing on the challenges Esperanza faces, how she responds to them, and what her responses reveal about her character. In the second half of the unit, students compare Esperanza to other characters in the novel—paying close attention to how different characters react to the hardships of their work camp and to the question of whether the migrant workers should go on strike. Students will then write a two-voice poem that contrasts how two different characters respond to a similar challenge. Finally, they will write a formal essay analyzing how Esperanza changes throughout the novel.

Note: This unit assumes the teacher has already read Esperanza Rising carefully. Although the novel's Lexile score is 740, it is more challenging when judged by other measures of text complexity, such as themes, structure, and background knowledge required. See the Literary Text Qualitative Rubric (available on EngageNY.org) for guidance on evaluating text complexity.

Guiding Questions and Big Ideas

• What are human rights?
• What lessons can we learn about human rights through literature and life?
• We learn lessons about human rights from the experiences of real people and fictional characters.
• Characters change over time in response to challenges to their human rights.
• People respond differently to similar events in their lives.
• Authors conduct research and choose specific language to affect their readers.

---

Mid-Unit 1 Assessment

**Analyzing Sections of Esperanza Rising on My Own**

This on-demand assessment addresses standards RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3, and RL.5.4. Students will read a chapter of Esperanza Rising for homework and then demonstrate their ability to analyze complex text independently. They will examine the challenges Esperanza faces and how she responds, using evidence from the text to support their ideas. They will also answer questions about academic vocabulary and figurative language (language that uses comparison rather than literal meaning, such as metaphors and similes). This is primarily a reading assessment—its purpose is to measure students' ability to analyze literature in general and Chapter 9 of Esperanza Rising specifically. It is not meant to formally assess students' writing skills. Most students will write their responses, in which case standard W.5.9 may also be assessed. However, if needed, students may dictate their answers to an adult.

End of Unit 2 Assessment

On-Demand Analytical Essay about How Esperanza Changes Over Time

This assessment addresses standards RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RL.5.3, W.5.2, W.5.4, W.5.5, and W.5.9. Students will write an essay explaining how Esperanza changes over the course of the novel. Specifically, they will analyze her growth by comparing how she responds to events early in the story versus later. Each student will choose the two or three key events that best support his or her analysis of Esperanza's development.

Content Connections

This module is designed to teach English Language Arts standards, but it intentionally connects to Social Studies content that many teachers cover elsewhere in the school day. Those connections are outlined below.

NYS Social Studies Core Curriculum

• The rights of citizens in the United States are similar to—and different from—the rights of citizens in other nations of the Western Hemisphere.
• Constitutions, rules, and laws are created in democratic societies to maintain order, provide security, and protect individual rights.
• Different people living in the Western Hemisphere may view the same event or issue from different perspectives.
• The migration of groups of people within the United States, Canada, and Latin America has led to cultural diffusion (the spread of ideas and customs), because people carry their beliefs and ways of life with them when they move.
• Connections and exchanges exist among the peoples of Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States—including social and cultural exchange, migration and immigration, and the spread of science and technology.

Central Texts

1. Pam Muñoz Ryan, Esperanza Rising (New York: Scholastic, 2002), ISBN: 978-0439120425.

Secondary Texts

1. United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Plain Language Version. www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/plain.asp (last accessed August 6, 2012).

---

Unit-at-a-Glance

This unit lasts approximately three weeks, or 18 class sessions.

General teaching note: Esperanza Rising is a long novel. In Unit 2, students typically read one chapter each night for homework and then discuss key passages in class the next day. Students may need extra time elsewhere in the school day to keep pace with the reading. In Unit 3 (Readers Theater), students will revisit and analyze many of these same passages in greater depth—so their understanding of the text will continue to grow across the full six weeks of Units 2 and 3 combined.

Lesson 1

**Building Background Knowledge: Learning about the Historical and Geographical Setting of Esperanza Rising** (Chapter 1: "Aguascalientes, Mexico, 1924")

Long-Term Targets:

• I can summarize a literary text. (RL.5.2)
• I can determine the meaning of literal and figurative language—metaphors and similes—in a text. (RL.5.4)
• I can determine the main idea(s) of an informational text based on key details. (RI.5.5)
• I can summarize an informational text. (RI.5.5)

Supporting Targets:

• I can define historical fiction (a story set in the past that mixes real historical events with invented characters and plot).
• I can describe the geographical setting of Esperanza Rising.
• I can describe the historical setting of Esperanza Rising.

Ongoing Assessment:

• Class discussion
• Building Background Knowledge: "I Notice and I Wonder" sticky notes
• Notes from the Jigsaw note-catcher (a method where each student researches part of a topic, then shares with the group)

Lesson 2

Getting to Know Esperanza (Chapter 2: "Las Uvas/Grapes")

Long-Term Targets:

• I can effectively take part in a discussion with my peers. (SL.5.1)
• I can explain what a text says using quotes from it. (RL.5.1)
• I can make inferences (educated guesses based on evidence) using quotes from the text. (RL.5.1)
• I can compare and contrast literary elements—such as two or more characters' points of view, settings, or events—using details from the text. (RL.5.3)
• I can determine the meaning of literal and figurative language (metaphors and similes) in a text. (RL.5.4)

Supporting Targets:

• I can discuss answers to questions with my triad (small group of three) and provide evidence to explain my ideas.
• I can answer questions about the setting of Esperanza Rising based on evidence from the text.
• I can answer questions about the main character, Esperanza, based on evidence from the text.

Ongoing Assessment:

• Observation of where students place their evidence flags
• Triad discussions

Lesson 3

Inferring about Characters Based on How They Respond to Challenges (Chapter 3: "Las Papayas/Papayas")

Long-Term Targets:

• I can explain what a text says using quotes from it. (RL.5.1)
• I can make inferences using quotes from the text. (RL.5.1)
• I can determine the meaning of literal and figurative language (metaphors and similes). (RL.5.4)
• I can write informative/explanatory texts. (W.5.2)

Supporting Targets:

• I can answer comprehension questions based on text from Esperanza Rising that I have read independently.
• I can identify situations in Esperanza Rising where a character's human rights are challenged.
• I can make inferences from the text about Esperanza, Mama, and Abuelita.
• I can use context clues to help me determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in Esperanza Rising.
• I can write to explain my thinking about the characters in Esperanza Rising.

Ongoing Assessment:

• Comprehension Quiz, Chapter 3: "Las Papayas/Papayas" (entrance ticket)
• Triad discussions
• Exit Ticket: Independent answer to a text-dependent question

Lesson 4

Inferring about Characters Based on How They Respond to Challenges (Chapter 4: "Los Higos/Figs")

Long-Term Targets:

• I can explain what a text says using quotes from it. (RL.5.1)
• I can make inferences using quotes from the text. (RL.5.1)
• I can compare and contrast literary elements—such as two or more characters' points of view, settings, or events—using details from the text. (RL.5.3)
• I can determine the meaning of literal and figurative language (metaphors and similes). (RL.5.4)
• I can write informative/explanatory texts. (W.5.2)

Supporting Targets:

• I can answer comprehension questions based on text from Esperanza Rising that I have read independently.
• I can identify situations in Esperanza Rising where a character's human rights are challenged.
• I can make inferences from the text about the characters in Esperanza Rising.
• I can use context clues to help me determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in Esperanza Rising.
• I can write to explain my thinking about the characters in Esperanza Rising.

Ongoing Assessment:

• Comprehension Quiz, Chapter 4: "Los Higos/Figs" (entrance ticket)
• Anchor charts: Character T-charts—one created by small groups about Mama, Abuelita, and Miguel, and a second created from individual notes about Mama, Abuelita, Miguel, and Esperanza
• Triad discussions
• Exit Ticket: Independent answer to a text-dependent question

Lesson 5

Connecting Informational Text with Literature: Building Background Knowledge about Mexican Immigration, California, and the Great Depression (Chapter 5: "Las Guayabas/Guavas")

Long-Term Targets:

• I can use quotes to explain the meaning of a literary text. (RL.5.1)
• I can determine the main idea(s) of an informational text based on key details. (RI.5.2)
• I can summarize an informational text. (RI.5.2)

Supporting Targets:

• I can answer comprehension questions based on text from Esperanza Rising that I have read independently.
• I can summarize the main ideas in an informational text about...