becoming naomi león -...

Library Lessons

August/September 2010 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • �

leven-year-old Naomi Soledad León Outlaw has a couple issues. For one thing, there is her unusually long name. For another,

there is little brother, Owen, who has a bent body but a bright brain. But all in all, her spunky great grandmother has taken good care of the siblings over the last seven years, and things are going relatively well…That is, until the day Naomi’s unstable mother pays them a visit. It seems that Skyla would like Naomi to come and live with her so that she can be a babysitter for her new boyfriend’s younger daughter. Gram realizes that if she is going to keep Naomi and Owen safe and together, she needs to get legal permission from the children’s father. They head out from their California trailer park and travel to Oaxaca City, Mexico. There, Naomi learns about her cultural identity, experiences the unique festival called the “Night of the Radishes,” and reconnects with her long-absent father.

Library Lesson

Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes” Research

Introduction: Naomi is a great maker of lists. She also loves her school’s library. If she combined these two things, she could research the items on her “Night of the Radishes” list using the reference tools in the library.

Time Required: 20–25 minutes

Suggested Grade Level: 3–6

Objective: • Students will review the organization of the

contents of a set of encyclopedias.

Materials:• Visual: Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes”

Research (page 3)• Transparency marker• Activity Sheet: Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes”

Research (page 4)• Writing tools• Optional: Sets of encyclopedias for student

inspection

Procedure:1. Prepare materials prior to class. 2. Introduce the lesson by asking the students if

they know what an encyclopedia is. An ency-clopedia is a set of books that contains information about people, places, things, and events. Note: Encyclopedias can also be stored on discs and are also found on the internet.

3. Direct the students’ attention to the library’s collection of encyclopedias for future reference.

4. Display the transparency. Review the content with the students. Solicit responses to the ques-tions from the students filling in the answers with a marker.

by | Lynne Farrell Stover

Becoming Naomi Leónby Pam Muñoz Ryan

Grades 3–6

• Library Lessons •

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Library Lessons

� • LibrarySparks • August/September 2010 Web Resources

• Reading: Students who find Naomi’s disabled younger brother, Owen, interesting may be interested in reading the following titles:

• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko. Putnam Juvenile, 2004.

• Freak the Mighty by Philbrick Rodman. Blue Sky Press, 1993.

• Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos. Harper Collins, 2000.

• Rules by Cynthia Lord. Scholastic Press, 2006.

• Spanish Language: Scholastic offers a work-sheet, Hablo Español?, that promotes the understanding of some of the Spanish phrases found in Becoming Naomi León. It can be found at:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/bookfairs/currconnection/downloads/cc_naomi_leon.pdf

• Writing: Mr. Marble, the librarian at Naomi’s school, is very supportive and understanding. In fact, Naomi says he is “the absolute best person at Buena Vista Elementary.” Instruct the students create a list of ten characteristics of a good librarian, classroom teacher, bus driver, or principal. (Remind the students that one of the things Naomi did best was to make lists.) Encourage them to share their lists with the class.

❖ ❖ ❖

Lynne Farrell Stover has over thirty years of experience as an educator and is currently a Teacher Consultant at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has taught many teacher workshops and won Teacher of the Year in 1999 from the Virginia Council of Economic Education and from the Virginia Association for the Gifted. She is the author of Magical Library Lessons, More Magical Library Lessons, Magical Library Lessons: Holiday Happenings, and From Snicket to Shakespeare from UpstartBooks.

Answers: Part I 1. 15 2. Alphabetical and Numerical 3. U-V Part II 1. Vol 6 2. Vol 11 3. Vol 3 4. Vol 75. Distribute the activity sheet. Explain to the

students that in the book, Becoming Naomi León, Naomi and her family traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico in search of her father. While there they participated in a unique festival, “Night of the Radishes.” The words on this activity sheet are ones that Naomi could have added to a list about the interesting things about this event.

6. Read the directions on the activity sheet to the students. Allow them to work independently or in pairs.

7. Check for understanding: 1. Vol 12 10. Vol 1 2. Vol 4 11. Vol 10 3. Vol 13 12. Vol 3 4. Vol 6 13. Vol 9 5. Vol 10 14. Vol 2 6. Vol 7 15. Vol 15 7. Vol 8 16. Vol 4 8. Vol 5 17. Vol 9 9. Vol 11 18. Vol 3

Extension Activities• Art: Naomi and her family travel to Oaxaca,

Mexico and get involved in the Night of the Radishes (Noche de Rábanos) Festival which is held every year on December 23rd. During this time, there is an exciting competition where artists carve scenes out of giant radishes and display them for judging. Provide mate-rials (small vegetables, toothpicks, etc.) for students to create their own vegetable displays that they base on their favorite books. After a day of display, wash the vegetables thoroughly and throw them into a pot for soup!

Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes”

ResearchAn encyclopedia is a book or a set of books that contains information on many subjects. The spine of each volume displays the number of that book and the letters of the alphabet that the topics found in it begin with.

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A B C-D E-F G-H-I

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M N O-P Q-R S T U-V W X-Y-Z

Part I

1. How many volumes are in this set of encyclopedias? ___________________________

2. In what kind of order are these volumes arranged? ____________________________

3. Topics beginning with what letters can be found in volume 13? __________________

Part II

Naomi Soledad León Outlaw is a curios girl who loves to make lists. If she wanted to see if the places on her list below were in this set of encyclopedias, in what volumes would she look?

Naomi’s “Places I Love List”

1. Library ________

2. School ________

3. California ________

4. Mexico ________

August/September 2010 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 3

Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes”

Research activity sheetAn encyclopedia is a set of books that contains information about many subjects. The spine of each volume displays the number of the book and the letters of the alphabet that the topics in the book begin with.

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Which volume of the encyclopedia would Naomi use to find information on the subject list?

Naomi’s “Night of the Radishes” Word List

1. Tortilla ________ 16. Epiphany ________

2. Fireworks ________ 17. Panther ________

3. Vegetable ________ 18. Dragon ________

4. Jacaranda tree ________

5. Radish ________

6. Mariachi Band ________

7. Nativity Scene ________

8. Grasshopper ________

9. Saint Soledad ________

10. Avocado ________

11. Reptile ________

12. Christmas ________

13. Oaxaca ________

14. Butterfly ________

15. Zocalo ________

August/September 2010 Web Resources • LibrarySparks • 4

Library Lessons


Esperanza Ortega is an only child and has lived a life of privilege on a beautiful ranch in Mexico.

But when her father is murdered the day before her thirteenth birthday, she and her mother discover that their greedy male relatives intend to take over the ranch. To escape a dreadful future, Esperanza, her mother, and a family of their loyal ser-vants escape to California. Here she lives with other migrant farm workers looking to make a living during the Great Depression. Esperanza grows up quickly and discovers that she can work hard, solve problems, and be grateful for things that she loves.Note: It is not necessary for the students to have read Esperanza Rising to successfully complete these activities.

Lesson I: Pick-a-Poem

Introduction: The chapters in Esperanza Rising do not have numbers. Instead they are titled with the Spanish names of the fruits and vegetables that are in season during the time the story is unfold-ing. (The English names appear underneath.)



Objective: • The student will review various types of

poems.• The student will write an original poem using

a specific format.

Materials:• Visual: Pick-a-Poem (see page 3)• Pick-a-Poem Card Sets (see page 4),

duplicated on card stock and cut out

Grades 4–6

• Paper & writing tools• Optional: marker, crayons,

or colored pencils • Optional: Copy of Esperanza

Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan• Optional: Pick-a-Poem extension

activities (page 5)• Optional: Esperanza Rising exten-

sion activities (page 6)

Procedure:1. Prepare materials prior to class. If duplicate sets

of Pick-a-Poem sets are required, run them off on different colored card stock to help keep the individual sets organized.

2. Introduce the lesson by telling the students that Pam Muñoz Ryan, the author of Esperanza Rising, titled each chapter of the book with the name of a fruit or vegetable that was in season during the time the action in that chapter was taking place. If a copy of the book is avail-able, show the students that the first chapter (page 4) and the last chapter (page 234) are both titled “LAS UVAS–GRAPES”. Ask them what they think this means. Possible answers: “The story takes place over an entire year.” “The story beings and ends in the same place.” “Grapes are important to the story.”

3. Display the transparency and review the three styles of poems featured.

4. Distribute a Pick-a-Poem Card, writing tools, and paper to each student. Students may work individually or in pairs.

5. Instruct the students to write an acrostic poem, haiku, or couplet based on the fruit or veg-etable on the card. Encourage students to illus-trate their poems.

6. Display completed poems on a bulletin board titled “Pick-a-Poem Creations.”

• Library Lessons •by | Lynne Farrell Stover

Esperanza Risingby Pam Muñoz Ryan

Library Lessons

� • LibrarySparks • August/September 2010 Web Resources

4. Read this “Sample Scarcity Story” to the stu-dents: Isabel was happy to find her friend Tanya from school. They were going to go on a train trip. When they got to the train station, every-thing was busy and confusing. The girls got on the wrong train and ended up in a crowded passen-ger compartment headed for Zacatecas, Mexico. What were they going to do? They didn’t even have enough room to sit down. The space was so cramped that the girls had nothing to hold on to—when the train rolled over bumps, they nearly fell down! When the ticket collector came into their compartment, he became angry and said they would have to get off at the next stop to get on a train returning home. The girls were so relieved that they did not care that there was a scarcity of seats. They were just glad to be going home.

5. Ask the students the following: Who were the main characters in this story? (Isabel and Tanya) What was the setting of the story? (A train travel-ing to Mexico) What was the scarcity situation? (There was not enough room on the train.)

6. Display the visual and explain to the students that they may either make their own choice (deciding among the alternatives) as to the character, setting, and scarcity situation they would like to select, or they may use a selec-tion device and have the choice made for them. Note: the visual should remain dis-played during the lesson for student reference.

7. Distribute the activity sheets and writing tools. Review the directions with the students. Encourage the students to either evaluate their own story or have anther student do so. Reiterate that when they rate the story, they are making another choice.

❖ ❖ ❖

Lynne Farrell Stover has over thirty years of experience as an educator and is currently a Teacher Consultant at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has taught many teacher workshops and won Teacher of the Year in 1999 from the Virginia Council of Economic Education and from the Virginia Association for the Gifted. She is the author of Magical Library Lessons, More Magical Library Lessons, Magical Library Lessons: Holiday Happenings, and From Snicket to Shakespeare from UpstartBooks.

Lesson II: Create a Scarcity Story

Note: Esperanza’s story relates how migrant workers were forced from their jobs by Midwesterners arriving from the Dust Bowl, as well as the fact that groups of strikers, some of them US citizens who had never been to Mexico, were rounded up and deported during this time period. This “voluntary repatriation” was respon-sible for sending 450,000 farm laborers back to Mexico during the 1930s.



Objective: • The student will be introduced to the con-

cepts of choice (deciding among alternatives) and scarcity (when wants are greater than resources)

• The student will write a creative story using randomly selected characters, settings, and situations

Materials:• Visual: Character, Setting, and Scarcity

Choices (page 7)• Activity Sheet: Scarcity Story (page 8)• Writing tools• Dice or similar selection device

Procedure:1. Prepare materials prior to class. 2. Explain to the students that they will be writ-

ing a creative story based on the characters (people) and settings (places) found in the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

3. Tell the students that their story must also include a situation where there is not enough of something. Define scarcity as when wants are greater than the resources available to satisfy those wants. Explain that this story takes place during a time referred to as the Great Depression, when many people were experiencing scarcity of essentials such as food, clothing and shelter.

Pick-a-Poem Acrostic Poem: The key letters of each word are aligned vertically to form the word that is the subject of the poem.

PepperVegEtable

Pimienta SPicy

GreEn Ripe

Hiaku: A Japanese nature poem composed of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables.

Spicy veggie treatLoving the hot summer sunGreen, red, yellow, good!

Couplet: A two-line poem that rhymes.

The hot, spicy pepper is shaped like a bell.Eat it too quickly and teardrops will well!


Pick-a-Poem Cards Papayas

las papayas

Cantaloupes

los melones

Potatoes

las papas

Grapes

las uvas

Onions

las cebollas

Avocados

los aguacates

Figs

las higos

Almonds

las almendras

Asparagus

los espárragos

Guavas

las guayabas

Plums

las ciruelas

Peaches

los duraznos


Pick-a-Poem

Extension Activities Note: Multiple sets of cards will be required for these activities.

• Alphabetical Order: Organize the cards in alphabetical order twice: first alphabetize the English words, then the Spanish words.

• Card Sort: Study the cards and select several categories into which they could be sorted. For example: SIZE (big or small), TYPE (fruit or vegetable), TASTE (yummy or yucky). Sort the cards and share your results with the class.

• Concentration Game: (2-4 players) Use two sets of cards. Shuffle the cards and lay them face down on a table. Take turns turning over the cards one at a time. If the cards match, you may keep that pair and take another turn. If the do not match, return the cards to their place on the table. Continue playing until all the cards have been matched. The player with the most matched pairs wins!

• Ranking: Use your knowledge of the fruits and vegetables depicted on the cards to rank them in a specific order. Possible categories include:

• Smallest to Biggest• Sweetest to Sourest• Least Expensive to Most Expensive• Delicate to Durable

• Research: Select a Pick-a-Poem card and look up the fruit or vegetable in an encyclopedia. List five interesting facts about that fruit. Extra Credit Challenge: Write these facts in the shape of the fruit or vegetable.

• Write a Recipe: Select a Pick-a-Poem card. Either create a recipe of your own using the selected fruit or vegetable or look for one in a cookbook from the library’s collection (Dewey Decimal number 641.5). Remember to include the ingredients and the instructions for the recipe’s preparation. If possible, create a classroom cookbook using these recipes.


Esperanza Rising

Extension Activities • Geography: Esperanza’s life began in Mexico. Students can create a Mexico A-B-C book

by using an atlas or encyclopedia to research this county and find a city or landform that represents each letter of the alphabet. They are to record the word for the chosen location at the top of a piece of paper, write two or three sentences describing it, and then draw an attractive illustration. This could be a class project.

• Language Arts Unit: Check out Scholastic’s excellent online “Flashlight Readers” unit, located at this address: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/unitplan.jsp?id=207

• Reading: Students who enjoy reading historical fiction stories that take place during the era of the Great Depression may find these books interesting:

• Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. Delacorte Books, 1999.• Children of the Great Depression by Russell Freedman. Clarion, 2005.• Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine. HarperCollins, 2001.• Out of the Dust by Karen Hess. Scholastic Press, 1997.• Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression by Kate Lied. National Geographic

Children’s Books, 2002. • A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck. Dial, 2000.


Character, Setting and Scarcity Choices

Roll the dice or use another selection device to determine the character, setting, and scarcity situation for your creative story.

Characters

1. Esperanza—A happy girl living in Mexico until tragedy forced her to move to California

2. Ramona—Esperanza’s mother, a hard worker who gets very ill

3. Miguel—Esperanza was “better” than him in Mexico, but now that she is poor they can be friends

4. Marta—Went on strike for better working conditions

5. Alfonso—Miguel’s father. He helped Esperanza escape to California

6. Isabel—Is a happy eight year old who sees the good side of most things

Settings (All take place in the 1930s)

1. Near a vineyard at El Rancho de las Rosas, Mexico

2. During a dust storm in California’s San Joaquin Valley

3. In an uncomfortable train compartment near Zacatecas, Mexico

4. In a patient’s room at Kern General Hospital in Bakersfield, California

5. On a bus being deported back to Mexico

6. In a crowded elementary school classroom near a migrant camp

Scarcity Situations

1. There are not enough places to sit

2. There is not enough time to complete a task

3. The little food available is old and stale

4. It is dark and there is only one candle

5. It is hot and the fresh water supply is almost gone

6. It is cold and there is only one blanket


Scarcity StoryName ____________________________________________ Date: ______________________

Directions: You may choose a character, setting, and scarcity situation or use a selection device to decide for you. Write a story using all three of the selected story elements. Be prepared to share your story with others.

NOTeS:

Character: __________________________________________________________________

Setting: _____________________________________________________________________

Scarcity Situation: ___________________________________________________________

Title: _______________________________________________________________________

Story: ______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

How would you rate this story? Circle your choice.

Literary Rating Scale

$$$$ This is the beginning of a best-seller!$$$ This story has potential, but needs some work.$$ One or two things are working, but changes are needed.$ Many changes are needed.


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