Lively Literature

Lively Literature MyrtisMixonEd.D mmixon@usfca.edu Motivation for Learning

Tic Tac Toe • Fill your card….

NAMING TRADITIONS • Model my name • PAIR • Share: Where did your name come from? • Foursome: Share with each other

My Name • by Sandra Cisneros

My Name, #1 • In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing. • It was my great-grandmother’s name and now it is mine. She was a horse woman too, born like me in the Chinese year of the horse—which is supposed to be bad luck if you’re born female—but I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’t like their women strong.

My Name, #2 • My great-grandmother. I would’ve liked to have known her, a wild horse of a woman, so wild she wouldn’t marry. Until my great-grandfather threw a sack over her head and carried her off. Just like that, as if she were a fancy chandelier. That’s the way he did it. • And the story goes she never forgave him. She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be. Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window.

My Name, #3 • At school they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish my name is made out of a softer something, like silver, not quite as thick as sister’s name—Magdalena—which is uglier than mine. Magdalena who at least can come home and become Nenny. But I am always Esperanza. • I would like to baptize myself under a new name, a name more like the real me, the one nobody sees. Esperanza as Lisandra or Maritza or Zeze the X. Yes. Something like Zeze the X will do.

Non-Stop Writing THINK about Esmeralda’s name. Your name (one minute) • NOW: NON-STOP WRITE • You write on a topic without stopping, similar to free writing. In class, non-graded, timed writing on an assigned topic---without stopping. • Why do a writing assignment that is non-graded? • Share your writing….

Why use literature? Why? • Authentic • Interesting • Motivating • Engaging/involving

Why use contemporary literature? • Relevant to young students • Today’s issues • Today’s language • Lively • Engaging

What is this genre? • Fiction with a YA designation: Young adult Novels (also ‘graphic’ novels) • Short Stories • Utopian novels/dystopia novels

Activities for readings: • Vocabulary: Keep book marks with new words/meanings • Word Choice, tone, voice: Who is the speaker? What type of tone? What type of voice? • Defining the Theme: What is the main idea? The message? • Mind-map the characters/Interview a character • Role plays: of different scenes. • Discussion Questions • Write a monolog • Use a Reading journal • Summarize the plot/the story • Create a photo album of the main character or a scrap book of the action. • Choose quotations and explain and comment

Try to remember: YOU DON’T STOP PLAYING • BECAUSE YOU GET OLD. • YOU GET OLD BECAUSE • YOU STOP PLAYING!

Knoxville, Tennessee by Nikki Giovanni • I always like summer • Best • you can eat corn • From daddy’s garden And okra And greens And cabbage And lots of Barbeque And buttermilk And homemade ice-cream At the church picnic And listen go Gospel music • Outside At the church Homecoming And go to the mountains with Your grandmother And go barefooted And be warm All the time Not only when you go to bed And sleep

The Marble Champ by Gary Soto • A story of a girl who won many awards for her brains, but never did well in sports. • She wanted to.

Comprehension Qs • 1. What was Lupe good at? (successful with?) • 2. Name some sports she tried. • 3. What did she want to do? • 4. Did her family help her? • 5. Did Lupe win the tournament? • 6. How did the family celebrate?

Critical Thinking Qs • How old is Lupe? Why do you say that? • Describe the values taught in Lupe’s home. • Why does Lupe want to win at a sport? • How did her parents act toward her ambition? • Why was Lupe proud of winning? • What is the ‘moral’ of this story?

Writing about the story • 1. Write an entry in Lupe’s diary. • 2. Write a free-form poem about the marbles tournament. • 3. Write a summary of the story in 10 sentences.

Critical Thinking Qs for My Name • Does anyone have a name that has a relation to his own character? • How did Esperanza explain the girl’s personality? • Would she be a different person if she had a different name? • If you name is Hope, would you like your name? • In what way does a name affect one’s personality?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian • by Sherman Alexie • An excerpt from his book.

my website • www.riomediagroup.com/blanche35now/

Assessment • On a paper, complete these sentences: • 1. I will remember…. • 2. In my teaching, I will use… • 3. I didn’t know…

Thank You Myrtis101@mac.com Riomediagroup.com/blanche35now

Lively Literature