TITLE: MY NAME IS MARIA ISABEL / ME LLAMO MARIA ISABEL

Curricular Category: Read Aloud (Guided Reading)

Goal: To inspire empathy within students; to help them realize how we are all alike as well as unique and different.

Description: In the book Maria Isabel, the main character deals with the issues of personal identity and culture/language, facing difficult situations, and conflict resolution. Students are encouraged to apply these situations to their own life.

Objectives:

1)Students will identify the following points of the story on a story board or story map: main characters, setting, developments, conflict, and conflict resolution.

2)Students will discuss the issues from Maria Isabel that are relevant to their life.

Materials:

  • My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada
  • Story board or Story map

Procedures:

1)Browsing: Front cover, title, author, illustrations, table of context, back cover

2)Begin to fill in story map (teacher- or student-led depending on time and objectives)

  • Who is Maria Isabel? (include here nicknames: Belita and Maribel)
  • What are the other main characters?
  • What are the main issues?
  • What is the conflict?

3)Read chapters 1-2 (Tuesday)

Discussion questions:

  • Review beginning questions.
  • How does Maria Isabel feel? How do you know?
  • What is the problem at school?
  • What might the resolution be?
  • Does this remind you of anything in your life?
  • What else is happening in Maria Isabel’s life?
  • What were some of the words that were new to you?

4)Read chapters 3-4 (Wednesday)

Discussion questions:

  • What were some of the words that were new to you?
  • What meaning does Maria Isabel’s name have for her?
  • What are some of the reasons she is having difficulty at school? What about at home?
  • What are some ways you think Maria Isabel could react to these problems?
  • What are some other things that happened in these chapters?

5)Read chapters 5-7 (Thursday)

  • What were some of the words that were new to you?
  • What do you think Maria Isabel’s teacher thinks of her?
  • What does Maria Isabel think of her teacher?
  • What makes Maria Isabel different than many students in her new school?
  • What does Maria Isabel feel when she goes to visit Clara and Carmen?
  • How has the problem in the story progressed?
  • What solutions do you now think that the problem might have?

6)Read chapters 8-10 (Friday)

  • What were some of the words that were new to you?
  • How did Maria Isabel feel as she began to write her essay? As she finished?
  • Did Maria Isabel make a good choice in solving her problem with her teacher?
  • How do you think Maria Isabel’s teacher is going to treat her from now on?
  • Why are names important to personal identity?

7)Finish the story map or story board.

8)Explain to students that we are going to continue talking about names on Friday and that they should ask their parents to get information about their own names: why/how it was chosen, what it means, etc. Encourage them to think about what their names mean to them and how they feel about them.

Teacher Evaluation: Did you adequately introduce and browse the book with students? Did you introduce and continually review vocabulary and specific concepts? Did you successfully relate the meaning of the activity? Did you empress upon students the goal for the lesson? Did you estimate the time accurately and respond accordingly?
Student Evaluation: Did the students demonstrate active listening? Were students able to complete the parts of the story map? Were students able to make personal connections and demonstrate empathy toward the character?