Today we will continue reading the vignettes from The House on Mango Street and explore some essential factors that shape identities and in that way we will deepen our own understanding of ourselves and our connection to literature.      

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ENGAGE 

We will start with a check-in by saying what “color” we are feeling today and why.

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Punctuation to Punctuation (10 min.) 

Let’s take time to read “Geraldo No Last Name” together outloud. 

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(Round 1) A designated participant will begin to read the text aloud; they will stop when they arrive at a punctuation mark (-- : ; , . ! ?). Then, the next participant in the circle will read until they reach a punctuation mark. This may mean that a person reads only one word, e.g., or an entire sentence. Keep reading around the circle, punctuation to punctuation, until everyone gets an opportunity to read and the text has ended. Re-start the text again from the beginning if necessary. (Round 2) Next, the text is re-read from the beginning, changing readers at each punctuation, but this time participants also say “Stop!” if there is a word that is confusing or not understood. When stopped, the group works together to make meaning of the confusing word or phrase; continue until the full text has been read and all “Stops” are answered.

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After finishing reading “Geraldo No Last name” ask students: What information did you learn about Geraldo? What are some of the things we learn about Marin?

 

EXPLORE

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Watercolor Conversations (15 min.)

Students will now create a watercolor conversation to explore the mood and tone of “Geraldo No Last Name” vignette, consider how the character might have been feeling at a moment in the text, or recreate one of the interactions between the characters.

Begin by discussing the elements of art we will be working with in this strategy: line, shape and color. Explain that these elements can be used by artists to illustrate how they are feeling even if they are painting in an abstract or non-representational style. Show them some examples of abstract art with expressive lines, shapes, and colors to discuss (Henri Matisse, Julie Mehretu, and Helen Frankenthaler work well).

Ask students to take a minute and silently check-in with themselves. What is their mood today? If their feelings could be a color, what color would it be? What kind of line could show excitement? What kind of shape could show sadness?

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Next, explain that students will be making abstract paintings of one of the dialogues/interactions from the book with a partner (preferably someone they do not know very well). Divide students into pairs and sit them across the table from one another. Each pair will choose the segment of the story that they will retell through watercolor conversations. Tell them that they will be having a conversation with the person across from them, but instead of using words and recognizable symbols (no hearts, smiley faces…) they’ll be using colors, lines and shapes to express the mood or tone of the story, that is the feelings of the character. Remind them of few conversation guidelines:

• Just like in real conversations it is impolite to talk over someone, so let your partner paint while you watch (or “listen”).  

• Also, like in real conversations, try to relate and interact with each other’s marks. Don’t paint on separate sides, add to each other's work, embellish, paint over.  

• Since there is no eraser in watercolor, you must accept everything your partner puts down and find a way to build on it. 

• Because we are focusing on our visual communication skills, this will be a silent activity

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After giving the directions, pass out a paper, paint and a water cup for them to share as well as an assortment of paint brushes (for younger students you may choose to only give 1 paintbrush to encourage taking turns). 

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Play instrumental music while students paint for 2-4 minutes then ask them to make their final marks and put all brushes back in the water cup. If there is time you might invite students to have a watercolor conversation with a second partner.

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Reflection

• What was it like communicating only through watercolors? What was communicated? What was lost?

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After sharing out (you may choose to carefully hold up the images while students share their reflections), transition to whole group reflection on the activity.

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• Describe: How did you express how a character might have been feeling at a moment or the mood and tone of a story through line, shape, and color? What did you find easy or challenging about this activity?

•  Analyze: How did you and your partner build on each other’s offerings throughout your conversations? How did your way of communicating change with different partners?

• Relate: What role does conversation and interaction play in shaping identities?

• How do traumatic experiences affect one's identity? What about the ones we experience during childhood and our formative years?

 

Transition: We see that art (visual art, music, dance, drama) offers an interesting and dynamic way of exploring and describing identity. Now that we’ve used visual art to explore some aspects of the characters’ identity, we are going to move into some image work to embody these elements by using our bodies.

• A note on safely embodying images

 

Sculptor/Clay (15 mins)

 

Have participants get into pairs and spread out around the room. 

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One person in each pair will be the sculptor and the other will be the clay. The sculptor will mold the clay by either modeling the shape they want the clay to recreate with their body. Ideally, the pairs work silently and simultaneously. After they finish, the sculptures remain frozen in their image and the sculptors walk about their newly created “gallery”. The sculptors are asked to describe what they see and make inferences and connections between the sculptures and the initial prompt. Afterwards, the sculptor and clay switch roles and the cycle of creation and reflection are repeated.

• Prompts:

  • Sculpt an image that represents a word/feeling from the previous activity (identity, culture, gender, sexuality, as a part of a community, outside of the group, etc.)

  • Sculpt a character at a specific moment in a story, or of a feeling or action in a story (The students choose their favorite growing up or coming of age vignette).

 

REFLECTION: 

• Describe: What body shapes did we see in our statues? How did these shapes represent similar/different ideas?

• Analyze: How did our sculptures connect to our larger inquiry or question?

• Relate: How might understandings of issues change based on our culture, our identity or our experiences? 

• What responsibility do we have to treat these stories and perspectives (which may be very different from our own) with respect and consideration? 

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FINAL REFLECTION (5 min)

• Describe: Thinking back through our work today, what are some of the identities and/or factors that impact the way(s) we view ourselves?

• Analyze: Based on what we know about Esperanza, what did she mean when she said she didn’t want to belong? What predictions can we make about which aspects of her life she was referring to? 

• Relate: What identities, if any, are permanent and which do we as individuals have the power to change? How did Esperanza change?

Transition/Closing: Thank you all so much for sharing your ideas and artistry with me today. Let’s give ourselves another round of applause. Sometimes we look within to define ourselves, sometimes we relate it to the world in which we live. Who we are might change with time, as we grow up, but as long as we are learning new things, gaining skills and knowledge, we are growing as people. I hope that by sharing some elements of your own identity with your peers, we grow a little, we build stronger bonds and we break down some stereotypes.