“Eleven” By Sandra Cisneros, Schemes and Mind Maps of Art

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Close reading plan

“Eleven ” by Sandra Cisneros Created by Marika Heughins, 2014 Connecticut Dream Team teacher

What makes this text complex? Text and Author (^) “Eleven” By Sandra Cisneros excerpted from Woman Hollering Creek Where to Access Text (^) Woman Hollering Creek: And Other Stories by Sandra Cisneros at Amazon.com Text Description Eleven is a short story about Rachel on her eleventh birthday. She has an experience that demonstrates the challenge of growing up. The setting is in her classroom. The story takes the reader through Rachel’s conversations with herself as she faces a situation with her teacher, Mrs. Price, when she is made to take an unwanted sweater that is not hers. Rachel struggles through her humiliation and upset as she is forced to wear “an ugly sweater like that, all raggedy and old.” Eleven is about transition, the struggle of growing up, and the realization that we all carry inside of us the years that came before as we move forward in life. Even though we get older, we still have moments when the child within us comes out. Quantitative Lexile and Grade Level (^) 960L Grade 5 Text Length (^) 1, Qualitative Meaning/Central Ideas Text Structure/Organization

• Author’s Message (theme) is that, as we move forward in life, we all carry the years that came before us. Even though we get older, we still have moments when the child within us comes out. There are times when life can be a struggle between remaining young and growing up. Sandra Cisneros, speaking through Rachel, tells us that life, and growing up, is like the layers of an onion, or the rings of a tree, or like little dolls, stacked one inside the other. You’re eleven, but inside of you is a layer that is ten, a layer that is nine, a layer that is eight...and even though you can’t see them, they’re still there, and they’ll always be there, a part of you. - The author repeats the central message throughout the piece: as you grow older, you have all facets of your younger self with you. - Within the organizational structure is the central message, repeated in the first and last paragraph of the story, in the character’s repetition of the phrase “when you are eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four and three, and two and one.” - The structure includes the repetition of the statement, “Not, mine, not mine, not mine.” Prior Knowledge Demands Language Features
• Students should have some experience with point of view.
• Students should have basic understanding of theme.
• Students should know how to quote accurately.
  • Similes
  • Repetition
  • Figurative language Vocabulary Tier Two Words (General academic vocabulary) “Words that is far more likely to appear in written texts than in speech. [They] often represent subtle or precise ways to say relatively simple things—saunter instead of walk, for example.” (CCSS ELA Appendix A) Tier Three Words (Domain-specific words) “[Tier Three words]…are specific to a domain or field of study (lava, carburetor, legislature, circumference, aorta) and key to understanding a new concept within a text.” (CCSS ELA Appendix A)

Text-dependent questions Question Standard alignment Page of this document

1. What does Rachel mean in the first paragraph of Eleven when she says “What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two and one. And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t. You open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday, only it’s today. And you don’t feel eleven at all. You feel like you’re still ten.” Re-read to find evidence to prove your thinking. CCSS.ELA- LITERACY.RL.5. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

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1. Why did the author choose to tell the story through Rachel’s point of view? How would the story have been different if it had been told through Mrs. Price’s point of view? CCSS.ELA- LITERACY.RL.5. Describe how a narrator or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

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1. Reread the first and last paragraph. Why does the story both begin and end with the narrator’s counting backwards from eleven to one: “you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight... .”?

CCSS.ELA-­‐

Literacy.RL.5. Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem.

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1. Rachel says in the story, “…Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one.” Why does the author include this description to show how Rachel is feeling about turning eleven? CCSS.ELA- LITERACY.RL.5. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as

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metaphors and similes.

1. How did Rachel respond when she was forced to admit the sweater was hers? How did having to acknowledge ownership of the sweater affect her feelings about her eleventh birthday/about growing older? CCSS.ELA- LITERACY.RL.5. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. #2 2 Target Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5. Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Describe how a narrator or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.

Objective In this lesson, you will learn how to draw an inference from a text by using background knowledge and quoting evidence from the text. Prior knowledge to review Refer to what the text states explicitly to determine an inference. Ask and answer questions determine understanding of a text

CCSS.ELA-­‐Literacy.RL.4.

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. Steps to achieve objective Think aloud for direct instruction (reference the inference chart in extensions for this think aloud)

1. Reread the text and look for evidence to answer the question.

• What is the question asking? The question is asking me to locate a specific section of the text. First, I am going to go back into the text, to that section, and reread it carefully. This is close reading.
• However, I can’t answer this question simply from reading the text. It is not a “right there” question. So I need to read on to find evidence to help me figure out what the author meant. I’ll use this evidence, plus what I already know, to make an inference.
• As I read, I will be looking for clues to help me understand what the author means and connect it to my thinking. 2 ) Highlight or underline evidence found within the text to support your thinking.
• When I get to the second paragraph, I see some evidence to form an inference. I look at the first two lines. “Like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten. Or maybe some days you might need to sit on your mama’s lap because you’re scared, and that’s the part of you that’s five.” These are clues to help me prove my thinking about what Rachel means.
• These clues are making me think that Rachel is talking about times when you don’t always feel grown-up. In certain situations, sometimes you feel younger than you are. I am thinking about times when I have felt like my younger self, even though I am an adult. So I am connecting the words on the page and my own experiences to help me understand what the Rachel is saying.

1. Construct a response, using evidence from the text, to answer the question in your own words.

• Now that I have made my inference about what Rachel means, I’m going to reread that section again to see if my inference makes sense with the text. When I reread, I’m asking myself if the message is: when you get older, you still have times in your life when you feel like a younger child. A clue in the text to support my inference is: “And maybe one day when you’re all grown up, maybe you will need to cry like if you’re three, and that’s okay. That’s what I tell Mama when she’s sad and needs to cry. Maybe she’s feeling three.” This makes sense in the text and I can’t find any evidence to prove it wrong. So, I’m thinking my inference is correct.
• Now, I need to put all of my thoughts into writing. I am going to start off with answering the question and including the sentence that I am talking about. Here is how I would start it off: In the first paragraph, Rachel means that even though she woke up a year older, she doesn’t feel any different.
• Next, I want to explain where I found my evidence to support this inference. I want to either paraphrase or use quotes from the text. In the next paragraph, when she says, “Like some days you might say something stupid, and that’s the part of you that’s still ten” she is giving an example of how she doesn’t feel any older. Another example is in the fourth paragraph when she says, “You don’t feel eleven. Not right away. It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes even months before you say eleven when they ask you.” I know this is true for me personally, because on the day after my birthday, I don’t feel any older. Sometimes it takes awhile.
• Finally, I want to explain my thinking. This shows that you don’t change overnight and that you still have parts of you that are your younger self. This is what I think Rachel meant.

Objective: In this lesson, you will learn how to draw an inference from a text by thinking about what you know and quoting evidence from the text.

1. Reread the text and look for evidence to answer the question. Read on to have understanding of the text. Use the text evidence and your own experiences to make an inference.
2. Highlight or underline evidence found within the text to support your thinking.
3. Construct a response, using evidence from the text, to answer the question in your own words. https://ctdreamteam.learnzillion.com/lessons/758-ask-and-answer- questions-about-the-text-while-reading https://ctdreamteam.learnzillion.com/lessons/4186-expert-tutorial https://ctdreamteam.learnzillion.com/lessons/1927-understand-how-an- author-develops-setting-by-using-words-and-phrases-in-the-text

Question 2 Question # 2 Why did the author choose to tell the story through Rachel’s point of view? How would the story have been different if it had been told through Mrs. Price’s point of view? Standard(s) covered: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Describe how a narrator or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. Example response that meets standard Look-fors The author told the story through Rachel’s point of view so that you could see the impact of the event on her life. When Mrs. Price embarrassed Rachel with the red sweater, it was a very upsetting experience for her. This ruined Rachel’s eleventh birthday. If the story were told through Mrs. Price’s point of view you would not hear how Rachel felt. Also, the theme of the story would change, because it would not be about Rachel’s eleventh birthday. The entire story would be different, including the title.

• Possible change in theme
• A different perspective on Rachel’s feelings, or her feelings would not be the focus
• Focus would be on Mrs. Price’s point of view If students are struggling to answer the text-dependent question, use this follow-up plan for modeling and practice: Objective In this lesson you will learn how the author influences what you know in a story by examining the point of view that is used to describe events. Prior knowledge to review
• Point of view
• Main idea/theme
• Fact/opinion
• First person/third person

CCSS.ELA-­‐Literacy.RL.4.

Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between

first-­‐ and third-­‐person narrations.

1. Ask, “What information DO I know because the narrator has chosen that point of view?” .

• I now have information to help me determine what the author wanted me to know by choosing Rachel’s point of view. By sharing Rachel’s feelings, I DO know that she was upset by the actions of Sylvia Saldivar and Mrs. Price’s. I DO know that she was offended that Sylvia and Mrs. Price thought the ugly old sweater was hers. I DO know that she is so upset, she clenches her teeth, squeezes her eyes shut, she can’t talk and feels sick inside. I DO know that this embarrassing situation seems to be ruining her eleventh birthday.

1. Ask, “What information would I NOT know if ____ told the story?”

• What information would I NOT know? I would have to consider how the story would change if Mrs. Price told the story. That makes me wonder, how would the story be the same? How would the story be different? Would Mrs. Price see the events in the same way that Rachel did, or would she see the events differently? I think she’d see them differently. How would this change the events in the story? If I were Mrs. Price, I would NOT know what Rachel was thinking, because Rachel could barely speak. I would NOT know that this was such an important thing to Rachel, or that Rachel felt her birthday was ruined because of it.
• With point of view, thinking about what I DO know and what I would NOT know, helps me look at the events from different perspectives. It helps me understand the point of view, and gives me an understanding about the characters and why the author wrote the story the way she did.

Extension and practice

• Point, Counterpoint strategy This strategy allows students to hold a forum to discuss differing portrayals of a common story, as it is told from multiple points of view in a text. (Rogers, 1988) - Students read a variety of accounts about a historical event from different viewpoints. They then create separate small boards with eyeglasses at the top featuring a different person’s points of view. Each board has the person’s name at the top and then several statements taken from the text (or inferences). After creating the multiple boards, the students create a compare and contrast chart with two or more of the characters. Ask the question: “Which are most similar, most divergent, and why do you think as you do.?” Students defend the answers that they make in comparisons orally or in writing. [Small group, pair, individual.] - Students read about a historical event from two or more sources. Students then put themselves in the time of the event and write diary entries about the event as if they are present. They will reference the text in their entries and agree or disagree with those opinions. This could be presented as a reader’s theater in small groups. [Pair, individual]

Question 3 Question # 3 Reread the first and last paragraph. Why does the story both begin and end with the narrator’s counting backwards from eleven to one: “When you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight ...”? Standard(s) covered: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Explain how a series of chapters, scenes, or stanzas fits together to provide the overall structure of a particular story, drama, or poem. Example response that meets standard Look-fors The author starts and finishes the story by counting backwards as a way to connect the beginning and the end of the story together. It is part of her writing style to repeat these phrases, which also connect to the message of the story. When she states this phrase in the beginning of the story, it catches your attention. As you read on in the story, you see how Rachel felt embarrassed by her teacher and had moments where she felt like a little child. When she repeats the phrase at the end, you are shown that how Rachel felt at the beginning of the story is how she still feels at the end. This ties the story together.

• An understanding of author style
• An understanding of how an author uses repeated phrases to connect ideas
• An understanding of why the author included that phrase- to show that Rachel felt many different ages on her eleventh birthday. If students are struggling to answer the text-dependent question, use this follow-up plan for modeling and practice:

Objective In this lesson you will, you will learn how repeated words and phrases add meaning by thinking about why the author

chose to repeat them.

Prior knowledge to review

• Author’s style elements

CCSS.ELA-­‐Literacy.RL.4.

Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse,

rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or

speaking about a text.

Steps to achieve objective Think aloud for direct instruction

1. Reread the first and last paragraph.

• The first thing I need to do when I look at this question is to reread the first and last paragraph. As I am doing that I am reminding myself of the plot of the story.
• The questions that I am asking myself as I read are why would the author repeat those phrases? What do I know about author’s style to help me understand why an author might start and end with the same phrase?

1. Analyze the phrase that is repeated.

• When I look at the phrase that is repeated I know that it has a direct connection to the message of the text. Rachel struggled with feeling only eleven, and instead had feelings of being younger when her teacher embarrassed her.

1. Analyze the author’s style by asking, “Why would the author repeat this phrase?”

• I know that authors use their pens like artists use their paintbrushes in order to create their own “style.” I also know that authors will repeat phrases as part of their style.
• One other element of author’s style that I know is that authors like to hook the reader in the lead and leave the reader thinking at the end. Sometimes the writer will do this by repeating words or phrases, like Sandra Cisneros did in Eleven.
• I think that the repetition in Sandra Cisneros’s writing in this piece is to tie together Rachel’s thoughts in the beginning and the end of the story.

1. Write your answer using text evidence to support your thoughts.

• Now I need to put all of my thoughts into writing. I’m going to start by explaining how the author starts and finishes the story in her style: The author starts and finishes the story by having Rachel count backwards as a way to connect the beginning and the end of the story together. It is part of her writing style to repeat these phrases, which also connect to the message of the story.
• Next, I want to think about the connection between the first and last paragraph: When the phrase is stated in the beginning of the story, it catches your attention. As I read the story, I saw how Rachel felt embarrassed by her teacher and had moments where she felt like a little child. When the phrase is repeated at the end, the author reminds me of how Rachel felt at the beginning of the story, and ties the story together. The author’s use of this repetition is helping me as the reader develop a bigger understanding of the story. The author shows that Rachel’s feelings about another birthday are important, just as her feelings about the sweater are important. By connecting this phrase together at both the beginning and the end, the author shows that Rachel still feels this way (“When you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight.. .)

Question 4 Question # 4 Rachel says in the story, “…Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one.” Why does the author include this description to show how Rachel is feeling about turning eleven? Standard(s) covered: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes. Example response that meets standard Look-fors The author includes the sentence, “Because the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one,” because she is using figurative language to show how your life experience builds up year after year. The example of the onion shows that when you peel back a layer, you can see the many different layers underneath that make up the top layer of the onion. Without those underneath layers, you wouldn’t have the whole piece of the onion. This is a metaphor for how Rachel feels in Eleven. That without all the years behind you, you wouldn’t be the complete person that you are today.

• Reference to tree rings, an onion or little dolls as a metaphor for maturation: life is made up of many experiences, or layers.
• An understanding of figurative language, using examples from the text
• An understanding of how the author links the figurative language to the girl’s experience If students are struggling to answer the text-dependent question, use this follow-up plan for modeling and practice: Objective In this lesson your will learn how to interpret figurative language by analyzing how literal words can have deeper meaning. Prior knowledge to review
• Figurative language: similes, metaphors, etc.
• Review of what “literal” means CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text

Steps to achieve objective Think aloud for direct instruction

1. Reread the section of the text that is in the question. Ask yourself, “What is the author literally saying in that sentence?”

• When I need to look at a specific sentence straight from the text, first I always go back into the text and reread that section. I want to make sure that I have a complete understanding of what the author is saying “literally,” which means the actual words that are written, before I try to figure out what the deeper meaning is.
• When I read this paragraph, I can see some literal meaning. Remember, this means the “real meaning” of the words. Also, I like to think of “literal” as flat, or one-dimensional. I see that she is talking about an onion. What do I know about an onion? Well, I know that when you peel back an onion, there are many layers, and that these layers all look different. Some are thicker than others, some are thinner. And as you get closer to the center of the onion, the layers are usually tighter and smaller.
• Then she talks about the tree trunk. Again, what do I know about a tree trunk? I know that the rings on a tree trunk show the age of the tree, that each year a tree lives, it grows another ring. I also know that some of the rings are like an onion, some are thicker and some are thinner. Some are spread apart wider and some are tighter, again depending where on the trunk you are looking.
• Finally, she talks about something that not everyone knows about. I have an example here that I brought in (you could also show a picture). It is a child’s toy: stackable wooden dolls. When you look inside you see that each doll is smaller than the next so that they can stack inside each other. Each doll looks the same, but they are a smaller version of each other.

1. Next, ask yourself, “What is the meaning of the figurative language in relation to the character? Since the text says_____, I think it means______ about the character.”

• So now that I know what the literal, or real, meanings of the words are, it is time to see if there could be a deeper meaning to these words. I know that authors are artists, and that they use their words as their art. I am wondering how Sandra Cisneros might have used these words as her art. When authors use an object as a symbol of something bigger, it is called metaphor. (A metaphor is an example of figurative language.) I am going to see if the author is using the tree rings, the onion layers, and the stackable dolls as a metaphor.
• Well, first I’m going to look for a connection between all three objects that she mentioned: the onion, the tree rings and the dolls. If I look carefully, I notice that all three show layers that are hidden. Once it is sliced, the onion has hidden layers that appear. Once it is cut, the tree has rings that show the passage of time. And once the first doll is opened, smaller and smaller dolls are shown to be stacked inside.
• So, I think she is trying to say once you open something up, or look closely inside, you can see there are more layers than you can see on the outside. So, the onion, the tree rings and the dolls are each a metaphor for a hidden layer, deep inside. So… I’m thinking that the hidden layers are the ages that Rachel has deep within herself, one for each year she’s been alive. Eleven, ten, nine, eight…