Immigration There has been a steady stream of immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border ever since the border was established. Although in the early years settlement was concentrated in California and the American Southwest, today Mexican-American families live throughout the United States. Laws and policies governing immigration from Mexico and Latin America continue to be at the forefront of American politics and discourse, and the issues bear important consequences for all involved. You may invite your students to share what they know about immigration, their own families’ roots, and what these issues mean to them. Mexican-Americans Today Today, some people of Mexican descent prefer “Chicano” as an alternative to The term “Chicano” has its origins in the movement during the 1960s and 1970s to promote ethnic pride among Mexican-Americans. As social worker Lydia Aguierre eloquently explains, “Chicano power simply means that in the finding of identity—that is, a right to be as he is, not Mexican, not Spanish, not either speaking “pure” English or a “pure” Spanish, but as he is, a product of the Spanish-Mexican-Indian heritage and an Anglo-Saxon (American…) influence.”3 Not all descendants of Mexican ancestors appreciated the term in this way. Some disapproved of the negative connotations of the word (the meaning of which has roughly equated with “thief,” among other pejorative terms). Currently, many people prefer the term Latino, although this term refers more broadly to people of Latin American descent. Whatever the name by which they choose to identify themselves, people of Mexican ancestry have made their mark on all facets of American public life. You may encourage your students to research famous Mexican Americans, and share their findings with their classmates. (Examples: Henry Cisneros, Federico Peña, Richard Rodriguez, Lee Treviño). 3Quoted in The Mexican-American Family Album. Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler (eds.)
Activities to Extend Comprehension and Relate Literature to Life My neighborhood Have students write descriptions of their neighborhoods, either current or past, using strong descriptive language. Students may wish to include illustrations. Ask students to share their descriptive writing (and drawings, if applicable) with a partner and respond to their partner with comments and/or questions. Identity web Placing the word “identity” on a large piece of poster board or chart paper, make a web design of all the factors that influence or contribute to a person’s self-identity, asking students to brainstorm and volunteer their ideas. Some examples of possible factors are: friends, family, religion, ethnicity, neighborhood, appearance, talents or skills. Try to arrange the web so that factors that may be connected are placed close together so that you can draw a line between them. For example, family and ethnicity might be linked; so might friends and neighborhood. This web should be kept for use in later discussions of characterization; also, you may want students to create identity webs for the important characters in the novel (e.g., Lincoln, Tony, Monica, James, Mrs. Mendoza). Students may develop their own individual identity web (using the worksheet provided), with names of particular friends or family member, their particular neighborhood and important places there, and/or their particular talents and skills. See Appendix: Chapter 1 Activities for this worksheet. Chapter 2
Discuss the ways in which Taking Sides is an appropriate title for this book. How many situations are there in the book in which someone is pressured to “take sides”? Does Lincoln ultimately take a side? Can a person take both sides at once? {Dialogue Journal} Mini Lesson: Resolution CCSS:RL1, RL5, W4, SL1C What you might say: The resolution tells us how the conflict is resolved. It is the ending. Some authors like to give you all the information and neatly wrap up the end of the story. In Taking Sides, Soto does this and gives a pretty clear picture of how the major conflict is resolved. Soto also leaves us with a new understanding or a lesson learned as he resolves the conflict in the book. Journals/ Literature Circles: What events helped the reader to understand how the conflict was resolved? Vocabulary (CCSS: L4A, RL4) excursion (p. 119) a trip countered (p. 120) oppose clenched (p. 122) held tightly ligaments (p. 124) connecting or unifying bonds huddled (p. 124) to crowd together spectator (p. 125) one who looks on or watches toothy (p. 126) having or showing prominent teeth clobbered (p. 126) defeat decisively logic (p. 126) mode of reasoning scanned (p. 126) to examine giddy (p. 127) to feel joyfully elated feigned (p. 128) to give an appearance of ranting (p. 129) to talk in a noisy, excited manner pampered (p. 131) to treat with extreme or excessive care and attention lathering (p. 131) to cover órale (p. 131) come on! Activities to Extend Comprehension and Relate Literature to Life Dealing with negative emotions: Encourage students to address the following questions and prompts in their journals. How does Lincoln deal with negative feelings (e.g., frustration, anger, disappointment).? Does he deal with them in a courageous way? Compare how you and Lincoln deal with similar negative emotions. Have you learned anything from Lincoln in this respect? Do you think you could give him some useful advice?
Post-Reading Portraits of Courage (long-term project) When everyone has finished writing a draft of their research articles or writing up their interviews, have students follow these steps for putting the book together. Share rough drafts in small group “workshops” of four students, keeping journal partners together. A workshop is a format for discussing student writing, in which students critique one another’s work. All students in each group read the work of all of the other students in the group, and then discuss each student’s work, one by one. Before beginning this activity, review with the students what it means to critique: all criticism should be constructive, and students should always try to find at least one positive thing to say about each piece of writing. Ask workshop group members for ideas about illustrating their portraits. If possible, students should try to obtain photographs or drawings of the individuals that they interview or research. Divide class into groups with different responsibilities: a. typing up the portraits on the computer, b. layout, c. illustrations/photographs, and d. “marketing” the book (i.e., to whom should they distribute it, and how?) Note: You may wish to invite a publishing professional from the community (such as a layout person from a local newspaper, or a graphic designer) into the classroom to give students advice about how to design and market their anthology of courage portraits. Letter to the Author Have students write individual letters to Gary Soto in which they share: What they liked best about the book What they didn’t like as well How they related to the book in a personal way Letters can be mailed to Mr. Soto via his publisher.
Character Personality Trait What they said to make me think this What they did to make me think this What they thought to make me think this Taking SidesTaking Sides Chapter 11 Mini Lesson: Plot and Climax Name __________________________________________