Common Core State Standards

Reading: Key Ideas and Details, 2; Craft and Structure, 4,6; Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, 7
Writing: Text Types and Purposes, 3; Production and Distribution of Writing, 4
Speaking and Listening: Comprehension and Collaboration, 2,3
Interdisciplinary Connections: Science; weather


 

Objectives

Students will:
• Develop observational skills and language.
• Relate personal history to their surroundings and community.
• Understand and implement imagery through the use of repetitive composition.


 

Steps

1) Read: “Indian Summer Ritual” by Alma Luz Villanueva. Students will read silently first then a second time as a group.

2) Ask students to create new nicknames for seasons in the same way that “Indian Summer” is the nickname for fall. Can we give winter, spring, and summer new names? Create a list on the board.

3) Have students think about where and when they were born. Was it hot or cold? What state or country were they born in? What stories have they heard from their families about their birth?

4) Have students write five couples. Each starting with “I was born in (nickname for season)," followed by a second line describing the emotional and physical landscape of their birthday.