Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventure
by Jacqueline Jules and Kim Smith
Projects by Kate Boyea, Nicole Huber and Kassidy Jackson
Written Response
Student Prompt: After reading Sofia Martinzez, choose one of the characters to create a personal narrative that contains at least two events. This narrative should include at least four to eight sentences. Make sure that when you write, your writing is phrased from your character’s point of view. You will create this narrative through google docs. In addition, you can also use the google voice typing feature if you prefer to speak rather than type. You still will need to edit because the voice typing does not always catch every word correctly.
Standards: W.1.3: “Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.”; 1.6.b Creative Communicator: “Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.”
Elements of author’s craft: The first element of craft is character because the student needs to identify and describe the characters. Point of view is also incorporated because the series of events and opinions will be based on the chosen character. The student may also incorporate details that describe the setting to give the reader a full picture of the plot.
Connection to the text/ student life: This activity will deepen the student’s understanding of the text because the students will be putting themselves into the character’s shoes. The student will need to reflect on how their character would feel, react, think, act, etc. in different situations. Therefore, the student will be using evidence from the text to create their own personal narrative. The students may also find connections to their own lives because the main character Sophia, and some of the other side characters are around a similar age to the students. They may also face similar life problems and have similar perceptions of certain situations.
Standards: W.1.3: “Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.”; 1.6.b Creative Communicator: “Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.”
Elements of author’s craft: The first element of craft is character because the student needs to identify and describe the characters. Point of view is also incorporated because the series of events and opinions will be based on the chosen character. The student may also incorporate details that describe the setting to give the reader a full picture of the plot.
Connection to the text/ student life: This activity will deepen the student’s understanding of the text because the students will be putting themselves into the character’s shoes. The student will need to reflect on how their character would feel, react, think, act, etc. in different situations. Therefore, the student will be using evidence from the text to create their own personal narrative. The students may also find connections to their own lives because the main character Sophia, and some of the other side characters are around a similar age to the students. They may also face similar life problems and have similar perceptions of certain situations.
Click to view mentor text!
Podcast
Student Prompt: Using the podcast tool Riverside (click the link below), have a conversation with a partner. One of you will be the interviewer or person that asks questions and one of you will be a character. If you would like, you can change your voice to act as multiple characters. You can include as many characters as you would like, but make sure that you are talking to at least one. The conversation needs to be at least three to five minutes long. To help you get started, you can ask the character what they might have heard, said, thought, or saw in the book. For example, you may ask Sophia’s grandmother how she felt about the pinata and if she was surprised when playing cards fell out instead of candy.
Standards: S.1.2: “Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.”; S.1.4: “Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.”; 1.2 Digital Citizen: “Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.”
Elements of author’s craft: In the podcasting project, the students will be working with the character, point of view and plot by first picking certain characters. Once the students have picked the characters, they will need to ask questions that directly relate to which part of the plot their character was a part of. When the student is answering as the chosen character, they will need to think about how they can become or shift their point of view to their character’s to accurately answer the questions.
Connection to the text/ student life: This activity will deepen their understanding of the text because the students will get a chance to form questions that relate to their character while also reflecting on how their character would respond. As a result, they will be looking back into the text to pick relevant scenes. The students will need to be thinking beyond what happened by making inferences on how certain characters would feel and react based on the previous information about the character. In addition, students may relate to the story due to conflicts such as problems in sibling relationships, wanting to do something nice for a family member, etc.
Standards: S.1.2: “Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.”; S.1.4: “Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.”; 1.2 Digital Citizen: “Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.”
Elements of author’s craft: In the podcasting project, the students will be working with the character, point of view and plot by first picking certain characters. Once the students have picked the characters, they will need to ask questions that directly relate to which part of the plot their character was a part of. When the student is answering as the chosen character, they will need to think about how they can become or shift their point of view to their character’s to accurately answer the questions.
Connection to the text/ student life: This activity will deepen their understanding of the text because the students will get a chance to form questions that relate to their character while also reflecting on how their character would respond. As a result, they will be looking back into the text to pick relevant scenes. The students will need to be thinking beyond what happened by making inferences on how certain characters would feel and react based on the previous information about the character. In addition, students may relate to the story due to conflicts such as problems in sibling relationships, wanting to do something nice for a family member, etc.
Click to hear podcast!
Digital Story
Student Prompt: Choose one of the short stories from the text. Next, recreate this story by using Google Slides. Go slide by slide creating an image of what the scene would look like using either the illustrations from the book or your imagination. After adding images, go back through the book and add direct quotes from the book to show why you included each image in your story. Once the moment/part of the story you have chosen is finished, go back through and add animations to different pictures you have incorporated into your digital story. You can do this by clicking the image, pressing “Animate” at the top, and then picking when the animation is done, and what the animation is. Finally, press the “Slideshow” button in the top right hand corner to watch your story come to life! Technology: https://www.google.com/slides/about/
Standards: RL.1.2: “Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.”; RI.1.7: “Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.”; ISTE: Creative Communicator: “Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.”
Elements of author’s craft: The students are copying a small part of a story and making it into their own. To do that, they will need to incorporate point of view, setting, and characters in order to fully display the story. Without them, they are changing the story into a completely new thing. We want them to demonstrate their understanding of point of view, setting, characters, and being able to recall key details through this digital story.
Connection to the text/student life: Sofia Martinez is a very average little girl whom many students would be able to identify with. She does things like hang out with her family, makes birthday presents for her grandmother, and plots with her cousins. There could be parts of this book (or other books) that have actually happened to students in real life. Creating this digital story is having the students pick out a key part from the story and making it come to life. This could be a part that was funny, a part they thought was interesting, or a part they liked. Bringing parts to life can help students with comprehension by giving them a better understanding/visual into what is actually happening in the story. Having a hands-on visual story that the students created themselves could tap into multiple different learning styles and foster comprehension that was missing in the past. Another book series that is similar to this one is the Junie B. Jones collection. Junie is also a young girl who finds herself in difficult situations, attempts to problem solve, and then has a happy ending. These types of books are very similar and I believe if students like one, they are bound to like the other.
Standards: RL.1.2: “Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.”; RI.1.7: “Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.”; ISTE: Creative Communicator: “Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.”
Elements of author’s craft: The students are copying a small part of a story and making it into their own. To do that, they will need to incorporate point of view, setting, and characters in order to fully display the story. Without them, they are changing the story into a completely new thing. We want them to demonstrate their understanding of point of view, setting, characters, and being able to recall key details through this digital story.
Connection to the text/student life: Sofia Martinez is a very average little girl whom many students would be able to identify with. She does things like hang out with her family, makes birthday presents for her grandmother, and plots with her cousins. There could be parts of this book (or other books) that have actually happened to students in real life. Creating this digital story is having the students pick out a key part from the story and making it come to life. This could be a part that was funny, a part they thought was interesting, or a part they liked. Bringing parts to life can help students with comprehension by giving them a better understanding/visual into what is actually happening in the story. Having a hands-on visual story that the students created themselves could tap into multiple different learning styles and foster comprehension that was missing in the past. Another book series that is similar to this one is the Junie B. Jones collection. Junie is also a young girl who finds herself in difficult situations, attempts to problem solve, and then has a happy ending. These types of books are very similar and I believe if students like one, they are bound to like the other.
Infographic
Student Prompt: Choose a scene from the story to create a how to infographic.
Technology: After reading Sofia Martinez,create an infographic describing how to make a pinata like the one in book two. The infographic should include the steps and procedures to making a pinata, as well as have visuals to help the reader of the infographic better understand the steps. You will need to use a website to create your infographic (suggestions: Canva, Venngage). Try to add as many visuals and information as you can to make the infographic engaging to read.
Standards: W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.; ISTE 1.6c: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
Elements of author’s craft: The students will be writing a procedural piece for this. This means that they will have to write out the step meaning they will make use of transition words such as next and then. They will also need to make use of visuals as well as labels to their visuals which is an element of craft important to informational writing. The students will also need to be sure to correctly order the sequence of events in their infographic.
Connection to text/Student life: This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to tell someone the steps to do something. This can help them think about how to word things so that other people will be able to understand.
Technology: After reading Sofia Martinez,create an infographic describing how to make a pinata like the one in book two. The infographic should include the steps and procedures to making a pinata, as well as have visuals to help the reader of the infographic better understand the steps. You will need to use a website to create your infographic (suggestions: Canva, Venngage). Try to add as many visuals and information as you can to make the infographic engaging to read.
Standards: W.1.2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.; ISTE 1.6c: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
Elements of author’s craft: The students will be writing a procedural piece for this. This means that they will have to write out the step meaning they will make use of transition words such as next and then. They will also need to make use of visuals as well as labels to their visuals which is an element of craft important to informational writing. The students will also need to be sure to correctly order the sequence of events in their infographic.
Connection to text/Student life: This will give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to tell someone the steps to do something. This can help them think about how to word things so that other people will be able to understand.