Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for Esperanza Rising

Use Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan to turn your read aloud or small group work into a time to improve comprehension and talk about the text in purposeful ways.

Set during the Dust Bowl, Esperanza Rising tells the story of a young Mexican girl who was born into wealth and privilege. Esperanza's story is one of many mountains and valleys, good times and difficult. Through paying careful attention to the challenges and struggles Esperanza faces, students will learn to determine the overarching themes of this beautifully written novel.

Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with Esperanza Rising in the drop down below.

Instructional Overview

The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Instructional Overview

Instructional Overview

The instructional overview includes instructional background for determining theme, instructional objectives for each of the Book Club meetings and a list of the materials and preparation necessary to the Esperanza Rising Book Club.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Management Resources

The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Management Resources

Management Resources

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

Meeting 1

An important part of being able to think deeply about Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is being able to understand the text's theme. Over the course of this Book Club, students will examine how theme is developed and identified in the text.

Meeting 2

As readers search to determine the theme in Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, it is important to look for clues in the lessons that the characters learn as they encounter challenges. Students will use their Reader's Notebook to track their thinking about theme.

Meeting 3

As students work towards determining the theme in Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, they can practice by identifying the messages presented in their favorite books, songs, and movies.

Meeting 4

Many times, theme can be broken down into just one word. These words are often character traits that are part of being a good person; acceptance, respect, kindness, sacrifice. Student discussion involves brainstorming possible one word themes for Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Meeting 5

Building on the concept of one word themes from the last Esperanza Rising Book Club, students will now add clarity by turning their one word suggestions into phrases.

Meeting 6

This Esperanza Rising Book Club meeting takes an artistic twist! Students will discover that making a quick sketch of the characters and events of the chapter helps the reader to identify theme words by titling their drawing.

Meeting 7

Author Pam Muñoz Ryan presents challenges to her characters in Esperanza Rising. Careful readers will look for times of challenge as a clue to watch for a possible change in the character.
The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Meeting 8

Meeting 8

Tracking the changes in the characters in Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is an important step in identifying the story's theme. Student discussion examines the challenges faced by the characters and how they responded.

Meeting 9

During this Esperanza Rising Book Club meeting, students will connect their ideas on character challenges and changes with theme using a graphic organizer.
The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Meeting 10

Meeting 10

In addition to responding to challenges in the story, characters also learn lessons from interacting with other characters. This Esperanza Rising Book Club meeting shows students how to use a story strip with conversation bubbles to track lessons that the characters learn from each other.

Meeting 11

Not only do the characters in Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan learn from each other, but the reader is able to learn the lessons as well. Students will create a character trait web for the character of their choice that includes positive traits for the reader to include in their own lives.

Meeting 12

As the reader comes to the end of Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, he/she can use the work that has been completed throughout this Book Club to determine the story's theme. In order to do so, the reader will need to consider the challenges and responses of the characters, lessons learned, the story as a whole, and his/her own background knowledge.

Vocabulary Connections with Esperanza Rising

The first page of Vocabulary Connections with Esperanza Rising

Vocabulary Connections with Esperanza Rising

This set of vocabulary development resources for Esperanza Rising highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book.  Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Focus Assessment and Rubric

The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Focus Assessment and Rubric

Focus Assessment and Rubric

Use this six-question assessment to determine whether or not students understand the key concepts associated with determining theme.

Running Record with Esperanza Rising

Thumbnail for Running Record with Esperanza Rising

Running Record with Esperanza Rising

Use this Running Record to assess oral reading fluency with Esperanza Rising. Track meaning, structure, and visual accuracy using the first 100 words of the text to determine whether or not this book is a good fit for the readers in your classroom.

Management Resources - Spanish

The first page of Book Club for Esperanza Rising Management Resources

Management Resources - Spanish

The management resources include a Book Club Calendar, conversation prompts, Student Self-Evaluation forms, Reading Response Board (with optional Common Core alignment), and an Expectations for Book Club anchor chart.

Get Full Access to the Entire Library of Resources when You Join Today!

Unlock the potential of the books in your school and classroom libraries with lesson plans, activities, and resources expertly designed to help you meet your instructional goals
  • Teach with the best children's books
  • Always have access to new resources
  • Get access to Digial Classroom - perfect for centers
  • Finally have time to "fit it all in" with super efficient lesson plans
  • Enjoy fast planning tools and stay super organized with a personal file cabinet and dashboard
30 Day Risk-Free Guarantee, Cancel Anytime

About the Book

The cover for the book Esperanza Rising
Title: Esperanza Rising
Author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: Historical Fiction
Themes: Decision Making, Cultural Diversity, Self Awareness, Family, Self Management, History
ISBN: 9780545532341
Publisher's Summary:
Esperanza thought she'd always live a privileged life on her family's ranch in Mexico. She'd always have fancy dresses, a beautiful home filled with servants, and Mama, Papa, and Abuelita to care for her. But a sudden tragedy forces Esperanza and Mama to flee to California and settle in a Mexican farm labor camp. Esperanza isn't ready for the hard work, financial struggles brought on by the Great Depression, or lack of acceptance she now faces. When Mama gets sick and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances-because Mama's life, and her own, depend on it.
Content and Downloadable content Copyright ©2010-2024 Thinking Tree Enterprises, LLC. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names referenced on this site are the property of their respective owners. Please see our Terms of Use.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
©BookPagez.com 2010 - 2023

Resource Downloading disabled

Your ability to download resources is currently disabled. Please contact us at support@bookpagez.com

Oops!  It looks Like You're Getting Carried Away. 

When you joined BookPagez, you agreed to follow our Terms of Use. Based on your download activty, it looks like you've gotten carried away.

You are allowed to download resources to use in your classroom for the duration of your subscription. You are not allowed to bulk download resources. In other words, it's against the rules to download all (or most) of the resources. That's stealing, and it's not nice.

Please check your email for a message from us. Reply to the email and let us know what's going on so we can reactivate your account.
In order to continue, please indicate that you agree with the terms above

Get instant access to this resource plus thousands more when you join today.

  • Teach with the best books
  • Always have access to new resources (published every month!)
  • Get full access to Digital Classroom
  • Finally have time to "fit it all in" with super efficient lesson plans
  • Enjoy fast planning tools and stay organized with your personal file cabinet and dashboard