After introducing and utilizing The 3 Levels of Reading Comprehension Questions, Scholarly Vocabulary #1, and Scholarly Vocabulary #2 through the reading of various Short Stories by Gary Soto, especially Seventh Grade, and other stories such as All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury and Thank You, Ma'am by Langston Hughes, students are prepared to begin a 3-4 week reading of The Pearl by John Steinbeck. 

In general, a whole or half chapter a day is assigned daily, BUT, the classroom is "flipped"; reading or listening to the audiobook is completed in class, while vocabulary work, chapter questions and other assignments are completed at home. This ensures that all students have read the book and can participate in and understand class discussions as well as be successful with other classwork or homework. 

PRE-READING/CHECK FOR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:  Continue the reading of narratives, by reading passages from primary sources of Spanish and Indigenous Perspectives of early exploration. Read excerpts -- without revealing the context -- and ask students to figure out who wrote each passage. The discussion should eventually lead to the concept of God, Gold and Glory, a review of content studied in elementary school. 

VOCABULARY: Students should define Key Vocabulary BEFORE reading each chapter. Whenever possible, teach morphology within vocabulary practice, i.e. "subjugation" includes "sub-" which means under.  Kino felt subjugated.

CHAPTER/ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: These are used to guide class discussions, and can be used as comprehension checks in the form of class jigsaws, group or independent classwork, and homework. BUT, for the purpose of this unit of curriculum, students will compose their own Essential Reading Questions.  PEA/Point-Evidence-Analysis/Short-Short Constructed Response answers are required.

READING ACCOUNTABILITY: Assignments will be in the form of students completing a Plot Chart with at least 1 major event from each chapter AND a Character Web/Imagery List will also be completed by the students as an assessment. Steinbeck is such a master of imagery, so turn the imagery list into a contest; whomever collects the most imagery from the novel gets a prize and extra credit or a free homework pass!

SUMMARY:  The Pearl by John Steinbeck is a fictional parable told from an omniscient narrator's perspective.  The mood is somber, as the reader will be introduced to such themes as hope and ambition, greed and power, and prejudice based on class and race. Steinbeck is a descriptive storyteller, and when Kino, an indigenous Mexican fisherman, finds "the pearl of the world...as perfect as the moon," he seems to rock the class system around him; descendants of the European conquerors reign superior over the indigenous Mexican, of course.  In the end, even Juana defies her inferiority as Kino's wife. At the beginning of the novel, the pearl symbolizes hope and a rise in class for Kino. As the story progresses, the pearl becomes a symbol of defiance and the fight for equality.  In the end, however, the pearl becomes a symbol of the racism and prejudice that Kino wasn't able to overcome and the greed shown by all. Gold, god and glory -- the goals of the European conquerors -- prevailed.

INTEGRATED WRITING PROJECT:  As a review of Plot Elements and Literary Elements, students will compose a Personal Narrative, based on the novel, told from a character's point of view. Teach the students how to make a plan for a story using a plot chart, and give them the Personal Narrative Rubric to guide their writing AND allow them to assess/score their own writing (and fix things) before turning the assignment in. It is very useful to spend a week in class writing where the teacher models their own writing process! 

POST-READING SUGGESTIONS TO BRIDGE NOVELS:

Read The Necklace by Guy Maupassant; this short story reiterates the themes of greed vs. ambition, and class social structures, and has a surprise ending that students will gasp at! Review 3 Questions Strategies and PEA and introduce/scaffold to the PEAEAEAL/Short-Constructed Response Format with Examples Written Together.

Langston Hughes Poetry Unit. Use the Literary Analysis Web for guidance; eventually, students will have the analysis web memorized in their heads! This unit invites students to recall previous content studied regarding Civil Rights struggles in America.  Compose PEAEAEAL/Short-Constructed Responses analyzing the themes of the poems.