House on Mango Street Lesson Plan

Growth Project

Kind of Activity:

Long-term Project

Objective:

To track Esperanza’s growth and maturity over time

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2 ; CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5

Structure:

The House on Mango Street is a coming of age novel and as such, Esperanza grows and matures over the course of the book. In this project, instruct students to create a timeline of Esperanza’s first year living on Mango Street. They should pick out at least six moments, supported by quotes, in which Esperanza grows. You can call these “growth moments.” Several of these occur in the latter half of the book.

Students should create dynamic timelines using software such as...