Lety Out Loud
By Angela Cervantes
Published in 2019 by Scholastic Press New York.
By Angela Cervantes
Published in 2019 by Scholastic Press New York.
You are learning English as a second language.
Your family is Hispanic, or you speak Spanish.
You like reading stories where enemies turn into friends.
You love animals.
You enjoyed Gaby, Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes. Published in 2015 by Scholastic Paperbacks.
While volunteering at the Furry Friends Animal Shelter, Lety and her rival Hunter enter into a competition to see who is the better shelter scribe. Lety and Hunter each have to write five animal profiles, and whoever gets all five of their animals adopted first wins: the loser scoops dog food all summer. But there’s more to the contest than meets the eye. Lety’s native language is Spanish, and she doubts that her English skills are good enough to win the contest. Lety and Hunter race against the clock to win, but are they forgetting what volunteering is really about?
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
Why assign this book in small groups?
As third grade students begin reading chapter books, reading with peer support allows them to ask questions, discuss story elements, and participate in collaborative learning opportunities, increasing their potential for comprehension.
Build schema & answer questions.
Watch the YouTube vide "To Be Happy: An Immigrant Student's Tale." The video highlights a Kansas school district with many immigrant students who are learning English. Then watch another YouTube video, Students' Immigration Stories.
After watching, students will discuss the following questions in their small group:
Are all immigrants the same? Does everyone immigrate for the same reason?
How is school more challenging for immigrants students, especially if they do not know much or any English?
What unique skills or experiences do immigrant students bring to school?
How can English speaking students help their classmates who are new to the country or who are learning to speak English?
Vocabulary: note-taking.
Students will keep a vocabulary diary (handwritten or digital) as they read the novel. Each entry must include the following:
The vocabulary word
The sentence it was found in
What students think the word means
What the dictionary says
A synonym
An original sentence
In small groups, students will periodically compare their vocabulary notebooks. Students are encouraged to ask questions about classmates' entries, discuss word meanings, and share original sentences with each other.
Vocabulary & discussion.
Individually, students will complete an open concept sort of 10-15 vocabulary words that they collected in their diaries while reading. First, students will create notecards for each vocabulary word. Then, students will meaningfully sort the words into categories of their choice. Lastly, in their small group, students will share their concept sort and explain why the words are grouped as they are.
This exercise is especially beneficial for vocabulary acquisition, which in turn supports text comprehension.
Lastly, students will watch this video, "An honest interview with Animal Shelter Volunteers," and discuss with their groups:
What similarities or differences are there between the shelter in the video and in the novel?
How does the novel demonstrate the importance of animal rescue adoption?
Scribe: a writer.
Foster: to care for a person or pet temporarily.
Adopt: to legally make a person or pet a part of your family.
ELL: English Language Learner.
Immigrant: someone who moved from their home country to the country they currently live in.
Shelter: a place where rescued animals stay.
Veterinarian: a doctor for animals, also called a vet.
Access FigJam to read the writing prompt.
Please note: this FigJam is not interactive as it was created using the free version of the website. Educators who have access to the paid version would be able to create interactive platforms.
Lety alza su voz por Angela Cervantes.
Publicado en 2019 por Scholastic en español.