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Sandra Cisneros
Lesson 3:
Purpose:
Learners will associate a list of vocabulary words with self-discipline. They will use quotations from author Sandra Cisneros to infer concepts of self-discipline.
Duration:
One 20-minute lesson
Objectives:
The learner will:
- define self-discipline and words associated with it.
- reflect on a writers' self-discipline - Sandra Cisneros.
Service Experience:
Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.
This character education mini-lesson is not intended to be a service learning lesson or to meet the K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice. The character education units will be most effective when taught in conjunction with a student-designed service project that provides a real world setting in which students can develop and practice good character and leadership skills. For ideas and suggestions for organizing service events go to www.generationon.org.
Instructional Procedure(s):
Anticipatory Set:
Discuss the examples of self-discipline the students observed or experienced (from the homework assignment of the previous lesson) and add to the charts from Lesson Two, if appropriate.
- Distribute Handout One: Self-Discipline Vocabulary and ask the students to silently read it over, keeping in mind what they have just reviewed on the charts.
- Ask the students if they have any comments about the vocabulary list and definitions. Discuss or clarify, as needed.
- Teacher: Have you ever heard the phrase "writers discipline?" Many people associate self-discipline with athletes who use it to train for an event or sport, but all adults who have goals and ambitions need to learn and exercise the skills and attitudes of self-discipline described on the vocabulary list.
- Distribute Handout Two: Sandra Cisneros. Tell students that Sandra Cisneros is a writer who learned these skills and attitudes to shape her life the way she wanted it to go.
- Ask the students to form groups of two or three, read the information on Cisneros together, and complete the activity at the bottom of the handout.
- When the groups are finished, hold a whole-class discussion. Students share the words they associated with each quote, and why, and reflect on what they learned.
- Ask: How does Cisneros use of self-discipline help her? How does her self-discipline help the community?
Lesson Developed By:
Betsy FlikkemaAssociate Director
Learning to Give
Barbara Dillbeck
Director
Learning to Give
Handouts:
Handout 1Print Handout 1
Self-Discipline Vocabulary
discipline [training to act according to rules]
self-discipline [acting according to how you think rather than how you feel in the moment]
delayed gratification [to put off immediate reward to pursue a longer term goal]
impulse control [the ability to think before acting]
goal [the end point to which efforts are directed]
willpower [the ability to begin or continue on a plan or course of action]
self-control [restraint of oneself or ones actions, ie. anger]
perseverance [sticking to the task that needs to be done, even if we want to quit; putting forth maximum effort to do the best you can]
patience [ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay]
integrity [knowing and doing what’s right, be true to yourself and others]
persistence [continuing without change for a long period]
self-motivation [ability to start or continue a task or activity without another's prodding or supervision]
self-talk [anything said to oneself for encouragement or motivation; a person’s internal mental conversations]
self-denial [restraining one's own wants or desires]
commitment [determination to get something done, or loyalty to a person or thing]
Handout 2Print Handout 2
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, but she was born in Chicago, the third child and only daughter in a family of seven children. It was difficult growing up in the Latino section of Chicago for the Cisneros' family. Money was tight, and there were many of them in a small house, but they were a close-knit family and part of a Latino community that valued family, strength, and dreams.
Sandra has worked with high-school dropouts as a teacher and counselor, has she taught creative writing at every level except first grade and pre-school, has been a college recruiter, an arts administrator, and a visiting writer at several universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Her books include several books of poetry and short stories, a children’s book Hairs/Pelitos and two novels, The House on Mango Street and Caramelo.
The House on Mango Street, published in 1984, won the Before Columbus Foundation's American Book Award in 1985, and is required reading in middle schools, high schools, and universities across the country. It is the story of a young girl, Esperanza Cordero, and is based on Cisneros’ experiences growing up in the Chicano ghetto of Chicago. It tells the story of a young girl coming into her power, inventing for herself what she will become and her quest for a better life.
In 2003 Cisneros was awarded the Texas Medal of the Arts. Her books have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Norwegian, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Greek, Iranian, Thai, and Serbo-Croatian.
Cisneros cares about giving back to the community and taking action for just causes. She is a philanthropist [a person who gives their time, talent and/or treasure for the common good]. She is the president and founder of the Macondo Foundation, an association of socially engaged writers working to advance creativity, foster generosity, and honor communities; and the Alfredo Cisneros Del Moral Foundation, a grant-giving institution serving Texas writers.
Assignment:
Read the quotes from Sandra Cisneros. Which vocabulary words from the list of self-discipline vocabulary would you associate with each quote. Write the words next to the quote. (You may use words more than one time.) Hint: To do this activity you will need to read the words in the quote and also "read between the lines," or use inference, to connect the quote to what you know about Cisneros.
1. And the nice thing about writing a novel is you take your time, you sit with the character sometimes nine years, you look very deeply at a situation, unlike in real life when we just kind of snap something out.
2. But I deal with this meditating and by understanding I've been put on the planet to serve humanity. I have to remind myself to live simply and not to overindulge, which is a constant battle in a material world.
3. I always tell people that I became a writer not because I went to school but because my mother took me to the library. I wanted to become a writer so I could see my name in the card catalog.
4. I realize that when I moved out of my father's house I shocked and frightened him because I needed a room of my own, a space of my own to reinvent myself.
5. I think my family and closest friends are learning about my need to withdraw, and I am learning how to restore and store my energy to both serve the community to the best of my ability and to serve my writer's heart.
6. I try to be as honest about what I see and to speak rather than be silent, especially if it means I can save lives, or serve humanity.
7. I was silent as a child, and silenced as a young woman; I am taking my lumps and bumps for being a big mouth, now, but usually from those whose opinion I don't respect.
8. Perhaps the greatest challenge has been trying to keep my time to myself and my private life private in order to do my job. Everything that is most mine belongs to everyone now.
9. Revenge only engenders violence, not clarity and true peace. I think liberation must come from within.
10. Well, I'm Buddhist, and so part of my Buddhism has allowed me to look a little more deeply at people and the events in my life that created me.
Unit Contents:
Overview:Character Education: Self-Discipline (Grade 8) Summary
Lessons:
- 1.
- Resolutions
- 2.
- What It's Not and What It Is
- 3.
- Sandra Cisneros
- 4.
- Imagine That!
- 5.
- Character and Self-Discipline
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