Centro Teaching Guide Pura Belpré: Prepared by Victoria Núñez, Ph.D, Education Consultant Table of Contents I. Introduction II. Curriculum Map that includes suggested K-12 learning activities III. Discussion Questions IV. Pura Belpré Biographical Essay V. Background historical essay VI. Bibliography I. Introduction to teaching lessons that address the life, work and writing of Pura Belpré Pura Belpré was a Puerto Rican storyteller and folklorist. She built on her love of stories in her career as a librarian at the New York Public Library and as an author. This teaching guide presents a curriculum map for K-12 educators that assumes students will view the documentary about the life and work of Pura Belpré entitled Pura Belpré, Storyteller, and read some of her fiction. As a result of studying about her life, students will understand how Belpré contributed to children’s education and literacy development in New York. A selection of texts that an instructor could use are listed below and are followed by links to those that can be found in the New York Public Library catalogue. A more complete bibliography of Belpré’s published texts and to texts about her can be found at the end of this teaching guide. The learning objectives of this teaching guide include cross-cultural awareness (students develop an awareness of cultures from around the U.S.),increased historical awareness of the early twentieth century and increased literacy and literary skills. Suggested standards from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts and Social Studies are included at the end of this introductory essay. The curriculum and learning activities suggested are developed to respond to 2 essential questions. An essential question is broad enough that it can be used across multiple curriculum units during a semester or even for a whole school year. Thus, the reader will notice that the following two essential questions do not reference Belpré directly. Essential Q#1: What do we know about the folklore carried to the U.S. by different immigrants/migrants and that of indigenous people in the U.S.? Q#2: Migrants and immigrants contribute to the culture of their country in multiple ways. What are the contributions of Puerto Rican migrants to the cultural, intellectual and daily life of cities in which they settled such as New York City? Although teaching today involves the use of many questions, a curriculum map will typically not include all of the central questions a teacher will use with students. Similar to essential questions, enduring understandings refer to the broader themes under study and less to the exact knowledge about an individual, an historical era or a cultural movement. Thus, the suggested enduring understandings don’t refer specifically to Belpré. Students will learn about many notable individuals during the course of their education and can’t possibly remember all of them. Rather, it is envisioned that students will advance their conceptual understandings of Puerto Rican communities in the States, culture and folklore. Suggested student activities include: in-class read alouds by the teacher; in-class silent reading; reading assigned for at home reading; reading journals; in-class journal writing in response to prompts posed by the teacher; dramatizing one of Belpré’s stories; the collection of artifacts from student projects into a portfolio and a reflective writing assignment based on students’ portfolios. Texts used for this teaching guide include: 1) Pura Belpré, Storyteller. Documentary. Produced Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Dir. Eduardo Aguiar. 2) Perez and Martina, A Portorican Folktale. http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/17284517052_perez_and_martina 3) Martina, The Beautiful Cockroach by Carmen Agra Deedy http://nypl.bibliocommons.com/item/show/16798329052_martina,_the_beautiful_cockro ach 4) “The Folklore of the Puerto Rican Child.” Unpublished essay available online. The Pura Belpré Papers, Archives of the Puerto Rican Diaspora. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, CUNY. http://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/prwriters/pb-papers.html For K-12 teachers, this teaching guide responds to the following Common Core State Standards (CCSS): Reading Standards for Literature, Grades 11-12 -Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. -Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another Reading Standards for Informational Texts Grades 11-12 -Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. -Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem. High School ELA/History-Social Studies: -Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media in order to address questions or solve a problem. Grades K-5 English Language Arts: -Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. -Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text -Analyze how a particular chapter, scene or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting or plot. II. Curriculum Map that includes suggested K-12 learning activities Reading & Writing Levels: Developed by: Victoria Upper Elementary, Nunez, Ph.D. for the Middle and High School. Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 2012 Essential Question(s) Enduring Essential Knowledge (K), Assessments: Formative Understandings Concepts© and Skills (S) (F) and Summative (S) After this unit of study: (An essential question is broad enough that it can be Puerto Rican migrants Initial diagnostic used across multiple have contributed to ungraded: KWL curriculum units, and even U.S. society and Students will know (K): chart: What do we for a whole school culture in a variety of know about Puerto ways. Belpré was one Rico and Puerto semester/year) of the most Ricans in the U.S.; professionally Pura Belpré’s most watch accomplished Puerto significant documentary; then Rican migrants of her contributions to answer, what do What do we know about time. She found a folklore of the U.S. we want to know the folklore carried to career as a Belpre’s contributions more about (F); the U.S. by different professional librarian to children’s Brief recorded immigrants/migrants in the NYPL in the education in New York observations of and that of indigenous early years that City students’ people in the U.S.? librarianship for public the people, places participation in libraries and thus and events that whole group and contributed to influenced Belpre’s small group Migrants and creative activities life and her activities and follow immigrants contribute carried out by public development as a up individual to the culture of their libraries. She was professional; feedback;(F) country in multiple among the first Puerto Puerto Rican folklore Journal writing in ways. What are the Ricans in the States to was carried to the response to contributions of Puerto write and publish States by Puerto Rican prompts: (F) Rican migrants to the books in English in the migrants. Students will Performance task: cultural, intellectual and early period of Puerto learn some folklore Dramatize one of daily life of cities in Rico’s status as a U.S. that is familiar to Belpré ’s stories or which they settled such territory. Stateside Puerto a scene from a as New York City? Ricans, as well as story in a small other U.S. Latinos and group; (S) those from Spain; Portfolio with at Migration is a central least 3 artifacts experience for drawn from The study of culture Stateside Puerto learning activities includes the study of Ricans in part because and a student letter folklore. Folklore is an it is relatively easy to written to the important aspect of travel from Puerto teacher reviewing human culture around Rico to the U.S. and the portfolio; (S) the world although it also because the Sample Artfiact #1: is underappreciated in majority of Puerto complete KWL the western world Rican migration chart,; (S) and is considered occurred relatively Sample Artifact #2: most commonly a part recently; Write a script that of children’s culture. Students will understand guides the drama; these concepts (c): (S) Artifact #3: Students Folklore: Folkloric students’ article on understanding of stories are told over Belpre; (S) folklore will be and over again and Sample Artifact #4: advanced, specifically are so familiar to a Assessment of in understanding culture that they may students’ drama; folklore as a literary not appear in a book. (S) genre. They will learn Migration: Migration how folkloric stories is a term describing differ from other Teacher and Classroom human travel from fictional texts. place to place for a Resources purpose other than leisure (i.e. a vacation). Examples include travelling in Pura Belpré , order to work, attend Storyteller school or gain training (documentary). Strategies