Friendly Advice Students write friendly letters that offer advice about being home alone. 20–30 min. a day for 2–3 days whole class; partner; individual CA Language Arts Standard (Writing) 2.3: Write personal and formal letters, thank-you notes, and invitations. blackboard, chalk, paper, pencils Plan Ask students to recall the different things Soledad does to combat loneliness in the story. Have them look back through the story to identify which of these ideas came from Nedelsy and which came from Jahniza. List students' responses on the board under headings labeled “Nedelsy's Advice” and “Jahniza's Advice.” Draft Ask students to imagine they are Nedelsy or Jahniza. Then tell them that they are going to write a letter to Soledad. Explain that in this letter, they will give advice about being home alone. Encourage students to include ideas from their lists on the board. Remind them that at this stage in the writing process, they should not worry about spelling or punctuation. Instead, they should focus on writing down their ideas. Revise Have students check that their drafts contain the five elements of a letter: date, greeting, body, closing, and signature. Then have them share their letters with a partner and revise anything that seems unclear. Edit Ask students to proofread their letters for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Encourage students to consult dictionaries or other appropriate reference tools to help them edit their work. Publish Have students make clean copies of their revised and edited letters. Invite volunteers to read aloud their letters to the class. Then “publish” the letters by posting them in the classroom. Additional Writing Activities A Neighborhood Adventure: Discuss with students the adventure Soledad has with her make-believe sister Felicidad. Then work with students to write their own adventure story with an imaginary sibling or friend. Writing a Sequel: Invite students to write a sequel to Soledad Sigh-Sighs / Soledad Suspiros with a partner. Encourage students to consider what happens the next time Nedelsy visits or the next time Soledad spends the afternoon by herself. Cloud Poetry: Point out the shapes in the clouds on pages 22–23 of Soledad Sigh-Sighs / Soledad Suspiros. Ask students about other interesting cloud shapes they would like to see or have seen before. If possible, allow students to look out the classroom window or go outside to view the clouds. Then have them draw interestingly shaped clouds. In the boundaries of their clouds, have them write poems about the “pictures” they imagine or see in the sky. Tell them that the length of each line of the poem should be determined by the shape of the cloud. Unique Communities Students learn about the contributions of immigrants to their community. 30 min. a day for 2–3 days whole class, small group CA Social Studies Standard 3.3: Students draw from historical and community resources to organize the sequence of local historical events and describe how each period of settlement left its mark on the land. blackboard, chalk, reference books, online resources, roll of butcher paper or poster board, paints or markers, colored crayons, pencils Work with students to create a list of story characters. Ask students what these characters have in common. If necessary, point out that Soledad and her family, Nedelsy and Jahniza and their family, Mrs. Ahmed, and Mr. Wong can all trace their cultural heritages to places outside the continental United States. They or their families all immigrated to the United States. Engage students in a discussion about the cultural diversity that results when people from different backgrounds live together in a community or neighborhood, such as the one in the story. Encourage students to point out examples of diversity that they see in their everyday lives, such as community cultural groups, restaurants, places of worship, newspapers in different languages, and so on. Encourage them to give examples of events in your community that reflect its diversity, including celebrations, special holidays, and parades. Have students find out more about the history and cultural contributions of different immigrant groups in their community. To begin, work with the class to brainstorm questions they would like to answer. Then, work as a class to identify a list of resources to consult. These might include local librarians, encyclopedias, books about local or regional history, community organizations linked to specific cultural groups, newspaper archives, websites, and so on. Community members who can share oral histories are also outstanding resources. Have students work in small groups to conduct research on one or more cultural groups in your community. Ask group members to look for information to answer their questions. When students have finished their research, ask a volunteer from each group to share the information with the class. Guide students to use the information they gathered to create a mural or poster that celebrates the different cultures in their community. Additional Social Studies Activities Island Facts: Point out the Puerto Rican flag Jahniza creates on page 26 of the story. Discuss with students the history and relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States. Tell students they are going to learn more about Puerto Rico. Divide the class into small groups. Assign each group a particular topic to research. For example, you might ask students to find out about how Puerto Rico is governed, when it became a Commonwealth, or what the official languages are. When the groups are ready, invite them to share what they have found with the class. Create a class fact sheet about Puerto Rico and post it in the classroom. Safety Rules: Review with students what Mrs. Ahmed does to make sure Soledad is safe. Have students work in small groups to create a list of safety rules for being home alone. To begin, have students discuss ways to stay safe. Ask a recorder in each group to write down the group members' ideas. Encourage them to write the ideas in terms of positive statements (“Only speak with people who are well-known to you and your family.”) rather than negative ones (“Never speak to strangers.”). Ask them also to generate a list of reliable, trustworthy people in the community they can turn to for help. Once groups have finished their lists, ask them to create a safety poster to share with their classmates. Vejigante Masks Students learn about Puerto Rican Vejigante masks and learn to make their own masks. 30 min. a day for 2–3 days individual; small group; whole class CA Visual Arts Standard 2.0: Students apply artistic processes and skills, using a variety of media to communicate meaning and intent in original works of art. cardboard, cardboard paper towel or toilet tissue tubes, balloons, tape, flour, water, waterproof containers, newspaper strips, scissors, paints, brushes Point out the Vejigante masks that appear on pages 2, 3, and 31 of Soledad Sigh-Sighs / Soledad Suspiros. Tell students that these masks are made and worn in the southern part of Puerto Rico. Explain to students that a vejiga is a cow bladder and that the Vejigante is a make-believe character that has been part of carnival celebrations in Puerto Rico for hundreds of years. (Originally, the cow bladder was filled with air or water and used to playfully hit people during Carnaval.) Show students other examples of Vejigante masks. Ask them to discuss the similarities and differences between the masks. Divide students into small groups. Work with each group to find out more about the history of Vejigante masks (see Resources section of this document for helpful websites). Finally, guide students to make their own Vejigante masks out of papier mâché. To do so, distribute to each group a copy of the Vejigante mask directions. Additional Art Activities Mambo and Merengue: Discuss with students the music and types of dance that immigrant groups have brought to the United States. Remind students that in Soledad Sigh-Sighs / Soledad Suspiros, Soledad, Nedelsy, and Jahniza dance the mambo and merengue. Work with students to find out about the origins of mambo and merengue music and dance. Invite students to listen to recordings of each type of music. If possible, guide students to learn the basic dance steps of one or both dances. Class Survey Students collect and analyze data to create a class bar graph.   30 min. whole class CA Math Standard 2.3: Use a variety of methods, such as words, numbers, symbols, charts, graphs, tables, diagrams, and models, to explain mathematical reasoning. blackboard, chalk, graph paper, pencils Have students look at the story and name all of the activities that Soledad and her friends do after school. Record these on the board. Ask students to add to the list by brainstorming other activities that they enjoy doing after school. Tell students they are going to take a class survey to find their favorite after-school activities. Ask each student to copy onto a strip of paper their three favorite activities from the list on the board. Then have students compile their information into a single tally sheet by writing one tally mark next to each activity that appears on a student's ballot. Once they have done so, they should add up the numbers. Finally, have each student use the information from the tally sheet to create a bar graph. Make sure that students' graphs include an appropriate title and labels. Ask students to compare their work when they have finished. Additional Math Activities Daily Schedule: Reread aloud Soledad's description of her daily schedule on pp. 3–6 of the story. Discuss with students how most people have a daily schedule or routine that they follow. Have students think about their own daily routines. Then guide them to create daily schedules that list all the routine activities they do each day of the week and when they do each activity. Unit Conversions: Using a map, work with students to measure the approximate dimensions of the island of Puerto Rico, the distance between the main island and the smaller islands of Puerto Rico, and the distance between Puerto Rico and Brooklyn. If possible, have students use reference sources to find other geographic measurements such as the height of Cerro de Punta (4,389 feet), the highest peak in Puerto Rico, or the length of Puerto Rico's coastline (311 miles). Then work with students to convert these measurements to different units. For example, students might do any of the following conversions: kilometers to meters, kilometers to miles, miles to feet, feet to meters. Up in the Clouds Students learn about different kinds of clouds and how they form.   45 min. whole class; small group encyclopedias, online resources, poster boards, cotton balls, glue Point out the clouds Soledad, Nedelsy, and Jahniza look at on pages 22–23 of Soledad Sigh-Sighs / Soledad Suspiros. Remind students that there are three main types of clouds—cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. Explain that cirrus clouds form long and whispy streaks; cumulus clouds form great big piles; and stratus clouds form flat sheets. Then divide the class into small groups. Invite each group to find out more about one of the three types of clouds. Have each group consult reference sources to find out how their particular type of cloud forms, at what altitude it appears in the sky, and what kind of weather it indicates (see Resources section of this document for helpful websites). When each group is finished, have group members create a poster board sample of their type of cloud made out of cotton balls. Then invite groups to share what they have learned with the class. Additional Science Activities Exploring Technology: Re-read page 3 with students. Point out the technology that is mentioned in the story—price tag sensor, microwave, TV, radio, telephone, and electric lights. Then talk with students about the technology they encounter in their daily lives. If your students, or your students' families, are from Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican heritage, draw on their knowledge of the culture as much as possible. Even though this knowledge may not be formal, students bring a familiarity that can deeply enrich activities and help students better understand the story. Partner heritage speakers of Spanish and English whenever possible, and encourage them to explore differences in reading and writing the two languages. Copyright © 2003, Children's Book Press, all rights reserved. Home | Our Books | Teaching and Learning | Editorial | About Us | Calendar | Order