The House on Mango Street:Mi Nombre es Esperanza!

Funded Nov 14, 2020

First of all, I would like to thank you for your generosity in purchasing the House on Mango Street (Spanish/English version) for us. Since we began reading the book in class, my students have expressed their joy for reading, especially in their native language with the Spanish version of the book. They truly identify themselves with Esperanza, the main character of the book and what she has to say about the experiences of her immigrant family, which is similar to their experiences of my students as newcomers to the U.S.

Every week, we read one or two vignettes from the book, we discuss and analyze their implications and then we embark on comparing or contrasting what they read to their own life. For example in the first vignette, Esperanza talks about her house on Mango Street and compares it to the house of her dreams. My students also described their dream house and the house they live in which they said it is not just a house, but a HOME. The same happened after reading "Pelos" (Hair). Their project was to describe the hair of each member of their family but in a poetic way just like the main character did in the book.

As a teacher, this gives me an opportunity to discover how talented my students are when reading and analyzing literature as well as when expressing themselves in writing.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Araya-Ross