Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League

English Faculty Book Club

Sara Gonzalez

Incorporating the Text into an English Classroom / Possible Themes
  • Ethnographic Essay or Literacy Narrative
  • Students could write in the same style as Undocumented by exploring their own culture or literacy and relate that to the experiences of Dan-el.
  • Discussion Leader Presentations
  • At one point in the semester, each student will be our “discussion leader.” This means the student will choose a section from Undocumented to be responsible for. Students may conduct this presentation individually or with 1-2 other group members. Students will give the class: 1) a summary of their section, 2) pick out 3+ important quotes or passages and explain why they are important, 3) provide discussion questions to get the class thinking critically about what we read, and 4) find one outsidesource that relates to a theme in the novel. I will ask that you also 5) provide this information visually (PowerPoint, Prezi, paper handout, etc). This is a really fun activity that students get pretty into! As long as you do these things, you should receive a passing grade. A grading rubric is provided on the next page.
  • Dialectical Journals
  • A dialectical journal is a space for you to engage with texts in a meaningful way and in ways that will help prepare you to respond to texts later in more formal papers. Here, you can explore what interests you, what confuses you, and/or what reminds you of other things you’ve experienced or read. A sample is provided on the following pages.
  • Post-it Pondering
  • Students should have one note per page of the text. Usually students rent books, sothey can use Posit-it notes for their ponderings. This is a way for students to annotate and interact with the text while reading. This also keeps students accountable for keeping up with the reading schedule.
  • “Book Club” with students
  • If faculty are not able to incorporate the text into their syllabus, they could consider holding a book club with their students. Perhaps offering extra credit would be a good incentive here as well.
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  1. Immigration
  2. Homelessness
  3. Literacy and Language
  4. Code Switching
  5. Trust
  6. Power
  7. Culture and Heritage
  8. Race
  9. Education
  10. Fear
  11. Access
  12. Mythology
  13. Welfare
  14. The American Dream
  15. Family
  16. Religion
  17. Geography – Space and Place
  18. Pop Culture
  19. ______
  20. ______

Discussion Leader Presentation Rubric

Category: / Points Possible: / Comments:
Summary:
  • Student(s) provide a thorough summary of the section’s main points
  • The class should have a good understanding of what the section was about even if they did not read it
/ __ points
Important Passages:
  • Identification of at least 3 important quotes, lines, or passages
  • Elaboration on why these are important to better our critical thinking about the novel as a whole or as they pertain to your chapters
/ __ points
Discussion Questions:
  • The student provides thought provoking questions to get the students to think about the readings in a more critical or new way
  • Questions should not have yes/no answers
  • Questions should relate directly to the novel
/ __ points
Outside Source:
  • The student introduces an outside source of their choosing from the Saddleback College library
  • The student fully summarizes and explains how it supports or resists the information presented by Peralta
  • The source and novel should be connected in some way
/ __ points
Miscellaneous:
  • Discussion leaders must present their findings for at least 10 minutes of class time. The class discussion contributes to meeting this time requirement. However, students may take as long as they want to present the material.
  • The above information must be presented to the class in a visual manner.
  • Think of yourself as the expert or teacher – how are you going to help us understand or engage with this reading more fully?
/ __ points / Time:

Dialectical Journals

What is a dialectical journal?

A dialectical journal is a space for you to engage with texts in a meaningful way and in ways that will help prepare you to respond to texts later in more formal papers. Here, you can explore what interests you, what confuses you, and/or what reminds you of other things you’ve experienced or read.

How do I write a dialectical journal?

Dialectical journals are written in two columns. In the left column you will transcribe word-for-word important quotes from the text including page #s. In the right column, you will explain why you chose the quote – here is where you make connections to other texts you’ve read in and out of class, relate the quote to your own experiences and/or observations, ask questions for clarification, express whether you agree or disagree and why, and/or explain what is interesting or confusing to you.

Direct Quote from Textbook Article: / Reaction/Analysis:
This quote is important because …
I agree/disagree with this passage because …
What I am unsure about in this selection is … because …
This quote makes me think of …
Direct Quote from Textbook Article: / Reaction/Analysis: