Hispanic Literature Final Project

Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez

Objectives Overview:

• To have students gather a general understanding of what life can be like for a Mexican child living in the United States, and fighting to improve his life and complete his education.
• To have students explore similarities and differences between their lives and the life of Francisco: Prejudice and challenges; Universal adolescent experiences of school: dances and romances, bullying; Living in a country illegally; Adapting to change in surroundings, culture, and language.

Lesson Plan: Where is Francisco Now?

Objectives:

• To have students show their creative side in writing a short story based on their knowledge and understanding of the book.
• To have students show an understanding of the novel, the characters, and the outline of the story.

Level of Classroom: 9th-10th grade--this is mostly due to the fact that Francisco is 14 years old in the novel, which will make this novel more relatable and relevant to the students.

Activity:

• After students have finished the novel, Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez, students will be asked to write a short story on what happened to Francisco after the story. Since this book is an autobiography, students will have to write a creative, but realistic ending to the novel, from Francisco's own perspective. This short story will be done in class, in a 10-15 minute time period. After they have written their short stories, students will be given the opportunity to read their own aloud. After they have read, I will read them a short biography on where Francisco really is today and some things that he has accomplished since he was 14:
• "Francisco Jimenez emigrated from Tlaquepaque, Mexico to California, where he worked for many years in the fields with his family. He received both his masters degree and his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is now chairman of the Modern Languages and Literature Department at Santa Clara University. He is the award winning author of The Circuit, Breaking Through, La Mariposa, and Reaching Out. He lives in Santa Clara, California with his family."
• Once they have heard this biography, they will write for another five minutes on how their story was different from the actual one, and why they came to the conclusion they did; why they gave Francisco the ending they did.
• Students will then turn these in to me for an in-class participation grade, as their assessment.

Supplementary Text: A Step from Heaven by An Na. This is a novel about a young girl who is forced to leave Korea with her family and begin a new life in America; very similar to Francisco's own life experience with having to leave Mexico and start a new life in California with his family.