​9/23/2025

​9/23/2025

By Brandon Benalcazar

Today we will:

• Review paragraph expectations

• Go over

  • Good Example

  • Bad Example

• Talk about

  • Eleven

  • The Stolen Party

• Start and finish a writing task

Yesterday

• Yesterday, many of you found evidence (green /direct quotes), but your rationale (blue) wasn't strong.

  • Today we will make sure you have all key elements of a 2-paragraph essay

  • And know how to properly use blue

But first:
Instructions

But first:
Read

Yellow

• Strat with the central claim

• Your big idea

• Rosaura feels hurt at the end of The Stolen Party because she is treated like the maid’s daughter instead of a real guest.

​Central

Remember

• One clear sentence

• Answers the prompt

• Tells what that essay will be about

• Prove-able with evidence

Supporting Claim 1

• Next, we have a supporting claim

• This supports the main claim

• And will then need to be further proved with evidence

​Supporting

Green

• Evidence

• Claim

• Your proof, a quote

• Señora Ines gives Rosaura money and calls her ‘my pet.

Remember

• Must be a direct quote

• Use "quotation marks" if it’s from the text

• Pick the part that best proves your yellow claim

Blue

• Rationale

Blue

• Rationale

• Your explanation that connects the green to the yellow.

Student Example

• Names what the quote shows (treated like a worker, not a guest).

• Connects back to yellow (maid’s daughter / different from the others).

• Explains the impact (she loses her innocence).

Remember

• Do not just repeat the quote

• Explain what the evidence proves

• Always point back to the yellow claim

Pink

• It wraps up the whole paragraph.

• It pulls the two greens and blues back to the yellow claim.

• It leaves the reader with the big idea you proved.

Pink (Student Example)

Remember

• Do not add new evidence

• Pull the big idea together

• Restate your yellow in a fresh way

Student Example (Next paragraph)

Not Meeting (Student Example)
(3 mins)

Compare (Turn and Talk)
(2 mins)

Compare

• Everyone also had the same first green evidence. The difference is not the quote —

  • it’s what you wrote in blue after the quote.

• Not Meeting Scholar: “Señora Ines thinks Rosaura is like a pet.”

• Meeting Scholar: “This shows Rosaura is treated like a worker, not a guest, because Señora Ines pays her instead of giving her a gift like the other kids. That’s why Rosaura realizes she is different and loses her innocence.”

Big Takeaway Line

• The difference between high and low writing isn’t in the claim or the evidence — everyone has those.

• The difference is in the rationale.

• If your rationale just repeats the quote, the bridge is broken.

• If your rationale explains what the quote proves and connects back to the claim, the bridge is strong.

Task 18

• Now we’re moving into Task 18. The goal of this task is to talk about "Eleven" and "The Stolen Party" together.

• Here’s the rule: every time you give me a green quote, I’m going to stop you and say, ‘Okay, now what’s your blue?’

• Remember

  • yellow is the claim,

  • green is the quote,

  • blue is the bridge that connects the two.

• If your blue just repeats the green, it’s weak. If your blue explains how the green proves the yellow, it’s strong.

Question 1

• How does Cisneros use the pace of the story to emphasize Rachel’s perspective?

• Take 60 seconds. Put your finger on a quote that shows how the story feels slow, dragged out, or stuck in Rachel’s head.

  • Don’t write — just mark it.

• Student gives green → Teacher says: “That’s green. Now give me your blue — how does that prove Rachel’s perspective?”

• Did that blue just repeat the quote, or did it connect green back to yellow?

Question 2

• How does Heker use the abrupt shift at the end of the story to show Rosaura’s loss of innocence?

• Take 60 seconds. Find the place where Señora Ines pays Rosaura instead of giving her a gift. That’s your green evidence.

• Student gives green → Teacher says: “Now give me your blue. How does this prove Rosaura loses her innocence?”

• Which scholar’s blue actually connects— and which just repeats?

Question 3

• What is the importance of the red sweater in Eleven?

• Take 60 seconds. Mark a quote where Rachel describes the sweater. Focus on the ugly or embarrassing parts.

• Student gives green → Teacher: “Now what’s your blue? How does this connect back to Rachel’s perspective about growing older?”

• Did that blue just describe the sweater, or did it explain what the sweater proves?

Question 4

• What is the importance of Rosaura’s relationship with her mother and with Señora Ines?

• Take 60 seconds. Find a quote about Rosaura’s mother’s warning OR about how Señora Ines treats her at the end.

• Student gives green → Teacher: “Now what’s your blue? How does this prove the claim?”

• Which relationship proves Rosaura was never really seen as equal — her mother’s warning or Señora Ines’s actions? Why?

Wrap-Up

• Today in Task 18 we practiced using yellow, green, and blue out loud.

• Notice:

  • The green was easy — everyone can find a quote.

    The hard part was the blue — actually connecting the green quote back to the yellow claim.

  • That’s some blues were strong and some were weak.

Task 19

• Now it’s time for Task 19. The directions say: Choose one protagonist — Rachel or Rosaura — and explain how their perspective on growing older changes in the story.

• You are going to write two paragraphs. Each one needs:

  • Yellow claim

  • Two green quotes

  • Two blue rationale sentences

  • One pink wrap-up

• Here’s the rule:

  • Don’t just retell the story.

  • The blue is the most important color because it connects the green evidence back to the yellow claim.

• What is the job of the blue?

Task 19

• This worksheet is going to help you plan before you write. It breaks things down into yellows, greens, and blues so you don’t forget the pieces. I’ll show you how to start it, then you’ll finish it on your own.

Example

​Rachel learns that growing older doesn’t make her feel brand new — she still feels all her younger ages inside.

Example

​Rachel learns that growing older doesn’t make her feel brand new — she still feels all her younger ages inside.

​Rachel feels like all her younger ages are still inside her.

Example

​Rachel learns that growing older doesn’t make her feel brand new — she still feels all her younger ages inside.

​Rachel feels like all her younger ages are still inside her.

“When you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight…”

Example

​Rachel learns that growing older doesn’t make her feel brand new — she still feels all her younger ages inside.

​Rachel feels like all her younger ages are still inside her.

“When you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight…”

This shows Rachel still feels like her younger self even when she turns eleven.

Things to note

• See how my smaller claim matches my bigger claim? It doesn’t go in a new direction — it supports it.

• Notice how my evidence is the exact words from the story. I didn’t just tell it in my own words — I quoted it.

• Notice how my rationale doesn’t just say ‘Rachel says she is also ten and nine.’ That would be repeating. Instead, it says what that proves — that Rachel still feels her younger self inside.

• Notice how each box connects to the one before it.

  • It’s like a chain:

    • yellow → green → blue.

    • If one box is weak, the chain breaks.

Your Turn (8 minutes)

• Now it’s your turn. You’ll fill in the rest of the chart with your own claims, quotes, and rationales. Use your text to find strong greens. Remember — don’t just repeat the quote in your blue. Explain how it proves your yellow.”

• Ask: “Does this connect back to your yellow claim, or is it just repeating the quote?”

Finish this

Finish this

Paragraph One

• Central Claim = basically their yellow from the planning chart.

• Supporting Claim One = the smaller yellow (mini-claim) they already wrote.

• Evidence = write 2–3 quotes they picked from the story.

• Rationales = write the matching blues (one per piece of evidence).

Paragraph Two

• Linking Sentence = 1 sentence that connects the two paragraphs. (e.g., “Rachel not only feels younger inside, but she also realizes she can’t act older even when she wants to.”)

• Supporting Claim Two = their second mini-yellow.

• Evidence = again, 2–3 direct quotes from the story.

• Rationales = write blues for each one.

Debrief

• Have 1–2 students share a completed

  • Supporting Claim + Evidence + Rationale.

• Class decides: meeting or not meeting

Homework

• Finish Task 19