1. Miriam I. Bustos
P.S.105x
Maritcha’s Lesson Plan
Prior to Lesson- A few topics should be covered prior to reading or doing any lesson
with Maritcha because there is a lot of information in this book.
1- Geography ( New York/ Street Names, Rhode Island and the distance between
both)
2- Slavery- Underground Railroad
3- Civil War ( Union Troops)
Vocabulary-
Pleaded heroism physician enlightened union troops
Official equitable catastrophe relish confederate troops
Riot privilege eager vocation
Entrepreneurs skepticism refugee portrait
Mahogany inmates aptitude bewilder
Motivation-
1) Show cover of book. Have students predict what they believe the book will be
about. (Chart the prediction and we can go back to the predictions at the end of
the lesson to see how many predictions were correct or incorrect).
2) Show photos of the book on the smart board as a photo walk through the book. (It
will be clear for students to view the photos on a big screen).
Read Aloud- I would read the book in sections as a read aloud within a four day span.
Day 1
* 1 pg. – 8 pg. Basic Information of Maritcha, Childhood games. Compare and contrast
Maritcha’s childhood games to their modern games.
Day 2
* 9 pg. -19 pg. Family, Family Activities- parties, events. Compare and contrast their
family time/activities to Maritcha’s family time/acitivities.
Day 3
* 20 pg. -30 pg. Underground Railroad, Draft Riots, Civil War
Day 4
* 31 pg.- 39pg. Moving - Massachusetts, Rhode Island. Write a friendly letter to a friend
she left behind about her traveling experience. What did she see? How is her new home?
How did she feel on the train?

2. Day 5- 9
After all Read Aloud sections are read to students. Students will be put in groups to work
in each center and will rotate for five days until they have all complete each center
activity.
Guided Reading – Teachers and students will use Maritcha as a guided reading book.
Math Center- Create a timeline of Maritcha’s Life.
Writing Center- Create a journal entry as if you were Martitcha during one of these
events in her life.
• How did she feel during the draft riots? How did it affect her and her family?
• How did she feel by being a part of the Underground railroad? What did she see
and say?
• How did she feel when she was in a remedial program at Manhattan’s Colored
School No. 3?
• How was it living in Five Points?
Social Studies- Students will analyze specific photos ( Photos will be blown up)
from the book, Maritcha. Students will have to describe what they see in the picture
(The 5 W’s of the photo). Students will use the quadrants to analyze the photo.
Students can also compare/contrast the past photo to a present photo of the same area.
• p. 6
• p.7
• p.12
• p.13
• p.19
Reading Center- Reading Comprehension Questions.
Reflection:
• How do they feel about Maritcha’s life after reading about her life?
• Go back to the prediction chart and review how many prediction were correct or
incorrect.