15.

Name:

Date: _____________________________

Grade 7 Reading Do Now 15.4

Team: ______________________20___

Directions: Read the paragraph below. It explains a college-level reading

strategy that we will use today: contextualizing when you read. Then answer
the questions that follow.

Grade:
_________

The Importance of Understanding the Context of What You Read

Adapted from the Salisbury University website, article on Reading Strategies
When you read a text, like an article, story, or novel, you read it from the perspective of your
own life and experiences. The way you understand the words on the page is based on what you have
come to know and value from living in a particular time and place. To read critically (or to analyze like
a true scholar), you need to contextualize in order to recognize the differences between your own
values and the values that the text comes from and displays. In other words, you must learn about the
time and place that the text was written as well as the time and place of the story.
1. What perspective do we naturally come from when we read?
2. What other perspective does a good reader need to consider?
3. Based on the reading above, context means the same as
a. Feelings
b. Values
c. Background
d. Reading
4. Based on the reading above, what does it mean to contextualize a text?

5. Why do readers have to contextualize a text before they read?

6. What context would you probably need before you read about a novel that takes place in Mexico?
What type of information would you want or need to know?

15.4

Name: ______________________________
Grade 7 Reading Class Work 15.4

Date: _______________________________
Team: ______________________20_____

Where does The Pearl take place?

Todays Task: The Pearl is a fictional novel, but it takes place in a real-life location that has had a rich
history. Today we will learn more about this place to build schema for The Pearl.

The Pearl takes place in the village of

, which is on the
in the late

or early

Where in the WORLD is the Baja Peninsula?

Directions: Look at the Maps A and B below and
complete Steps 1-5.
Map A
Step 1: Shade in the Baja Peninsula on Map A.
Step 2: Circle the capital of La Paz on Map A.

Map B

Step 3: Draw a star where New Jersey is on Map B,

and label it.

Step 4: Draw a circle around the Baja Peninsula

on Map B, and label it.
Step 5: Draw a star where La Paz ison Map B,
and label it.
2

15.4

History of the Baja Peninsula

Directions: Now that we know where the Baja Peninsula is, we need to know what has happened
there in the past. Actively read the passage below for the most important events so that we can create
a timeline to go along with our reading of The Pearl.
The Spanish explorer Hernn Corts sent three ships traveling north along the western coast
of Mexico in 1532. They were looking for California, which they thought was an Island. These ships
never returned, so Corts sent more the following year. A captain on one of the ships rebelled against
Corts and his mission, and founded a settlement, or village, in the Bay of La Paz, near what would
become the capital of Baja California, Mexico. The people at this settlement quickly died though.
1. When was La Paz first founded?
2. Add this date and event to the timeline.
The next settlers of the area near La Paz were Spanish and Italian, and they lived there from
the late 1690s until about 1710. They were interested in converting Natives to Christianity, and they
established missions to do that.
3. What is the meaning of missions, as used in paragraph 2?

4. Which phrase from the poem provides the best clue to the meaning of missions?

5. When did the Spanish and Italians live in La Paz?

6. Add this date and event to the timeline.
In the late 18th century (1700s), control of the Baja Peninsula alternated between different
Spanish and Italian groups. Then, from 1810 to 1821, Mexico had a War of Independence because its
people wanted to rule themselves, rather than be controlled by the European governments and
missions. At the end of the War, which Mexico won, the Baja Peninsula and La Paz became part of
Mexico.
7. When was the Mexican War of Independence?
8. When did Mexico gain independence?
9. Add both of these dates and events to the timeline.
By the 1840s, a war between the United States and Mexico had begun. During this war,
Americans battled Mexicans for the rights to the Baja Peninsula. Specifically, they fought for the
capital La Paz during The Battle of La Paz and The Seige of La Paz. Both took place in 1847, and the
result was that Baja California remained property of Mexico.
10. When did the Battle of La Paz and Seige of La Paz take place?
11. Add this date and event to the map.
3

15.4
Reflection Questions:
12. Why did explorers begin to settle La Paz?

13. Why did the Battle of La Paz and Seige of La Paz take place?

14. One motif, or idea, that answers to #12 and #13 have in common are
a. Love and Friendship
b. Generosity and Selflessness
c. Greed and Selfishness
d. Cruelty and Hatred
15. Explain your answer to #14. Use evidence from The History of the Baja Peninsula. (3-4
CANS)

16. What is one connection you can make between The Legend of Mechudo and these
events in Baja Peninsula history? Use evidence from History of the Baja Peninsula and
The Legend of Mechudo.

Ganas: How does this image of the little girl connect to the motif
discussed above? Explain how you know.

15.4

Name: ______________________________
Grade 7 Reading Homework 15.4

Date: ________________________
Team: ________________20_____

****Note: You need your timeline from class to complete this homework.****
Directions: Read the information below about the early to mid- 1900s, to help you complete your
timeline. This information also gives context to the time period when John Steinbeck wrote The Pearl,
so it will help us understand Steinbecks perspective as he wrote the book.
Contextualizing The Pearl: the authors perspective
In 1902, John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California. Between 1919 and 1925, Steinbeck
went to college and studied reading and writing, but he did not graduate. Still, he became a wellknown and successful writer. The Pearl is a novel he wrote in 1947, when he was 45 years old. By this
point in his life, he had already lived through a number of important events in history, and all of them
somehow affected the person and the author that he was. Two of the most important events are
World War I and World War II.
In the first half of the 20th century (the 1900s), the world went through two World Wars, when
many different countries fought each other over a number of complicated issues. World War I (World
War One) lasted from 1914 to 1918. During the war, countries joined forces in two major groups.
One was called the Allies, and the other was called the Central Powers. Overall, World War I was
fought over who did and who should have power over many different territories around the world.
Countries disagreed about the true owners of these lands because of so many years of colonialism,
which is when powerful countries take control of less powerful people and establish settlements or
use the lands resources. When the war ended, the Allies won, and many of the people whose freedom
had been restricted by more powerful countries were able to regain some autonomy, or power over
themselves.
By 1941, the world had gone to war again, though. One major factor in World War II (World
War Two) was that Nazi Germany was trying to take over Europe and eliminate, or kill, people who
were not as powerful and who opposed being ruled by the Nazis. By 1945, many powerful nations,
including the United States, came together to help defeat the Nazis and their ruler, Adolf Hitler.
1. When was World War I?
2. When was World War II?
3. When was John Steinbeck born?
4. When did John Steinbeck write The Pearl?
5. Add the dates and events from #1-4 to the timeline you began in class.

15.4
6. What is one theme that the period of exploration near the Baja Peninsula, the Battle of La Paz
during the Mexican American War, and World Wars I and II all have in common? First, give
one statement that all three time periods have in common. Then, explain what happens in each
time period to demonstrate this common theme. (3-4 CANS)

7. On a blank sheet of paper, complete a final, neat copy of your timeline for a quiz grade.
8. You will receive ganas on your timeline if you add color, illustrations, or other creativity to
your timeline.

15.4

Name: _____________________________

Date: _________________________

Grade 7 Reading Exit Ticket 15.4

Team: ________________20_____

Contextualizing and The Baja Peninsula

1. How does someone contextualize a text?

2. Circle the Baja Peninsula on the Map below.

3. What is one thing you learned or found interesting about the Baja Peninsula?

15.4
Name:

Date:

Grade 7 Reading The Pearl Contextualization Timeline

Team:

Contextualization Timeline
By John Steinbeck