Secondary English Language Arts Resources
Names/Nombres by Julia Alvarez is a personal narrative essay in which the author combines several personal experiences to drive home a central theme — that a person’s name is integral to one’s identity.
Download a copy of the story from the column on the right.
The video to the left does not contain any imagery, but can be used to help students who need to listen to the story as they follow along in the text.
You can access the video directly on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLA1APpe2HI
Julia Alvarez and other immigrants share their experiences of being new to America with Cambridge READS, a program of the Cambridge Public Library.
You can access the video directly on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/7qfSLzsqmZo
This video is a discussion of “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez. The video is long, but the video host, Roxanne, shares her personal insights into the immigrant experience and how she related to the book.
You can access the video directly on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/t2he-ekxTWQ
Note: There may be some language in this video. I noticed some usage of profanity in another of her videos, but did not hear any in this one.
Help students internalize the meaning of new words through reading and their own writing. Download this lesson plan now!
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