Text: Too Many Tamales Author: Gary Soto

Descriptive Phase:
This phase in Freire/Adas
Critical Literacy Framework
implements questions that can
easily be found in the text
itself. This phase represents
a focus on literacy isolated
from both cultural and critical
literacy (Cummins).
The teacher reads the story to the students and facilitates a
discussion for the students to answer questions about the story.
What is the setting of the story? Marias house
When does the story take place? Christmas
Who is the main character? Maria
What was the problem in the story? As Maria was
helping her mom make tamales for Christmas dinner she
tried on her mothers ring, forgot about it, and then
thought she had lost it
Why did Maria try on the ring: Maria wanted to feel
grown up like her mother

Personal Interpretive Phase:
In the Personal Interpretive
Phase, students make
connections from the text to
their own lives. They relate
their own experiences and
emotions to their learning and
feel valued as their feelings
are shared in a welcoming
environment.
Students make text-to-self connections as the teacher facilitates
a guided discussion.
Have you ever experienced something like what Maria
experienced?
How did you feel?
Does your family celebrate Christmas in a similar way
to Marias family?
Have you ever helped your mom cook a special meal for
a special occasion?
How did that make you feel?
Critical Analysis Phase:
Students draw inferences and
generalizations that can be
supported by story evidence.
This phase further extends
students' comprehension of
the text or issues by
encouraging them to examine
both the internal logical
coherence of the information
and their consistency with
other knowledge or
perspectives (Cummins).
Students in this phase will critically analyze the problem in the
story and the characters attempt to resolve the situation.
Students will use their creativity to come up with different
scenarios that could have taken place in the story.
Why did Maria try to hide the loss of the ring from her
mother? Was this the right thing to do?
How else could have Maria searched for the ring instead
of having all her cousins eat the tamales?
What would you have done in Marias place? Would
you try to hide your mistake? Would you be honest?
A lot of trouble could have been avoided if Maria had
______.

Creative Action Phase:
This phase involves taking the
results and learning from the
preceding phases to turn them
into a concrete action. The
teacher facilitates a discussion
for students to come up with a
change that can improve the
problem presented in the
story.
In this phase the students will connect the story to a character
trait previously discussed in class like honesty or responsibility.
They will discuss what changes in character Maria could have
demonstrated in the story to avoid the trouble she and her
cousins went through.
Why is it important to be honest in any situation we
might find ourselves in?
What are some consequences that people might face if
they are not honest?
As a child how can you demonstrate responsibility?
If you could change Marias approach to finding the ring
in the story what would you change it to?

References
Cummins, J. Biliteracy, Empowerment, and Transformative Pedagogy. University of
Toronto. Retrieved from:
http://mpsportal1.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/portal/server.pt/doc/52025/Biliteracy+2.pdf