# data[].attributes.body
Read each page in English and Spanish (provided in the book.) Allow a student to read the Spanish text aloud.
Pause after each page and have students jot down on a piece of paper if there was something in this passage that they can relate to. Let students reflect on these and pair share at the end of the read aloud.

# data[].attributes.body
Make a family tree for students to share who their family is and where they come from. This may give insight to where their name comes from as well. This can be provided in multiple languages.

# data[].attributes.body
Ask students what their full names are and where their names come from.
If they know, if their names are from a different language, what do they mean? Are they named after someone? Where does your last name come from?

# data[].attributes.body
Make a name tree with the students and have them each write their full names and some characteristics of themselves they are proud of.

# data[].attributes.body
"On the first day at my new school, my teacher, Miss Soria, gave me a sticker that said René Colato. The sticker was missing my second last name. Maybe Miss Soria's pen ran out of ink. I took my pencil and added it. Now it looked right: René Colato Laínez."

Young René is from El Salvador, and he doesn't understand why his name has to be different in the United States. When he writes Colato, he sees his paternal grandparents, René and Amelia. When he writes Laínez, he sees his maternal grandparents, Angela and Julio. Without his second last name, René feels incomplete, "like a hamburger without the meat or a pizza without cheese or a hot dog without a wiener."

His new classmates giggle when René tells them his name. "That's a long dinosaur name," one says. "Your name is longer than an anaconda," another laughs. But René doesn't want to lose the part of him that comes from his mother's family. So when the students are given a project to create a family tree, René is determined to explain the importance of using both of his last names. On the day of his presentation, René explains that he is as hard working as Abuelo René, who is a farmer, and as creative as his Abuela Amelia, who is a potter. He can tell stories like his Abuelo Julio and enjoys music like his Abuela Angela.

Synopsis obtained from the publisher.

# data[].attributes.body
R ené Colato Laínez came to the United States from San Salvador, El Salvador when he was just a teen. He attained his credentials from CSUN and  graduated from  Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children & Young Adults. He is currently a bilingual Elementary teacher at Fernangeles Elementary School in Los Angeles. Laínez writes mostly about his own experiences as a Hispanic immigrant which have influenced several of his 11 books to be bilingual.

Illustrator
Fabiola Graullera Ramirez was born in Mexico City and attended UNAM’s National School of Fine Arts with a degree in Graphic Communication. Her art work is displayed in many exhibits in Mexico and Spain. Ramirez has illustrated René Has Two Last Names as well as I Am René, both by Laínez.