Note 2: Reading about the Miracle in the tent had me on my toes as I needed to know the baby was okay. You see the struggle of a family tragedy through the eyes of a child. You also see the relief the miracle had brought to the family. As their faith is more solidified and brings the family closer together.

Note 3: Francisco finally makes a friend who understands what he’s going through. This is one of the few moments so far where you get to see Francisco actually be a child. He has so much fun and it brings you joy as you read this part. Just as quickly as he made this friend, he loses him. I believe Francisco was letting go of the fishing pole, representing how he was letting go of the friendship and happiness he had lost.

After reading the first 6 chapters, I found it interesting how the narrator bounces around to different times in his life. The narrator is named Francisco and his family migrated from Guadalajara, Mexico to California. What we learned from reading the first chapter is that the family lives in poverty and dreams of their life in California.

Note 2:

The third chapter titled "Inside Out" allowed us to understand Roberto and Francisco on another level. We find out that Francisco has never attended school before, while Roberto is the only person in their family including their parents that has been to school. We also find out that Francisco is in first grade and Roberto is in 5th grade (stated that he is four years older). We can clearly see that the school environment does not help students who don't speak English. Francisco is lost while in class and is yelled at when he speak Spanish. I also saw how throughout the chapter Francisco refers to advice and things Papá has told him. He values his father and his opinions.

Note 3:

In chapter four titled "Miracle in Tent City" Francisco talks about how is baby brother Torito gets very sick and the challenges they faced with this. The family prayed to el Santo Niño for a whole year and Torito got better. I wonder if this chapter is symbolic to the story?

The circuit opens with the author, Fancisco Jiménez, telling the readers that this story takes place in El Rancho Blanco, which is in Guadajara, Mexico. His family has big dreams of moving to California one day and leaving their poverty behind. I found it very interesting to learn the backstory of the book and infer what I thought was going to come in the next chapters.

Note 2:

I loved that this book had some Spanish mixed in. This would be a great book for ELL students because they could get context as to what is going on with help from some of the Spanish phrases and words.

Note 3:

I like this book so far, but the one thing that was hard to follow was the different jumps to different times in the book. I can imagine this might be hard for students to follow or could create a disconnect in the story between the different times and experiences being told.

• I liked the introduction because it told us information about Francisco's hometown and his family

• there is a lot of detail about crossing the border and the complications that come with that

• Francisco is really excited to move

Chapter 3:

• Francisco started school but is having trouble due to the language barrier

• Francisco became lonely and anxious about school since he did not know english

• He finds Arthur who can speak a little english but when Francisco spoke to him in Spanish he was quickly shut down

Chapter 5:

• Miguelito and Francisco play on the playground imagining lakes and getting muddy but the next day he realizes miguelito's family has moved

• Francisco sits by himself near the creek watching fish play together

• Francisco tries to save dying fish in the mud, but saved as many as he could, he then watches the goldfish in his neighbors house which motivates him to put miguelitos fishing rod in the creek and watch it float away.

6.5 Think About How the Characters Feeling

7.7 Pay Attention to "Aha Moments"

Note 2: Another example was on page 127, when Roberto and Fransisco were talking about how they were tired of moving. I imagined moving from town to town every couple months like they do, and it seems so hard. They don't have friends that are constant, they don't have a place they can call home, and they live with the bare minimum. If I was in this scenario, I would feel the same as the boys. I would just wish to stay in one place too. I think throughout this whole book, this strategy is super important to complete. Truly feeling what the characters are feeling and going through provides another perspective of what they are going through.

Note 3: The ending of the book totally shocked me. I felt so bad for Fransisco and the family. Things seemed like they were turning good. Roberto had gotten a full-time job working at the school, they were back in Santa Maria, and Fransisco was working hard in school. Fransisco had gotten the Declaration of Independence memorized and was ready to recite it just as the immigration officer came into the classroom. After he had been working so hard on memorizing something that talks about the equality of all people and the right to pursue happiness, he gets taken by the immigration officer. The book doesn't say what happens next for the family, but I'm sure they went back to Mexico after all their hard work.

Note 2: Aha moment strategy: The aha moment I had was while reading the chapter the circuit. As it begins with him sadly having his things packed and having to move and look for work again. By the end, he was happy and in a great place at school, only to come home to everything packed. This seems to be a endless cycle for Francisco. Never getting to stay and moving just when he is happy.  

Note 3: The ending shocked me. As I was so happy for the family as there as hope that they would not have to move again. Only for that to be snatched out of their hands. It was sad to see that Francisco and his brother was being deported from there school. The one place that should be a safe haven for them.

I liked that in chapters 6-12, we got to see how the dynamic of moving every time there was a new season of crops to pick affected Francisco. The main thing that Fransisco wanted to do was go to school, and he did not like work much when he got older, but much of what he was doing during the year was working and moving from some of the only friends he had made.

Note 2:

During these chapters, you can use the strategy where you think about how a character is feeling. There are many points in this story where you could use this strategy, but I think the main point that sticks out to me is when he met a friend who also collected pennies. He was able to relate to this friend because they had something in common and this made him excited for school. They even went to the friend's house so that Francisco could see his friend's penny collection, and his friend gave him a penny to keep. Francisco was supposed to have his friend over to show him his own penny collection, but his family ended up leaving, and he never got to say goodbye to his friend. I think this would be extremely hard finding someone that you finally feel comfortable with and having to leave that behind, and I think a lot of students would be able to pick up on this or even relate to this as well.

Note 3:

The last chapter really shocked me, and what made me really sad was how excited and prepared he felt for his class and to recite the constitution, but that moment got ripped away in an instant when the immigration officer came to pick him up. This part also left me on a cliff hanger because it ended with Francisco in the car on the way to pick up Roberto and as a reader I would have loved to know what happened next and if it was just them that got deported or if their family got separated and if they ever came back to the US.

note 2: When he had to move to Fresno but did not want to I got so sad and frustrated. He never seems to have a break and his father doesn't make it easier. Reading about their troubles of finding work and how they have to go find it makes my anxiety rise, I can't even imagine having to pick up everything and doing this nowadays.

note 3: Again, I was sad to read about Franciscos exciting news in sixth grade quickly turned into a depressing story. I had so much hope while reading and became so joyful when Mr. Lema welcomed him with such comfort and understanding. Francisco even called him his best friend at school:(