Lesson Plan: Long Journey to the Stars

Essential Questions

• What is perseverance? How does it help us achieve our dreams?
• What does it take to reach a goal?

Literature Connection

• Novel: We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly 
• Memoir: The Boy Who Touched the Stars / El niño que alcanzó las estrellas by José M. Hernández

Preview Text Features (10 minutes)

Guide students to locate the article in their magazines or at Action Online. Preview the text features by asking the following questions:

• Read the article’s title and subtitle, and look at the opening image. What do the image and the title tell you about the article? Sample answer: The title “Long Journey to the Stars” suggests that the article is about someone’s path to becoming an astronaut. The opening image shows a young José Hernández working in the fields, suggesting he started from a humble background and worked hard to reach his dream.
• Look at the photo of Hernández and his family doing farmwork, and read the caption. What does this image help you understand about Hernández’s early life? Sample answer: The photo shows Hernández and his siblings helping their parents with farmwork. This helps us understand that he worked hard from a young age, which makes his journey to becoming an astronaut even more impressive.

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (migrant, harvest, engineering, applied, rejected, astounded) aloud and discuss their definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading

Before students start to read, walk them through a reading plan:

• Set a purpose for reading by telling students that the article “Long Journey to the Stars” explains how José Hernández went from dreaming about being an astronaut to actually being one.
• Point out the Pause and Think boxes. Tell students they can check their understanding of what they’ve read by answering these questions.
• Tell students that as they finish each section, they should think about how the text features on the page (e.g., photos, captions, and section headings) relate to what they’ve just read.
• Point out the activity at the end of the article, and tell students they’ll complete it after reading. Encourage them to keep the Think About It! question at the bottom in mind as they read.

Read the article. (Higher- and lower-Lexile versions are available on the Story page at Action Online. Click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud.) Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• Reread the article’s opening section. Where is José Hernández in this section, and how does he feel? (inference) José Hernández is strapped into his seat on the space shuttle Discovery, about to blast off into space. His heart is pounding with excitement, and he is wondering how he got there after a long journey of hard work and perseverance.
• The article describes the challenges Hernández faced and his determination to overcome them. What were some of the challenges he faced? (key details) The challenges Hernández faced included moving around a lot as a child, which made it hard for him to learn English, and struggling with math and science classes in college. He was also rejected by NASA many times before finally being accepted.
• Reread the section “Eyes on the Skies,” in which Hernández talks about his love for numbers. He says, “1 + 3 = 4 is the same in Spanish and English.” What does this phrase mean? (interpreting text) The phrase “1 + 3 = 4 is the same in Spanish and English” means that your ability to do math doesn’t depend on what language you speak. It’s an easy-to-understand example that shows that Hernández’s struggles with learning English didn’t prevent him from doing well in math.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• Perseverance is the ability to keep working toward a goal even when facing difficulties.  How did José Hernández demonstrate perseverance on his journey to becoming an astronaut? José Hernández demonstrated perseverance by continually reapplying to NASA after being rejected multiple times, by working hard to be a better candidate (for instance, by learning to fly planes and to speak Russian), and by following his father’s advice about studying and always giving his all. 
• How can having a big dream, like José Hernández’s dream of becoming an astronaut, be good for you? Can you think of a big dream you have and what steps you might take to achieve it? Sample answer: Having a big dream can motivate you to work hard and overcome obstacles. It allows you to feel the satisfaction of having reached a difficult goal. For example, my big dream is to become a doctor. To reach that goal, I might focus on studying hard in school, volunteering at hospitals, and learning about the medical field. In the end, when I succeed, I’ll feel good about my hard work and my new ability to help others.

• Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Text Evidence activity. As a class, discuss students’ answers and the Think About It! question.
• Have students work independently to complete our Sequence of Events Skill Builder, available in higher- and lower-level versions. (Click here to view all your Skill Builders for this article.)
• Writing prompt: The article “Long Journey to the Stars” describes how perseverance (sticking with a task even when it’s difficult) helped José Hernández reach his goal of becoming an astronaut. If you could give an award for perseverance to someone in your life, who would it be? Think of someone you know who has worked hard toward a goal, such as becoming a top athlete, learning a new language, or getting a dream job. Write a paragraph to explain why you admire this person.