Lesson 8: The Last Cuentista, Socratic Seminar 1

Students complete a Quick Write to focus on one important moment from Chapters 1–9.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Take out your notes from Chapters 1–9. Respond to the prompt below, using your notes for support.

• What is one moment from Chapters 1–9 where memory clearly matters? How does this moment show that memory is important?

  • At the end of Chapter 8, when the Collective threatens to erase Petra’s memories, she calls on “one final memory . . . perfect and special” (p. 59). In that memory, Lita instructs, “Set your intention. Proclaim to the universe what you will be” (p. 59). Petra’s race to find a final, perfect memory before her memory is erased shows how important personal memories are to her. Also, the content of the memory connects Petra’s identity directly to remembering and to Lita.

• Say: Share your moment with a partner. Explain why you chose it and what it reveals about the importance of memory.

  • I chose this moment because it is a frantic scene where Petra is facing the complete loss of her memory. The content of the memory is important, too. Petra contemplates her close connection with her grandmother, as well as her identity in a situation where her memory is about to be stolen from her.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Today, you will use your ideas about memory and identity to participate in a Socratic Seminar. You will build on your thinking by making claims, using text evidence, and responding to others’ ideas. First, we will learn how to use language choices to make our ideas clear and precise during discussion.

Explain to students that they will be participating in a Socratic Seminar during this lesson to discuss Chapters 1–9 of The Last Cuentista. Explain that strong speakers make intentional language choices to make their ideas clear and precise during discussion.

• Say: In a Socratic Seminar, we use open-ended questions, textual evidence, and active listening to build ideas together. During the discussion, you will also make intentional choices about verb voice and mood to strengthen how you explain your thinking.

Remind students of the differences between the voice of verbs. Display and read aloud the following sentences:

• Active Voice: Petra protects her identity through memory.

• Passive Voice: Petra’s identity is threatened by the Collective.

• Ask: Which of the sentences places the focus on what Petra does? Which focuses on what happens to Petra?

  • The sentence in active voice focuses on what Petra does—she protects. The passive voice sentence focuses on what happens to Petra: her identity is threatened.

Explain that speakers choose language to present their ideas in a way that achieves a certain effect.

• Say: When you want to clearly explain your ideas in a discussion, you will usually use the active voice because it shows who is acting. Passive voice can also be useful when you want to place emphasis on the person or thing that has been affected by an action. It is also necessary when you don’t know who is responsible for an action.

Review the conditional and subjunctive mood. Present and read aloud the following sentences:

Conditional and Subjunctive Moods

• Conditional mood for inference: If the Collective manages to erase people’s memories, the ship’s inhabitants would lose all individuality.

• Subjunctive mood for contrary-to-reality statements: If Petra were asleep like the other children, she would not protect her memories.

Explain that conditional and subjunctive moods are closely related and are often used within the same sentence. Point out that singular subjects take plural verbs in the subjunctive construction: “If I were . . .”; “If Petra were . . .”

• Say: You can use the conditional mood to make predictions or inferences based on the text. You can use the subjunctive mood to explain situations that are not real to strengthen your ideas.

Say these Directions: Complete this contrary-to-fact sentence in the subjunctive mood:

• If Petra __________, she __________.

  • If Petra were loyal to her family, she would never stop holding on to her family memories.

Say: Revise this inference to show that the outcome is conditional:

• The ship becomes more dangerous when the ship’s inhabitants’ memories are erased.

  • If the ship’s inhabitants' memories continue to be erased, the ship could become more dangerous.

• Say: When I prepare for a Socratic Seminar, I can use active and passive voice and conditional and subjunctive mood to create different effects. If I want my listener to notice who acts, I use the active voice: “Petra protects her identity.” If I want to spotlight the pressure on Petra more than the actor, I can shift to passive voice and say, “Petra’s identity is threatened by the Collective.”

• Say: During the seminar, strong speakers choose the sentence structure that best matches their purpose and then support their ideas with text evidence.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: You will use these language choices as you prepare your claims and participate in the Socratic Seminar.

Part A: Preparation for Text-Based Discussion (RL.8.1, SL.8.1.a-b) (10 minutes)

Students prepare for the Socratic Seminar by developing clear claims and selecting strong text evidence for each discussion question.

Say these Directions: Take out your text annotations and homework notes for Chapters 1–9 from Lessons 4–7. For each discussion prompt, write one clear claim and cite one piece of text evidence that supports your thinking. Be prepared to explain how your evidence supports your claim.

Display the Socratic Seminar discussion prompts and give students time to review their notes and prepare claims and evidence for the discussion.

• How do Petra's memories help her maintain a sense of identity on the ship?

• What risks might the Collective pose to the ship and its inhabitants? What textual clues support your inference?

• How has the author, Donna Barba Higuera, oriented the reader to the setting and context of The Last Cuentista?

• How does Higuera's choice to use first-person narration affect the presentation of the story?

Explain to students that their Socratic Seminar discussion will use these questions. Provide a model in response to the second question: What risks might the Collective pose to the ship and its inhabitants?

• Say: First, I write down my answer to the question, which is my claim:

  • Because the Collective is focused on making everyone the same and erasing all memory of Earth, it poses a risk to all people’s individuality.

• Say: Next, I will need to find evidence to support my claim. For example, I can use the moment when Ben is punished for trying to preserve stories: “He’ll have to be purged” (p. 58). This shows that the Collective removes people who resist, which supports the idea that individuality is not allowed.

Continue the process, either asking for student input or identifying specific evidence.

Provide students with time to prepare for the discussion by writing down claims and evidence for each discussion prompt. Circulate as students prepare and prompt them to strengthen their claims by asking: “What exactly does this show?” or “Which moment in the text supports that idea?” Encourage students to move from general ideas (e.g., “the ship is dangerous”) to more precise claims (e.g., “the Collective creates risk by erasing individuality”).

• Say: Now that you have prepared your ideas, you will move into a small-group Socratic Seminar where you will use your claims and evidence to build discussion together.

Explain that they will each have an active role in their group. You may assign the roles or allow the group members to decide.

Possible roles include:

• Leader: begins each question, invites voices in, and keeps the group on topic

• Timekeeper: monitors time and gives warnings about when to move on

• Idea Tracker: notes strong claims and repeated ideas

• Evidence Tracker: asks for text support when a claim needs evidence

• Connector: notices agreements, differences, and new questions (if groups have five students)

• Say: Each role helps your group have a strong discussion. Be ready to use your role to support the conversation, not just to complete a task.

After assigning roles, provide students with the following accountable talk stems in preparation for the Socratic Seminar. Explain that they can use these to present ideas and to form questions to keep the conversation flowing.

Accountable Talk Stems

• I want to begin with the idea that __________.

• A clue in the section where __________ suggests __________.

• I agree with __________ because __________.

• I want to challenge that idea by saying __________.

• Can you say more about __________?

• What in the text supports that idea?

Part B: Small-Group Socratic Seminar (SL.8.1.a-d, RL.8.1, RL.8.3) (20 minutes)

Socratic Seminar

Students participate in Socratic Seminars in their small groups with assigned roles.

Say these Directions: Begin your Socratic Seminar in the role you were assigned. Focus on building ideas about memory, identity, and control by using text evidence and responding to one another. Listen carefully, respond to others, and pose questions in response.

• How do Petra’s memories help her maintain a sense of identity on the ship?

  • Petra’s memories help her maintain her identity because they connect her to real people, places, and stories from Earth. In the Chapter 9 memory with her father, Petra recalls important lessons she learned from her father about his beliefs and expectations. Petra remembers his explanation of the jasper, which celebrates diversity and uniqueness: “They’re not meant to be identical. . . . Differences make things beautiful as a whole” (p. 63).

• What risks might the Collective pose to the ship and its inhabitants? What textual clues support your inference?

  • Because the Collective is focused on making everyone the same and erasing all memory of Earth, it poses a risk to all the people’s individuality. In Chapter 3, the Collective describes their mission as “consensus” and erasing “differences in culture, in appearance, knowledge . . .” (p. 17). For example, Ben tries desperately to save the stories and pass them on to Petra before he is discovered by the Collective. He fails and is physically stopped by members of the Collective. Petra hears “one big thud,” and then a person says, “‘He’ll have to be purged’” (p. 58). This shows that either he will physically be removed from the ship or his memories, stories, and personality will be removed by the Cog.

• How has the author, Donna Barba Higuera, oriented the reader to the setting and context of The Last Cuentista?

  • Higuera gives specific background information to help the reader figure out the context of the story. She begins the book with a scene that includes Petra and Lita talking about the oncoming comet. This sets up the tragedy to come and introduces the interstellar trip that Petra will be making with her parents and brother. Higuera also uses a flashback in Chapter 3 to provide more context about the impending space travel, including information about Petra’s family being “chosen for this mission” because of their jobs (p. 17).

• How does Higuera's choice to use first-person narration affect the presentation of the story?

  • Chapter 1 establishes Petra’s relationship with her grandmother and her role as storyteller. Petra promises, “I’ll never lose your stories” (p. 5), demonstrating that Petra’s perspective will be influenced by her desire to be a storyteller. This intimate memory also shows how close Petra is to her family. In Chapter 3, Higuera introduces the Collective for the first time and shares Petra’s father’s point of view: “Embrace our differences, and still find a way to make peace” (p. 19). By choosing Petra as a first-person narrator, we are able to still see other characters’ points of view while also getting the sense that the interstellar trip is a new and frightening experience for her. Because Petra is in stasis on the ship, much of the action occurs in her memories. Without her first-person narration and reflections, little would happen in the text.

Circulate as students engage in discussion. Listen for clear claims, use of text evidence, and students building on one another’s ideas. Prompt students to deepen the conversation by asking: “What in the text supports that idea?” “Can you build on what your peer said?” or “Does anyone see this differently?” If discussion slows, invite students to return to the text or pose a follow-up question.

Check for Understanding

Provide students with a confidence continuum (i.e., 1–5). As needed, model how to demonstrate a level of confidence using the continuum.

Students end the seminar by reflecting on how the discussion shaped their thinking and how language choices supported clearer analysis.

Quick Write

Say these Directions: Respond to the following question in two to three sentences:

• What is one idea from this lesson’s discussion that changed or deepened your thinking about the novel? Explain how the discussion or a peer’s idea influenced your thinking.

  • One idea that deepened my thinking was that Petra’s memories are not only comforting; they are also a form of resistance. After hearing my group talk about the Chapter 9 memory with her father and the ship’s takeover by the Collective, I now think those memories help Petra protect her identity in a place that wants people to become the same.

Instruct students to read Chapters 10–11 of The Last Cuentista. Instruct students to take notes in their Journal on the following prompt:

As you read, annotate the text for the following:

• How does Petra react to the events in these chapters?

• What do her reactions reveal about her character?