The Red Umbrella

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

Illustrate Lucia’s Coming of Age

Create a series of seven drawings based on key scenes in the novel.

• Choose two moments from early in the story that show Lucia’s relative lack of maturity when the story begins.
• Choose three moments from the middle of the story that show obstacles Lucia needs to overcome and responsibilities she has to assume.
• Choose two moments from late in the story that show how Lucia has matured.

Use details from the text and from your imagination to illustrate the moments you have chosen. Then, below each of your drawings, explain what is happening and give the page number(s) where this event takes place. Finally, explain why each of these moments is important to understanding how Lucia grows and changes during the novel.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be completed on paper or in a virtual environment. Students can use drawing applications or platforms such as Storyboard or Pixton and then post their work to a class website. If students complete the activity on paper, they may need some guidelines about how large and how detailed each drawing should be.