Life in the Sanctuary Region
Children and Families Share Their Stories


Reading Activities

Use some or all of these reading activities as you read each bilingual story about life in the Monarch Sanctuary Region. Note: Each slideshow story also has a link to relevant reading activities and handouts.

Read, Discuss, Journal
Read the English and/or Spanish versions of the stories together as a class. (You can always click back and forth between English and Spanish.) Use these general questions to spark discussions and journaling. Add other questions relevant to specific stories:
  • How is life in the region the same as your life?
  • How is it different than your life?
  • What new things did you learn?
  • What things does the story make you wonder about?
  • What questions would you ask the student or adults depicted in the story?
  • What does this story say or imply about challenges for a) people living in the region, b) monarchs, c) monarch habitat, or d) conservation efforts?

What Story Do Photos Tell?
1) Pull up the Spanish version of the story. Look closely at the first picture.

  • What do you think is happening?
  • What sentence or caption would you write about the picture?
  • What questions do you have?

    Option: Can you read any of the Spanish words or sentences? (You can look some up in a Spanish/English dictionary or translate them online.)
    Option: After looking at all the pictures in the story, but not reading the English versions, write one or more paragraphs that you think describe the story or life in the region. Use descriptive words.

2) Click to the English version of the page. How does it compare with your ideas about what was happening?

Compare and Contrast Language and Culture
Compare and contrast your life and activities with those of students, families, and others depicted. Use the handout to the right (or make a Venn diagram) to show the comparisons. Consider these types of topics:
  • chores and responsibilities
  • games and other ways you play
  • school
  • favorite foods, common foods, making food
  • materials and equipment used in daily life
  • getting basic resources

Write or tell a partner about how you would feel if you could spend some time living with the family or in the region.

<< Back to Bilingual Vignettes, "Life in the Monarch Sanctuary Region"



National Geography Standards
  • Places and Regions: The physical and human characteristics of places.
  • Human Systems: The characteristics, distributions, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.