Cajas de Carton

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.

“Picturing Francisco Jiménez: A Visual Exploration of the Author”

In this activity, students will take a closer look at the childhood of Francisco Jiménez, by examining archival family photos from the Jiménezes. Students will put faces and scenes to the real-life people and places described in The Circuit and come up with a dramatized scene inspired by a photo of their choice.

As part of the website for the movie adaptation of Francisco Jiménez’s Breaking Through, the film producers made available a gallery of photos from the author’s life—his childhood, his family, and scenes from growing up. Photos can be found here. As you will see, many of the characters and locations in the photos will be familiar to readers of The Circuit.

Select one of the photos in the collection and write a short scene inspired by the picture. It can be a dialogue between characters, an inner monologue, or a combination of the two, but regardless of what you choose, it should be written in the tone and style that emulate those of The Circuit.