This Illluminated Text by David Cordova and Sid Menon tackles one idea from one chapter in Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street.  That idea is really a character - the woman who comes from Mexico and cries because she doesn't want to see her children becoming culturally assimilated. [There is now a Flash Video version of this presentation as well.]  It is one of the most moving moments in the book -- and it is handled with sensitivity and creativity by the students.

This project by Norberto Rivera and Danny Chan is an inspired look at pieces of the text and Esperanza's search for her perfect house. The words move perfectly to what is happening in the text and the authors masterfully combine different sections of the text to bring together a unified, powerful, vision.  [There is now a Flash Video version of this Illuminated Text - so if you've had problems hearing the Power Point Version - click on that one instead.]

Click Here to View the Flash Video edition of this Illuminated Text

Click Here to View the Power Point edition of this Illuminated Text  Read more »

This presentation by Mike Kenny begins with a bringing together of text about snow, clouds, and names.  If you want to see what is done right in a presentation -- the first thing you'll notice, beyond the wonderful choice of related text, is the perfect choice of font to display that text.  The clouds become names in a seamless and powerful series of transitions -- when two different people are talking, the font for each are different and appropriate.  This is a masterful Illuminated Text.

The music in this presentation echoes much of what happens throughout Sandra Cisneros' novel as well as within this Illuminated Text as well.  The song starts out simple -- a music box -- and then is transformed into a fully orchestrated work.  The House on Mango Street is, in many ways, wonderfully complex while first appearing quite simple.  This presentation uses red balloons, and keeps the lines about writing setting Esperanza free on the screen throughout as the ideas, hopes, and journeys that she must take are explored. 

This beautiful presentation by Omar Mesina and Liz Hernandez focuses on the part of The House on Mango Street - where the girls want to be something else.  And the authors of the Illuminated Text show that in many different ways: mainly with their choice of the text presented but also by such clever animation techniques as showing their names in a blur.  It is interesting to watch the progression of various creators here on the web site - I have taught both of these students for two years and their work never ceases to amaze me - and it never stops growing in its scope and its complexity.

This incredible Illuminated Text by Natlie Jeung and Feon Chow focuses on the separate worlds that boys and girls live in.  Esperanza says that she won't grow up like the others: from her great-grandmother that spent the rest of her life with her hand on her chin looking out the window - to her friends like Sally who long for that same world (as her great-grandmother) without ever realizing it.  The genius of Cisnero's novel - and this presentation - is that they show we see things from the outside (like Esperanza) without realizing it is our own story that we reading about.

There are two things (and more) that this presentation by Jeremy Kiolbassa and Alisha Bonduraut do remarkably well.  One thing is that I have been telling my students for years -- that images are not the most important thing in an Illuminated Text.  This animation shows exactly why that is true.  The students use color in both the background and in the text to show an incredible range of emotion and meaning.  The words change color -- the background changes according to what is happening in the story.  A second notable aspect of this presentation deals with the adult nature of this book that is often in the lower grades -- and the content here shows exactly why this book works for older and more mature students as well.