My Tongue Is Like a Map

• Preview the illustration with students. Invite them to make observations about what they see in it and the ideas it evokes for them. Point out the flags on the kid’s sleeves and ask where they’re from. (U.S. and Puerto Rico)
• Ask students to read the title of the poem. Ask: Do you have any predictions as to why the poet would compare his tongue to a map?
  
• Ask students if they know the definition of the word bilingual. What are some of the advantages of knowing a second language? (You may want to tell students that being bilingual or multilingual isn't unusual; in fact, it's the norm for most of the world's societies. It's possible for a person to know and use three or even more languages fluently.)
  
• Have a volunteer read aloud the Up Close box.
  

• Read the poem aloud, or play our Audio Read-Aloud for the class.
• Reread the poem, pausing after the first line: “Mami said yes, Abuelita sang sí.” Ask students if they know what language the poet is using in addition to English. Next, ask if they know the definitions of the Spanish words (Mami means Mom, Abuelita means Granny, and sí means yes). Do you have any guesses why the poet’s mother speaks English while the grandmother speaks Spanish? (Students might reply that the grandmother knows Spanish better than English, while the mother knows English better than Spanish. Or they might say that the grandmother was born in a Spanish-speaking country while the mother was born or raised mostly in the United States.)
• Discuss the poem together by answering the questions below.

• Answer the question that appears next to line 2. (interpreting words and phrases) In this line, rich means “possessing something valuable” as opposed to “having lots of money.” Knowing a second language helps people appreciate more than one culture, connect with more people, and gain additional perspectives and insight into the world around them. The speaker’s mother and grandmother think this abundance of knowledge and culture makes the speaker a rich man.
• In line 3, what do you think the poet means when he says, “But words never paid for my penny candy”? (interpreting words and phrases) The poet means that knowing a second language has not made him wealthy in a financial sense, not even wealthy enough to buy candy that costs 1 cent.
• In line 4, the poet switches between Spanish and English words, first saying a word in Spanish and then giving the English translation. Why do you think the poet chose this structure? (poetic structure) The poet likely wants to show the reader what it’s like to grow up in a bilingual household; you might hear and use both languages all day long and your brain is constantly translating between the two.
• A simile uses the words like or as to compare two things. What two similes does the poet use? In each simile, what is being compared? How are those two things alike? (figurative language) In line 7, the speaker says, “My ears were like a radio, so many stations.” Here, the speaker compares living in his house to listening to the radio—he was always hearing, using, mixing, and switching between Spanish and English the way one might turn a dial and switch between songs on a radio. The poem’s title is a simile as well. It compares the speaker’s tongue to a map. The word tongue instantly makes you think of the organ inside our mouths we use for eating and speaking. Tongue can also refer to a person’s style or manner of speaking. In comparing his tongue to a map, the speaker is saying that his speaking isn’t from one place but many places. Or perhaps that his tongue is what takes him to so many places in life.
• How does the speaker feel about knowing two languages? How do you know? (inference) The poet feels that knowing two languages enriches life. In the last line he says, “I was a millionaire each time I said yes and sí.” Not many people are millionaires; those who have millions are fortunate and have an advantage in life. The speaker feels this way about knowing two languages. He is rich in the way his mother and grandmother said he would be.

Distribute or assign the Poetry Kit (available in your Resources tab), in which students will be able to write their answers to the above questions and more. It is available to print or as an interactive slide deck that students can complete digitally.