Learn How to Be Good Citizens with Irma Rangel

The first woman to be elected to the Texas House of Representatives, Irma Rangel was a trailblazer for women in government. She was a civic activist and community organizer who fought for civil rights and other causes throughout her lifetime. This constructed response worksheet is designed to introduce students to this amazing woman in American history.

This two-page resource consists of the following stages of writing development.

1. Students will read a short history passage including facts about Irma Rangel and the character trait of dedication. Students will learn about her role in the Texas House of Representatives and how her dedication demonstrated good citizenship traits. 
2. Students will complete a R.A.C.E.S. graphic organizer to plan their responses.
3. Students record their answers as a constructed response paragraph and use a checklist to verify that all parts are included.

With this reading passage and accompanying graphic organizer, students will be able to learn about Irma Range, answer critical thinking questions, and write their own constructed response paragraphs using the R.A.C.E. writing strategy.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

In addition to independent student work time, use this worksheet as an activity for:

• Guided reading groups 
• Lesson warm-up
• Lesson wrap-up
• Homework assignment
• Whole-class review (via smartboard)

Irma Rangel Enrichment Activities

• Challenge your fast finishers to extend their constructed response topic into a research project or informative essay development activity. 
• Provide your students with informational books to read in your classroom library.
• Have your students use websites or trade books to learn more about Rangel’s role in America and her dedication to serving others.

Support Struggling Students

• Support struggling writers or ESL students by providing sentence frames to aid them in constructing their sentences.
• Read the passage together and highlight ideas that could be used as evidence and supporting details.

Easily Download & Print

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource. 

To save paper, we suggest printing this 2-page worksheet double-sided. 

Additionally, project the worksheet onto a screen and work through it as a class by having students record their answers in their notebooks.

This resource was created by Nicole Ellis, a teacher in New York and Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities to shorten your lesson planning time:  

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