Halfway to Somewhere,

Learning Goals

• Explain how the move from Mexico to Kansas affects characters’ feelings about home, family, and belonging in Halfway to Somewhere.
• Use details from dialogue, facial expressions, and illustrations to describe a character’s response to change.
• Explain how panels, speech bubbles, and visual details work together to tell a graphic-novel story.
• Create a short comic showing how someone can find belonging while adjusting to a new place or family situation.

Activity Steps

1. 1.Introduce Halfway to Somewhere by Jose Pimienta. Locate Mexico and Kansas on a map, and explain that the story explores moving, family changes, and belonging. Ask: “What can help someone feel welcome in a new place?” Allow students to discuss an imagined situation rather than share personal experiences.
2. 2.Read aloud a teacher-selected, age-appropriate sequence about the move or adjusting to life in Kansas. Model how to follow the panels and distinguish speech bubbles from other text. For K–2, use a brief sequence and describe the illustrations aloud; for grades 3–5, invite students to read dialogue with a partner.
3. 3.Revisit two panels that reveal a character’s feelings. Have students identify evidence in the words, facial expressions, body language, or setting. Record responses in two columns: “What we notice” and “What it suggests.”
4. 4.Discuss how the character’s sense of home or belonging is changing. Ask: “What seems unfamiliar? What connections remain important? What could help?” Encourage students to support answers with details from the selected pages rather than assumptions about a culture.
5. 5.Have students draw a three-panel comic titled “Finding My Somewhere”: a character encounters a change, expresses a feeling, and takes or receives an action that builds belonging. K–2 students may dictate captions; grades 3–5 should add dialogue and visual clues. Close with partner sharing and an explanation of one connection to Pimienta’s storytelling.