I Can Do It Too!” - An Authentic Experience of Mexico

[Pages:61]Unit Title: "I Can Do It Too!" - An Authentic Experience of Mexico

Author & School: Stephanie Skiba, P.S. 86 ? NYC DOE (District 10), Bronx, NY

Subject Area: Social Studies

Topic: Interactive Cultural Study

Grade level(s): Grade 3 (can be adapted to most elementary grade-levels)

Time Frame: 6 weeks (11 lessons based on two classes each week (about 45-minutes each) and a celebration)

Evidence of Mastery: Rubrics have been created to track each student's mastery of performance tasks throughout the unit and can be used in a child's assessment folder.

Unit Summary: In this unit, students will get an introduction to the country of Mexico and complete

activities relevant to life for kids there. The unit will follow the order of: geography (1 lesson), history (2 lessons), cultural activities (7 lessons), and celebration (1 class period). During all steps of the learning process, students will view images on a PowerPoint slideshow, complete worksheets, and do hands-on activities. Students can also reference the e-book "A Kid's Guide to Mexico" by Stephanie Skiba, which was created specifically to accompany this unit.

At the start of the unit, students will use different resources to locate Mexico. Delving in deeper, students will be expected to identify major physical features on a map of Mexico (including, but not limited to, Sierra Madre del Sur, Rio Grande, Mexico City, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, and Pacific Ocean). Next, students will get a brief history of Mexico with the assistance of a timeline. Points included in this history are: Mayan and Aztec civilizations, Spanish conquest, and Mexican independence. Then, students will learn about current topics in Mexican culture. They will complete activities for each, including but not limited to food, music/dance, clothing, art, and language. For each part of the unit, as many interactive assessments as possible should be used. For example, students will read a Mexican recipe and then make that food. They will also examine Mexican pottery and try to replicate it using salt dough, among other activities.

To better understand Mexican culture it would be ideal for students to have access to a Mexico "treasure box." This would include small items from Mexico, like photographs of people, images of food [with recipes], musical instruments, CDs of music, videos in Spanish, textiles, pottery, images of artwork, money samples, magazines, books, etc. Recommended read alouds are also included at the end of each lesson and can be done prior to or after each lesson, perhaps as part of the day's English Language Arts block.

Finally, to culminate their study of Mexico, students will share one of their interactive projects from the unit with the class, and react to the process of participating in "authentic" activities. They will celebrate the end of their unit with a typical Mexican fiesta.

Long Term Plan ? Unit Overview Subject Area Social Studies Grade Level 3rd

Lesson Number

1

(Geography)

Standards/ Sub-Standards

Addressed

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 3.1c, 3.1d, 3.1b

2

(History: Ancient History)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.2a, 2.2b, 2.2c, 2.2d

3

(History: Modern History)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.2a, 2.2b, 2.2c, 2.2d, 2.3b

Aims

Essential Questions

? To locate Mexico on a world map. ? To identify basic physical

features of Mexico on a country map. ? To create a map that represents the physical features of Mexico's topography/geography.

? Where is Mexico? ? What physical features

(mountains, rivers, forests, etc.) can be found in Mexico? ? Where are the specific physical features of Mexico located?

? To identify the first groups of people to settle in the land that is now Mexico.

? To analyze the similarities and differences between the Mayans and the Aztecs.

? To illustrate images of select Mayan and Aztec gods.

? Who were the first groups to settle in the land that is now Mexico?

? What contributions did these early people make?

? Are there still traces of these people today?

? To discuss the Age of Exploration and its impact on the land that is now Mexico.

? To identify various "key players" in the formation of the country of Mexico.

? To interpret a timeline of recent Mexican history and classify important political figures.

? How did the arrival of Europeans affect the land that is now Mexico?

? Which people helped form the actual state of Mexico?

? What is the current structure of the Mexican government?

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4

(Cultural Awareness: Daily Life ? Clothing and Transportation)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3c, 2.4b

5

(Cultural Awareness: Music and Dance)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3a, 2.3c, 2.4b, 2.4c

6

(Cultural Awareness: Types of Art)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3a, 2.3c, 2.4b, 2.4c

7

(Cultural Awareness: Language and Literacy)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3c, 2.4b

? To identify modes of transportation used by people in Mexico.

? To compare and contrast transportation and housing in rural and urban areas.

? To analyze photographs of Mexican clothing.

? To design paper doll clothing templates representative of Mexican clothing styles.

? What transportation do people in urban areas use? Rural?

? What types of houses do people in urban areas have? Rural?

? What styles of clothing are common in Mexico?

? How is the style of clothing in urban Mexico similar to and different from rural Mexico?

? To identify styles of music played in Mexico and popular Mexican musicians.

? To compare and contrast music and dance from Mexico with music and dance from the U.S.

? To examine a traditional Mexican birthday song.

? What role does music play in Mexico?

? How is dance in Mexico similar to and different from dance in the U.S.?

? What are important elements in the Mexican birthday song, Las Ma?anitas?

? To identify styles of art created in Mexico.

? To link the styles of artwork with popular Mexican artists.

? To construct pottery recreations using techniques similar to Mexican artists.

? What types of artwork do people in Mexico produce?

? Why do many local people consider themselves artists?

? Who are some famous artists in Mexican history?

? To define the meaning of language.

? To discuss where language is learned and how it is used.

? To conclude that the people in Mexico do not all speak the same language.

? To memorize the meanings of simple Spanish words by completing various word games.

? What languages do the people of Mexico speak?

? When and how do children learn language?

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8

(Cultural Awareness: Holidays)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3c, 2.4b

New York State Math Standard: 2.PS.4

9

(Cultural Awareness: Economics)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3c, 2.4b, 4.1c

New York State Math Standard: 3.M.7

10

(Cultural Awareness: Food and Drink)

New York State Social Studies Performance Indicators: 2.1c, 2.3c, 2.4b

11

(Celebration)

New York State ELA Standard: 4

? To discuss holidays in Mexico and compare them with holidays in the United States.

? To match national holidays with their dates on a blank calendar.

? To prepare for a celebration of Mexico by creating Mexicanstyle banners.

? What holidays are celebrated in Mexico?

? How do people celebrate these holidays?

? How are the holidays in Mexico similar to and different from holidays in the U.S.?

? To identify the coins and bills used in Mexico.

? To compare the style of the Mexican peso to American dollars.

? To review a conversion chart that compares the American dollar and the Mexican peso.

? To practice using Mexican pesos. ? To make change using Mexican

pesos.

? What type of money does Mexico produce?

? How does the Mexican peso compare to the American dollar?

? How is the Mexican peso similar to and different from the money we know?

? To identify the meals that people in Mexico eat and the time of day they usually occur.

? To understand the role of CocaCola and Pepsi in Mexico.

? To read a recipe and make a tortilla.

? What meals do people eat in Mexico? What foods are typical for each meal?

? What role do the soft drink companies CocaCola and Pepsi play in Mexico?

? To share our understandings of Mexican geography, history, and culture.

? How can we share our understandings from our unit on Mexico?

Prior to teaching first lesson ? Have students complete the "What I Know" and "What I Want to Know" sections of the K-W-L: Mexico chart (Handout 0.1). This will help gauge each student's prior knowledge and assist the teacher in planning the lessons that follow. The teacher should collect this chart and hand it back to the students during the celebration. At the celebration, students should review the "What I Know" column and address any misunderstandings they had, that have now been cleared up. They should also review the "What I Want to Know" column and highlight all of the questions they had that were answered over the course of the unit. Finally, students should fill in the "What I Learned" column, inputting any new understandings that they have.

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Lesson Number: Subject/Topic Areas

1

Social Studies Topic:

Geography

? Social Studies ? with art extensions (drawing, coloring, designing)

? with writing extensions (reflection)

Standards and/or Sub-Standards Addressed

NYS Social Studies Performance Indicators 3.1c: Locate places within the local community, state, and nation.

3.1d: Identify and compare the physical characteristics of different regions and people.

3.1b: Draw maps and diagrams that serve as representations of places, physical features, and objects.

Brief Summary of Lesson

In this lesson, students will discover the location of Mexico in relation to the rest of the world. Students will be expected to locate the country on both world and continent maps. After this, students will learn about Mexico's physical features and be given Mexico map templates, with various geographical features identified (bodies of water, mountains, deserts, tropical rainforests, etc.). With some provided resources, students will design a 3-D map of Mexico to help them better understand the features that make up this diverse country. When they are finished with the project, students will reflect on what they learned about Mexico's geography.

Performance Tasks: Assessment/ Evidence of Mastery

*Students will identify Mexico on a map of the world and a map of North America.

*Students will decorate a map of Mexico using various materials to represent the physical features of the country. Students will include a key to describe the individual map features.

*Students will complete a reflection sheet identifying the specific parts of physical Mexico and naming the place they would most like to visit. (possible homework)

Lesson Vocabulary Materials Needed

physical map, key, cardinal directions, scale, topography, geography, elevation, body of water, capital city, key Classroom world map (and individual student maps, if possible), Handout 1.1 (2 images ? world map and North America map), Slide 1.1, Handout 1.2 (physical map of Mexico), Handout 1.3 (reflection sheet), materials for activity #2 (strips of brown tissue paper, gold glitter, blue ribbon or yarn, pieces of green foam cut into tiny pieces, sand, small star-shaped stickers--To speed up the activity, the teacher can have all the objects prepared (cut the ribbon, crumple the tissue paper, etc.), "A Kid's Guide to Mexico" (pgs. 4?6)

Discussion for Lesson

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1. Locate Mexico - Look at the world map with the class (students can also have an individual world map in front of them). Have students locate North America and then discuss the countries located in North America. Students should

World Map, GoogleEarth/map

find the state they live in. After going over cardinal directions, ask students to discuss what direction they would have to travel to get to Mexico. GoogleEarth can also be projected on a SmartBoard, with the teacher completely zoomed out and then gradually zooming in closer to Mexico (look at world first, then North America, then Mexico) and completing the same activity.

2. Traveling to Mexico - Explain to students that when traveling to Mexico, they would need a passport to enter. Discuss reasons for this. Then in small groups, have students brainstorm the various ways they could get to Mexico (plane, train, car, boat) and which they'd prefer. Based on the location of your school, you might want to include a quick discussion of time zones.

Handout 1.1

3. Activity #1 ? Locate Mexico - Now that students have a general idea of where Mexico is located, give out handout 1.1 and ask students to find Mexico on the map of the world and the map of North America. Students should outline the country in green and color it in red.

Slide 1.1 E-book (pgs. 4?6)

Handout 1.2 (printed on cardstock, if possible) and objects for designing the map (sand = desert, blue ribbon/yarn = river, tissue paper balls = mountains, tissue paper with gold glitter = volcanoes, green foam pieces = rainforest).

4. Mexico's geographical features - Teachers should project a physical map of Mexico. Discuss specific geographical features (e.g., mountains, deserts, coast lines, rivers, rainforest, etc.) and then describe where they are located in Mexico.

5. Activity #2 - Design a map - Each student should get a copy of the preprinted map of Mexico with specific geographical features already printed. Explain to students what each picture represents (dots = desert, dashed line = river, triangles = mountains, trees = rainforest, wavy lines = ocean, exploding mountains = volcanoes, star = capital city). Using specific items, students should design a 3-D map of Mexico, gluing the objects on top of the pictures. After all items have been placed on the map, the teacher should explain that a map "key" will help readers identify the places on the map. Using an index card, students should design a key to describe what each object on the map represents.

Handout 1.3

Extensions

6. Reflection - If time allows, students can reflect on the physical features that make up the country. This handout will also give students the opportunity to decide which parts of Mexico they would most like to visit. If time runs out, it can be used as a homework assignment.

Students can take the activity further by: ? using an atlas to add more geographical features to their maps. ? pretending they are traveling to one of the areas of Mexico and write a journal entry about their experience. ? identifying the physical features of the United States and comparing it to Mexico.

Additional Resources

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Books: ? Mexico (National Geographic), by Beth Gruber

Web sites: ? BrainPop Jr. ? "Mexico" (free movie) ? from 0:33 seconds to 1:55.

Lesson Number: Subject/Topic Areas

2

Social Studies Topic:

Ancient History

? Social Studies ? with art extensions (coloring)

? with writing/critical thinking extensions (comparison chart)

Standards and/or Sub-Standards Addressed

NYS Social Studies Performance Indicators ? 2.1c: Study about different world cultures and civilizations focusing on their accomplishments, contributions, values, beliefs, and traditions.

2.2a: Distinguish between past, present, and future time periods.

2.2b: Develop timelines that display important events and eras from world history.

2.2c: Measure and understand the meaning of calendar time in terms of years, decades, centuries, and millennia, using BCE and CE as reference points.

2.2d: Compare important events and accomplishments from different time periods in world history.

Brief Summary of Lesson

In this lesson, students will learn about the first people in the area that is now known as Mexico. By the end of this lesson, students will understand that Mexico was not always a place divided into states and cities, with roads, schools, buildings, and cars. Students will define nomad and discover that the early people of Mexico were nomads who traveled from place to place. As the teacher relays various facts about the Mayan and Aztec peoples, students will fill in a comparison chart. At the end of the discussion, and after the teacher has touched on the fact that these groups were polytheistic (believing in more than one god), students will color in images of various Mayan and Aztec gods.

Performance Tasks: Assessment/ Evidence of Mastery

*Students will fill in a comparison chart with facts about the Mayans and Aztecs.

*Students can participate in a discussion to compare/contrast the Mayans and the Aztecs.

*Students will color images of Mayan and Aztec gods, using only green, red, blue, yellow, brown (colors that could have been made from various natural resources during the times of these ancient groups).

Lesson Vocabulary Materials Needed

nomad, Mayans, Aztecs (Mexica), pyramid, polytheism, gods

Images of Mayan and Aztec pyramids and artifacts (Slides 2.1?2.5), Handout 2.1 (Aztec/Mayan comparison chart), Handouts 2.2 and 2.3 (blank images of Mayan and Aztec gods for students to color), crayons/markers/colored pencils

Discussion for

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Lesson

Slide 2.1

Handout 2.1

Handout 2.1 (Slides 2.2?2.3 are photos of pyramids) (Slides 2.4?2.5 are photos of artifacts) Handouts 2.2 and 2.3

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1. Mexican land ? Building off of the first lesson, and referring back to the maps students made, the teacher should make it clear that the area of land we call Mexico today was not always known as Mexico. Define the term nomad for the students and explain that much of the Americas were populated with groups of people who moved from one place to another. Then explain that some of the first groups to settle down in cities in the area that is now Mexico were the Mayans and Aztecs. In their notebooks, ask students to sketch an outline of Mexico's current shape (refer back to lesson 1 for struggling students). Then have students put a star where Mexico City is located. Explain to students that much of Aztec territory was in the area surrounding Mexico City. Then have students put a big A on their maps to show where the Aztecs were located. Then tell them that most of the Mexican Mayans (because Mayans were also in parts of Central America) were located on the Yucatan Peninsula, and have students put a big M on their maps to show where the Mayans were located.

2. The Mayans ? Explain to students that the Mayans started to appear in groups before 1000 B.C. and were at their height of civilization around 250 A.D. Then tell them that the Mayans had no central authority. Each city had its own group of rulers. After 900 A.D., some of the Mayan cities started to disappear. While many Mayans died out (likely due to disease, colonization, war, etc.), some people today still consider themselves to be Mayan. Give students a few minutes to fill in their comparison chart.

3. The Aztecs ? Explain to students that the Aztecs were a later group and that they started to appear in cities around the mid-13th century. Mention how they discovered where to build their capital, Tenochtitlan: A prophecy told them to search for the place where an eagle was eating a snake, while sitting atop a cactus. Legend says that when they found this, they built their city (same location as current day Mexico City). The height of their civilization came in the 14th?15th centuries. Many people refer to the Aztec reign as an empire and describe the individual cities as "city-states," ruled by kings. Most of the Aztecs died out after the Europeans conquered their cities (they died as casualties of war and from diseases) in the early 1500s, however, some Nahua people still trace their roots back to the Aztecs. Give students a few minutes to fill in their comparison chart.

4. Contributions by the Mayans and Aztecs - Visitors to Mexico today can still see remains of many Mayan and Aztec cities, and most prominently their pyramids (Examples - Mayan cities: Chich?n Itz?, Palenque; Aztec city: Tenochtitlan). Show students photographs of the pyramids/ruins and ask students to compare/contrast the Mayan and Aztec designs. Teachers can also show their students images of Mayan and Aztec artifacts found at some of the sites. Give students time to discuss the images in partners and wholeclass.

5. Activity ? Coloring Mayan and Aztec gods ? Teacher should have printed copies of the Mayan gods "Yum Kimil" and "Chaak" and the Aztec gods "Mictlantecuhtli" and "Tlaloc". Split up the images so that each student has

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