Unidad Didáctica: Perspectivas de la Inmigración

Upadte 10/15/17: I am sharing part of my unit packet for the latest version of this unit, which does not include "Bandera" or "Pa'l norte." It does include two songs: "Un besito más" and "ICE El Hielo" and the movie "Ladrón que roba a ladrón," with resources from Arianne Dowd.

Update (7/22/17): The song "Un besito más" by Jesse y Joy is a definite addition to this unit! Click here to see free resources.


Update (10/4/15): I created this slideshow to start the unit (it is actually part of a Spanish 1 unit). Some of the language is a bit strange, or forced, because I made it comprehensible for my level 1 students. I will probably adapt it when I use for my Cultura y Civilización class. Here is the slideshow with some of the slides:

We just finished the unit called "Perspectivas de la Inmigración" (UbD curriculm document and unit packet) in my Cultura y Civilización unit. This is the fourth time I have done this unit and it has been a little different each time, but the one thing that has stayed the same is the engagement in this unit. Most students have an opinion about immigration and undocumented immigrants in the United States, so they are interested in this unit.

By the end of the unit (hopefully), they understand how complicated immigration laws and reform really are. They will also understand a little more about the undocumented immigrant experience in the United States and (hopefully) develop some empathy for undocumented immigrants.

These are the Essential Questions for the unit:

1. ¿Por qué emigran ilegalmente muchas personas a los Estados Unidos? ¿De dónde es la mayoría de los inmigrantes indocumentados? ¿Cómo llegan algunos? ¿Por qué vienen ilegalmente y no legalmente? ¿Cuál es el proceso de entrar legalmente en los EEUU?
2. ¿Qué pasa ahora con la reforma migratoria en los EEUU? ¿Qué es el DREAM Act?
3. ¿Quiénes son algunos cantantes que cantan sobre la inmigración? ¿Cuáles son sus perspectivas? ¿Cómo son diferentes y/o similares las canciones y los videos? ¿Qué opinas tú de las canciones?
4. En tu opinión, ¿hay una solución al problema? ¿En qué consiste?

The first Essential Question was the speaking assessment (done about halfway through the unit). In order for them to answer those questions, they had to investigate a bit. Below are some of the links they used to gather information before discussing in class and taking the "speaking test". We did not use all of them, but did use the bolded ones. Some are authentic resources and some are in English. I really liked the infografías because they are excellent differentiated readings.

1. Univisión Noticias: Inmigración
1. Infografía y Artículo: Historia de la población hispana en los Estados Unidos
2. Infografía y Artículo: Ciudadanía vs. Sin Ciudadanía
3. Encuesta: ¿Cuánto sabe de la tarjeta verde?
4. El perfil de un soñador. ¿De dónde son y adónde van?
5. Artículo: Se acaba el plazo para la lotería de visas
6. Artículo: ¿Cuál es el panorama de la inmigración en los EEUU?
2. Podcast: PRI The World: What does getting in line really mean?
3. Visitor Visas: Business and Pleasure
4. More Visas: Temporary Workers
5. Las reglas de visas de los Estados Unidos (en inglés)

Another thing we did at the beginning of the unit was watch an episode of the "reality show" 30 Days. It is English, but students answered questions (see unit packet)  about it in Spanish and we discussed the different (at times extreme) perspectives of immigration in the show. Although it is a "reality show" and a little much at times, I continue to show it to students because I think they enjoy it and learn a lot from it.

30 Days: Immigration from MacQuarrie-Byrne Films on Vimeo.

After having focused on the first Essential Question, the next part of the unit was to see three different perspectives of immigration in three different songs:

Perspectiva #1 - Bandera by Aterciopelados - This song questions the idea of having borders and the immigration laws of some countries, obviously the United States being one of them. The lyrics are simple and easy to understand and the music video is excellent for discussion!

*Note*: Some students did not like this video because they felt like it was anti-American (and it might be), but I explained that this is a perspective of some people. A good question to ask then is, why do they have that perspective?

Perspectiva #2 - Pa'l Norte by Calle 13 - This song is about the journey of an undocumented immigrant as he travels North. The journey is described as being very difficult and the undocumented immigrant is glorified for his grit and persistence. The song also has some excellent cultural references and the vocabulary in this poem/song is rich. This video is also excellent for discussion.

*Note*: This song contains some language and phrases that some might not want to use. I skip some parts of the song and focus on the important parts. Also, René might be drunk in the video, I  ignore that part.

Perspectiva #3 - ICE El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia - This song shows the experience of undocumented immigrants in the United States. It is a beautiful song and easy for students to understand. The video is also powerful.

This perspective is particularly important because it is one sung by a band from the United States. It was also interesting for students to hear one of the band members speak here (starting at 10:55) about being an undocumented immigrant.

As with all the units, we sang all of theses songs a lot and students became very familiar with the videos as well. We also illustrated Pa'l Norte as a class and students illustrated ICE El Hielo in groups of 2-3. (I need to get some pictures of those on here!). All of the discussion questions about the songs and the videos are in the unit packet.

This is the  unit test. Students did an excellent job on this assessment. I love correcting them because for many of the questions, there is not one right answer. The questions are so open that students can take many paths to answer them.

There are so many excellent authentic resources for to teach a unit about immigration! Check out Zambombazo's resources here. La Misma Luna is also an excellent movie to show students.

What are some of your favorite resources to teach about immigration? Please share!

Unidad Didáctica: Desafíos Medioambientales

Image Source

Image Source

**UPDATE 2/1/15** I have added the TPRS book Noche de Oro to this unit. I highly recommend it and the Teacher's Guide.

In my Cultura y Civilización class, we just finished a unit called Desafíos Medoambientales. I was very pleased with this new unit and with how well my students did with all of the authentic resources. They have come a long way since the beginning of this course and I am very proud of them! They delved in to some real life issues, thought about opposing forces, and possible solutions to some of environmental problems... in Spanish!

These were the essential questions for the unit:

1. ¿Quiénes son algunos cantantes que cantan del medio ambiente? ¿De qué se tratan sus canciones? ¿Cómo son diferentes y/o simliares? ¿Cómo reflejan la realidad? ¿Por qué son importantes estas canciones?
2. ¿Cuáles son algunos problemas del medio ambiente que existen en Latnoamérica? ¿Cuáles son las consecuencias de estos problemas? ¿Por qué existen estos problemas? ¿Cuáles son algunas soluciones para los problemas?

As with all the units in this course, music and music videos were a focus of the "puntos de partida" from which we explore a theme. Before delving in to the songs, students did the following:

• Reviewed previously learned vocabulary with this Google Presentation.
• Watched a PSA from the Spanish government about desarrollo sostenible (see page 2 here for short wksht with cloze activity and questions).
• Explored some posters and images on Tumblr (hanks to Zachary Jones' Trocitos Gráficos) about the following:
• el medio ambiente
• la hora del planeta
• la megaminería

After doing those activities and discussing what students read, heard and saw, we delved in to the song Río by Aterciopelados (wksht here). Students learned about Aterciopelados and the Río Bogotá. The video for Río is a little strange, but very engaging. The lyrics of the song are also pretty comprehensible for these students. The song emphasizes the importance of water in general with a specific call to save the Río Bogotá. 

Río by Aterciopelados

Next, we viewed this PSA about megaminería in Argentina:

Students did this worksheet to go along with that PSA. They learned a lot from this PSA and were able to interpret it fairly well. The images and the activities they did before helped them to understand better.

After having a bit of knowledge about megaminería in Argentina, students were able to understand this song:

!Basta Ya! by a collective of artists and produced by Conciencia Solidaria

Although a bit cursi (and with some interesting singing voices), the song is informative, catchy and engaging. Students may not have liked the song, but they learned from it! (wksht here).

We also did some of the activities on this wksht (from Zambombazo). related to the song Agua by Vuelo Adentro. This song is good because it has a good message of hope and change. I particularly like this line, "Veo una luz que se enciende en los niños de hoy" 

I would have liked to have spent some more time on this song and some of the others on the class website, but we only had so much time and I did not want to rush through the unit. 

At the end of the unit, students (individually or with a partner) explored an environmental program and created a presentation to share with the class (see below for detailed description). The projects were good and most were presented to the entire class. The interpersonal assessment had to be about one of the environmental problems that they learned about from someone else's presentation.

These are the assessments for the unit:

 EXAMEN - (INTERPRETIVE) (click here for more details) (writing) OR  Make a video for ¿Qué beberé? or Agua.

PROYECTO - (PRESENTATIONAL) (Click here for details) (speaking) - Make a presentation describing an environmental problem in Latin America. Describe the opposing forces in relation to the problem. Describe the benefits and consequences of the situation. Describe some (2-3) possible solutions and choose one that seems fair and reasonable.

INTERPERSONAL Writing (click here for details)(writing) - Write a short letter (8-10 sentences) to one of parties involved in the environmental problem, and do one of the following: express sympathy, offer a solution, express opinion, ask questions, offer help.