Glastonbury Foreign Language Program
Curricular Unit: Government Comparisons (Spanish)
Grade: 12
Subject/Topic Area(s): Are you a world citizen?
Key Words: government, culture comparison, history, Argentina , Mexico , United States
Standards:
Major standards—
Supporting standards—
Brief Summary of Unit (including curricular context and unit goals):
This unit is most effective and relevant if done around election time (beginning of November). The students begin to think about topics such as voting, civics and whether the government of the United States is considered and effective one and why it is considered as such. The students will look at specific governments in Mexico and Argentina and the corruption that has existed within these governments. This unit leads itself to much discussion and debate which can be done both orally and written. The students begin with an activity simulating the voting system in Mexico during the reign of the PRI. They then will look at an example of a dictatorship in Argentina during the regime of Juan Manuel de Rosas, using the movie “Camila”. They will then switch centuries in Argentina and discuss the era of the military junta and the “desaparecidos”.
Number of days for activity: approximately 3 weeks (depending on how much video can be watched in a class period).
Materials and resources (including technology and multimedia):
Television
VCR
Camila -video
La Historia Oficial- video
Internet
Many Faces of Mexico -book
Identifying Desired Results
• What essential questions will guide this unit and focus teaching/learning?
Are you a world citizen? (“We are alike but we are different.”)
• What enduring understandings are desired?
Student will understand...
The differences between the government that has guided the history of the United States versus the governments that have shaped the histories of Latin American countries.
How the voting system in Mexico ran
How a dictatorship affects the lives of the residents of a country
How a military government affects the lives of a people
• What key knowledge and skills will students acquire as a result of this unit?
Students will know…
the definitions of various types of government and government topics (democracia, dictadura, junta, monarquía, opresión, gobierno, etc.)Students will be able to…
use the past tense (preterito/imperfecto) to discuss/write about various topics related to these topics.
identify key figures throughout the history of these countries.
hold a voting simulation based on the voting system in Mexico.
Vocabulary:
Grammar:
• What do they already know that will help them learn new information? Where and when did they learn it?
Students already have a background of United States history that they have learned in their U.S. history classes during the sophomore or junior years. Many students have knowledge of Latin American history through previous social studies classes that they have also taken.
Determining acceptable evidence
• What evidence will show that students understand?
Performance Tasks: Voting simulation, mock trial of Camila characters
Quizzes, Tests, Prompts, Work Samples:
Daily quizzes on movies
Final test on Camila
Final test on La Historia Oficial/Camila
Writing prompt on test-compare the movies based on characters and show similarities even though time periods are 125 years apart.
Writing prompt-Students will compare the basic government history in the United States with those that are discussed in class (dictatorships, military juntas, etc).-product can be a paragraph or a research paper.
Unprompted Evidence (observations, dialogues):
Student discussion/debate when discussing definitions of government terms
Student discussion when reading about different political situations in the countries
Student Self-Assessment:
Lessons:
• Lesson 1 -Introduction to government. Class discussion
• Lesson 2 -Voting simulation
• Lesson 3 -Introduction to “Camila”. Watching of movie (4-5 days)
• Lesson 4 -Mock trial of Camila and Ladislao. (2 days)
• Lesson 5 -Test on “Camila”
• Lesson 6 -Introduction of “La Historia Oficial”
• Lesson 7 -Watching of “La Historia Oficial”. (4-5 days)
• Lesson 8 -Comparison of “Camila” and “La Historia Oficial”
Links to Relevant Web Sites:
• http://www.yendor.com/vanished/ - los desaparecidos
Assessment Blueprint (Performance Tasks)
Task Title:
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Standards:
Purpose: check those that apply Formative – Summative –
Description of Task:
Evidence of desired understanding:Criteria of judgment:
Evaluative Tools: check those that apply
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Assessment Blueprint (Other Evidence)
• What is being assessed?
• Describe the assessment.
• What is the purpose of the assessment?
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