Curated OER
Defining Culture
Second graders define the term culture and are exposed to a variety of cultures from around the world. They read books, play Native American games, develop a class book that examines their own culture and, after examining currencies from...
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Biological and Cultural Diversity of a Latin American Country
Students conduct an 8 hour Annual Summit Meeting on the Cultural and Biological Diversity of a Latin American Country. They construct a Rainforest, coffee and banana plantations, and a street scene of a typical large city.
Teaching Ideas
The Aztecs
Did you know the Aztecs had two different calendars? Or that Aztec men could have more than one wife? Find out more about this ancient civilization including how they lived, what they ate, and their cultures and beliefs with a set of 20...
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Celebrate Independence Days Around the World
Discover how other countries remember their fight for independence and how their celebrations compare to typical American-style revelries
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Culture Sharing: History, Politics, Government
High schoolers explore types of governments and political systems. In partners, students share information about their home country. Classmates work together to prepare a presentation about the history and government of a specific...
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Border Poetry/Writing Workshop
Students analyze a poem set in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and defend their own interpretations of the work. They demonstrate understanding of poetic technique by writing their own poems of living on the border.
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Mexico: Introduction to History and Literature
Students study the geography of Mexico (i.e. major cities, surrounding countries and bodies of water, mountain ranges, rivers, volcanoes), They take turns reading aloud information provided (xerox copies) about Mexico. After each...
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Mexican Music-A Christmas Tradition
Learners explore a facet of Mexican culture. In this music lesson, students discuss how Christmas is celebrated in Mexico and listen to a traditional posada song.
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Dos Caras
Use Sabine R. Ulibarri's stories to conduct three different activities focused on learner interaction. In the first two, classmates will assume a character and conduct a role-play building conflict resolution skills. In the final...
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Poetry Workshop: Fixed Form Poems
Encourage the poetic genius in your young creative writers with a poetry workshop. Fix form poems (cinquains acrostic poems, octopoems, hello/goodbye poems) provide a framework and encourage vocabulary development as well as an awareness...
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If…Then…Ideas for History
Have your class examine a very old piece of art as they consider history, chronology, geography, culture, and tradition. They discuss the concept of ritual as it is associated with religious practices and research the spread of...
American Documentary
Confucianism in a Changing Society
The Last Train Home, a 2009 documentary about China's migrant factory workers, provides viewers with an opportunity to explore how China's emergence as a global manufacturing force is challenging Chinese traditional values like filial...
Annenberg Foundation
Exploring Borderlands
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
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Lucha Music
Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...
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The Eagle Has Landed: Aztecs Find a Home
Pupils examine the Aztec civilization in what is now Mexico. Using a map, they locate the empire and explain the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan. They explore the symbols on various Mexican flags and what they meant to the Aztec...
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Me Oh Maya
Students compare basketball to Mayan ring-ball. They write a newspaper article that may have been published during Mayan times.
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Paper Coil Baskets
Have your class learn about basket making with this resource. Learners talk about the techniques used to make baskets in Native American cultures. Then, they make baskets using paper coils. The results are attractive.
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Crossing the Border: Practicalities
Students plan a trip for a citizen of Mexico to travel within various regions of the US. Another group plans a trip for a citizen of the US to travel to a non-tourist area of Mexico.
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Border Identity: AngloChicaNorteña
Students analyze concept of identity in the context of the border region, and in particular by considering the concept of identity in a movie concerning a famous border personality.
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Which Country?
In this geography worksheet, students study the names of 60 countries. Students indicate their home country by coloring its name in the word grid puzzle. Students then answer 8 questions about their country concerning what language is...
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Mexican Charades
Students explore communication by participating in a game of charades. In this visual storytelling lesson, students utilize their acting abilities and physical prowess to communicate Mexican imagery to their classmates without the use of...
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Visual Arts Lesson: Pear-Shaped Bottle
Sixth graders examine how art from China arrived in Mexico during viceregal period, create blue monochromatic designs in wash by direct observation to illustrate simple objects from nature, and create vase or bottle shape that...
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Chemosynthesis for the Classroom
Explorers set up Windogradsky columns with local mud so that they can culture microorganisms. After three and six weeks they make observations of the mud and the organisms growing in it. In this way they observe succession and relate...
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Christmas in Mexico
Learners identify how Christmas holidays are celebrated in Mexico, compare Mexican holidays with U.S. holidays, and learn Mexican customs. Lesson includes many downloadable activities to try with students.