Genius Hour Week 3: Three Distinct Groups

Three distinct groups of students have emerged within my classroom and, though my program is a special one for students who might be considered "at risk", I imagine similar groups will emerge in any Genius Hour classroom: the "This is awesome!" group, the "Ok, I get it." group, and the "What is this?" group.

20 Time in Latino Culture Epiphany

Though most of my posts and thoughts have to do with my Spanish 1 classes that I'll be teaching full time during the 2013-14 school year, I still have to plan for my Latino Culture elective class I'm teaching this summer!  I already had a basic syllabus and outline that I was planning on fine-tuning once school gets out, but now that I've learned about 20 Time, I've been wrestling with whether I could work it into my summer class.  I believe it should be a part of this program in some way given he particular nature and goals of the Upward Bound program, but I can only control my class and have such limited time...

And then, I had an epiphany.  Another hurdle I was pondering in my head was how to get students jump-started in exploring the culture of the Spanish-speaking world and how they might connect their passions to culture in some way.  I thought that some sort of website with interesting links would be great, but how could I possibly manage to think of enough of a variety of resources that might spark an interest in my students?  Then I realized - I have the opportunity to let my students this summer put together a resource for me.  What could be better than a resource for students by students?  And I'd be killing two birds with one stone!

Latino Culture

I just found out I'll be teaching a class titled "Latino Culture" this summer for the TRiO Upward Bound program this summer!  This is a huge program as working with this program as an undergrad is what inspired me to become a teacher. I have a few ideas for where to start, but I'd really like to get ideas and suggestions from others for how to structure this class or activities we can do. I just got my certification this January, so this is my first official class and I'm completely new to planning and implementing my own curriculum! Plus, rather than being a Spanish class (which I'm much more familiar with), this will be taught entirely in English. An overall theme that I'd like to tie the class together is that each country and its culture is unique, but that we are all tied together by common themes and elements.

The class is 1.5 hours/day for 24 days, and I have free reign for what I want to do. Moreover, I have a lot of resources at my disposal that I wouldn't usually have in a regular classroom, such as the ability to take students to local restaurants and businesses. For example, I'm hoping to take the students to lunch at a local empanada shop run by this wonderful Mexican and Argentine couple as well as having a day of dance instruction by a ballroom dance studio.  The sky is the limit! If you have any ideas, resources, worksheets, etc. that might be helpful, please let me know!

As I come up with ideas, I'm going to update here to keep this all together.

Materials: I want my students to keep interactive notebooks, though these will be pretty basic.  Here's the structure for as far as I've planned:  They should have a "housekeeping" section in the front where they can put the syllabus, track their grade, etc.  The bulk of their binder will be a section for the countries, with a few pages dedicated to each country.  Finally, I imagine there will be a few things that don't fit into a specific country or civilization, so a "misc" section is appropriate.

Curriculum: 

• Given that my expertise is in Spanish, I think we'll mainly focus on the Spanish-speaking countries and I can pull from much of the material I'm used to teaching.  I think I'll spend the first week giving students an overview, talking about our own cultures (many of the students will likely be Latinos, so this should be interesting!), and covering ancient cultures and general history of Latin America, such as the Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, and Spain's conquest up to where the individual countries started gaining their independence.  From there, I'd like to dedicate each day to a country or cluster of countries that we can talk about in more detail.  Though I think a brief history of the country is appropriate, I'd like to dedicate the majority of the class to modern cultural elements and symbols of the country.
• UPDATE: Another way to structure this would be to choose a "theme" for each day or a few days, such as art, music, food, holidays, and religion, as well as heavier topics like oppression, revolution, and immigration.  I think this would end up being a lot more meaningful for students, especially since there are many themes that are common through all the countries, and, instead of having some repetitious things come up over and over again, using those commonalities to emphasize how much countries do have in common.  Of course, throughout the course, I can point out specific things that stand out from various countries, but I think this structure would be much more powerful and endurance than covering each country in an isolated way.

Evaulation: 

•  Since the general theme of my class will be how each culture is unique but we're all tied together, I think I want my final to be a project or essay demonstrating what students found most meaningful from other countries and how it relates to them.  For example, they could do a poster or essay that shows in-depth knowledge about a (or a few) specific cultural element, and then draw connections and distinctions between it and their own lives, possibly even identifying how it changes how they view their culture and the "new" culture and any ways that might affect them.  (For example, learning about the Day of the Dead had a profound effect on how I want to try and remember my loved ones that have passed on). 
• UPDATE ON FINAL: I want my students to produce a poster showing their culture.  I really like the instructions given here, with a few modifications.  For example, I want them to include some of the themes covered in our class as well as draw connections between their culture and the Latino culture.  Throughout the course, I'll have students reflect in their journals about their own culture as well as similarities and differences between what we discuss in class and their own life.  This should give them a jump start on their final collage.  When they present their cultural collage, I may require them to identify a few things they have in common with Latino cultures.  In fact, they could write a one-page explanation highlighting 5 things, but only identify 2-3 when they present their collage to the class.
• The other main part of their grade will be maintaining a complete and organized notebook, showing evidence of their participation and learning.
• Finally, it would be easy for students to do mini-presentations about countries that they choose on the day that we talk about that country.
• Some questions I want my students to be able to answer:
• What is culture?
• What is my culture?
• What are some similarities and differences between my culture and Latino Culture?

Other resources:

• A general worksheet like this, comparing the similarities and difference of major cultural elements, might be great for students to complete about each country.
• A great breakdown of what culture is and its features.
• A worksheet from the Peace Corps listing many different cultural features encouraging students to evaluate their own culture and another culture.
• Peace Corps resources and lesson plans for educators to teach about culture.
• Naza Naza game, adapted from Bafá Bafá, which teaches about the importance of cultural rules and adaptation to a new culture
• Say what you will about Wikipedia, but it has a great "Latin American" article!

Plan:

1. Intro to class; What is culture?
• Put together interactive notebooks
• Essay Pretest: What is culture?
• Discuss what culture is
• Material v. non-material culture
• KWL for Latino Culture
2. NaZa NaZa game
3. Latinos in the Treasure Valley
• documentary
4. The Latino world
• Countries and capitals
• Languages spoken
• Geography, Weather, and the Environment
5. Pre-Columbian History
• Aztecs
• Mayans
• Incas
6. Conquest and Modern World
• Conquest
• Colonialization and colonial life
• Revolutions and independence
7.  Language
• Spoken Languages
• Dialects and colloquial words
• Indian languages
8.  Religion
9.  Holidays and Festivals
• Día de los muertos
• La Navidad
10. Education
11. Sports
12. Food
13. Communities
• Role of the family
• Education
• Social norms and customs
• Gender Roles
• clothing
14. Government and Oppression
15. Modern Revolutions
16. Immigration
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPjzfGChGlE
17. Art
• Fine Art
• Dramatic Art
• Architecture
18. Music and Dance
19. Dance Instruction
20.  Wealth and Poverty
• Problems
• Drugs
• Products
21. Work Day
22. Work Day
23. Question and Answer presentation - Humberto Fuentes from Hispanic Cultural Center
24. "My Culture" presentations

Syllabus:

• Objective:  After taking this class, students will be able to answer the following:
• What is culture?
• What is my culture?
• What are some features of Latino culture?
• What are some similarities and differences between my culture and Latino culture?
• Topics to be covered: A variety of cultural themes will be discussed and experienced.  In general, each day will have a "theme" and we will explore many aspects of that theme in Latino culture.  In addition to identifying what culture is and why it's important, other topics may include:
• Countries, Geography, Weather, Environment, History, language, holidays and celebrations, religion, sports, food, community features, politics, immigration, music, art, dance, and other topics as they relate to Latino Culture
• Assignments and Grading: 
• Interactive Notebook (50%): You will be required to keep an Interactive Notebook, which we will discuss in class.  Having a complete and organized notebook is a major part of your grade and will enable you to be successful in this class.  Nearly everything from this class will go in this notebook, including any handouts, worksheets, and activities we do.
• Reflections (25%): Each day, you will need to write a reflection in your notebook.  These reflections will compare and contrast your culture with the Latino culture features we discuss that day.  Completing these reflections thoroughly will prepare you for your final project.
• Final project and essay (50%): Your final will consist of two parts.
• Collage (25%): You will create a collage representing your culture and present it to the class on the last day.  More details about this collage will be given in class.
• Culture Essay (25%): You will write a 2-page culture essay and turn it in with your collage.  Your essay must discuss what culture is and why it is important and then  choose 5 features of Latino culture to draw connections between it and your own culture.  Completing your daily reflections will prepare you for this essay.
• Rules and Expectations: The following are the rules I expect you to follow at all times:
1. Follow directions.
2. Be ready to begin when class starts.
3. No put downs, name calling, or hate speech.
4. No swearing.
5. Bring your pencil and notebook every day.
6. Be respectful in the classroom.
7. No electronic devices unless I permit it.