Date: April 24, 2003

Grade Level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/Multicultural Education
• Language Arts/Writing
• Language Arts/Literature
• Computer Science

Duration: 10-14 class sessions

Description: As Hispanics have been adding to America’s culture, they have also protected their own separate culture. It is this culture that you are to research. As you research and read, you are to create an ABC book of the Hispanic culture. ABC books are of a wide variety. Sometimes they illustrate alliteration (Alex ate an apple.), sometimes they teach categories (Animals- aardvark, bear, cat, dog, etc.), sometimes they are humorous, and sometimes they can be tools for teaching (An ABC Book of Our Hispanic Culture).

Goals:
National Standards for History :

• Standard 1A: The student understands family life now and in the recent past; family life in various places long ago.
• Standard 1B: The student understands the different ways people of diverse, racial, religious, and ethnic groups, and of various national origins that have transmitted their beliefs and values.

• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as the write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
  
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

1. Students will have an understanding for the Hispanic Culture that is a growing population in the United States.
2. Students will use technology to research information on the Hispanic Culture.
3. Students will use a graphic organizer to record data researched.
4. Students will synthesize information into an ABC Book of Hispanic Culture.
5. Students will use conventions of good writing, style, and vocabulary to write for an audience.

• various ABC books written in different genres
• materials for making the ABC books that could include pictures from home
• computers with Internet access
• Poem, "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus
• Introduction and Task
• Suggested Letter/Word Ideas
• Graphic Organizer for Note Taking
• Rubric

Handouts in .pdf format; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Click the icon to obtain the free Reader.

Instruction and Activities:

Day 1:
Begin with a class discussion on the heritage of each student. On the overhead or on the chalkboard, write down the different countries from which students’ ancestors have come. Lead students to the idea that the United States is a "melting pot" of peoples and cultures. Read the words written on the Statue of Liberty: "The New Colossus." Tell students that tomorrow they will begin research on the Hispanic Culture using the computer as a resource.

Day 2:
Hand out the Task and Rubric for the study. Read both items with the students. Students are going to begin a study of the Hispanic Culture and its influences on the American Culture. Have a few ABC books on hand to show the different types that have been written. Students will be writing theirs to show examples of and explain the Hispanic Culture. Hand out the Letter/Word examples if students are unable to decide what to put in their books, but tell them to feel free to use examples that they know or have experienced, especially if they have photographs of their own families. Explain that they will begin their research using the web sources that you provide to get started. Students can record their information on graphic organizers. Let students begin to research.

Days 3-8:
(Depending on whether students are working individually or in pairs.) Students use the web to find information. Pictures can also be found at this time.

Days 9-14:
Students begin to make their books. Depending on available computers, students can either use the data they have researched to write their information or use the computer to make their books. It is important to stress that correct usage, punctuation, and spelling is necessary since the books will be for an audience. Depending on the grade level and the ability level, students can be asked to write sentences or paragraphs with topic sentences and detail sentences. Reiterate the information in the Rubric as the guide for their books.

Lesson Extensions:
Let students share their books with each other or in front of the class. You might also take sets of the books to different classes to let students read them. Contact your local library to see if they would be willing to put the books on display.

Assessment: Teacher observation and the Rubric (see Materials ).

Rubric Scoring: For teachers wanting to give a percent, 3 points could be given for every Advanced score, 2 points for every Basic score, and 1 point for every Needs Help score, with the opportunity to re-do that section. A total of 18 points is possible. By dividing the total into the number of points received, a percentile can be found. For instance, a child who scores 17 points out of the total 18 would have a score of 95% by dividing 17 by 18. If you want to grade in categories, the student receiving an "A" would have the majority of items in the Advanced column circled; a "B" would be a combination of the Advanced and Basic columns; a "C" the majority of items in the Basic column circled; and a "D" or below, the majority of items in the Needs Help column.

Useful Internet Resources:
* Hispanic.com
http://www.hispanic.com/

* Cinco de Mayo
http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/demo/cinco.html

* Celebrate Hispanic Heritage
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/index.htm

* Hispanic & Latino History
http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/history.learn-teach/LatinoPage.htm

* NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts
http://www.ncte.org/standards/standards.shtml