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Background and justification

As a middle school Language Arts teacher at Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque’s South Valley, I’m constantly looking for ways to spark the interest of my students, 90 percent of whom are Hispanic. As an educator who believes in interdisciplinary, thematic units, I’m always looking for ways to mesh the objectives of the seventh grade Social Studies curriculum (which includes New Mexico history) with Language Arts skills such as reading, research, and writing. As a person who believes firmly that we have to know our history before we can understand the present and impact the future, I feel that my students would benefit greatly from a unit focusing on Hispanic participation in American politics.

The three-week unit I developed has four goals:

1. To provide a brief review of New Mexico history, with special emphasis on issues impacting the Hispanic community from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) to the present. Students will make a timeline, choose an important person from New Mexico history to research, and prepare a written report and oral presentation.
2. To provide a basic understanding of the political spectrum and its vocabulary. Students will become familiar with terms such as "liberal" and "conservative" by placing their family views about government within the framework of the spectrum. Students will interview a family member in an effort to discover the political beliefs and attitudes that may help define a political identity.
3. To make my students aware of the Chicano Movement, presenting this period not only as model of political activism, but as a link to other social movements of the 1960’s and early 1970’s (the Black Civil Rights Movement, The Women’s Movement). Students will view the PBS Series Chicano! and discuss the topics presented, responding both orally and in writing. (Note -- the order of these videos will be re-arranged because the biggest percentage of my students can identify with Cesar Chavez and the broad issue of immigrants’ rights, thus this video will be shown first.) Samples of protest writing and folk songs will be presented as a way of modeling free speech, underscoring First Amendment Rights and defining social commentary
4. To introduce students to ways of accessing the political system. Topics for this final component include the procedures for voting, contacting your elected representative, writing letters, and becoming involved in political and community campaigns.

Although this unit has a wide scope with a variety of topics, I believe all four parts are interdependent. This is important if the students are to come away with a meaningful concept of what Hispanics have accomplished so far -- and what is left to accomplish -- via the political process. The first component is a must if students are to have the information base necessary for an intelligent discussion of history. This overview can be brief, especially if students have already completed the New Mexico History segment of their Social Studies curriculum. The concept and the vocabulary of the political spectrum is also a prerequisite for discussing politics; presenting it within the context of a family interview will hopefully make the terminology more meaningful. The Chicano series will be a powerful way of illustrating how liberal and conservative forces clash, and how Hispanic activists sometimes put their lives in jeopardy in the pursuit of social justice. Finally, guest speakers will invite students to participate themselves. What issues are important to the Hispanic community today? How can you make a difference? It’s my hope that this will be an experience where the whole really is greater than the sum of its parts.

Student Profile

Although this unit would be viable for any middle school setting, I think it is especially appropriate for any middle school with a significant Hispanic population, and for classrooms interested in the social movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s. At the public school where I teach, Ernie Pyle Middle School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the student population is overwhelmingly Hispanic (90 percent) and a variety of social issues (high teenage pregnancy and dropout rates, for example) play a big part in the lives of the students. A school with this kind of setting desperately needs to provide students with a concept of politics -- how political organizations are organized and what impact they can have -- in order to provide students with an understanding of the democratic process and how it can affect change. In the specific case of Hispanic Americans, there is a real legacy of political involvement and achievement that grew out of the Chicano movement, and I hope to instill in my students a dual sense of historical awareness and hope for the future.

Poverty is a reality at Ernie Pyle Middle School, where 80 percent of all students qualify for free lunch and breakfast. Politics is imbedded in the structure and funding of our school, and students can begin to see these connections at the middle school level. Ernie Pyle has a significant immigrant population from Mexico as well as a significant bilingual (English/Spanish) population. Our students need to know the historical and political implications of immigration and bilingual education simply to understand the way our school works. In the past, there has been friction and polarization between "Mexican" and "Spanish American" groups of students at our school. One possible benefit from this unit might be the awareness of a larger Chicano identity that encompasses both groups with a revolutionary world view. The unit will also expose students to Hispanic success stories and positive role models. Henry Sisneros, for example, narrates the film series and the research activities I’ve planned will allow students to examine the lives of successful Hispanic actors, politicians, and artists.

Because Ernie Pyle Middle School has struggled recently to improve test scores and academic accountability, I will take special care to begin with basic concepts like "politics" and "democracy" before moving on to the more abstract political spectrum. At this point, I want the students to begin to see themselves as participants in the political system, for better or worse. The family interview can help students understand where they are on the right-left (liberal to conservative) continuum. I’m anticipating that many of my students -- and perhaps their families, too -- will define themselves as apolitical, saying "I’m not interested in politics at all." It will be my responsibility to challenge this notion with examples of the ways politics impact our lives. Do you attend a public school? Does it meet your needs? Do you abide by a uniform policy? Are you required to have a work permit? What opportunities do you have to speak in your native language at school? Answering these questions may help the students realize that politics -- and the decisions politicians make -- affect all of us.

Meeting curriculum needs in Language Arts and Social Studies

As a Language Arts teacher, I hope to give my students many opportunities to flex their muscles in the competencies: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. I will also attempt to strike a balance between teacher talk and student talk, sometimes presenting material that will give them a fact base to work from, sometimes allowing for group discussion, and sometimes allowing students to do independent research and present their findings to the class as a whole. I will also strive to incorporate technology into the learning process, asking the students to do on-line research for both individual and group research. I also plan to bring as many viewpoints into the classroom as possible, not only by presenting the Chicano documentary series, but by scheduling guest speakers who will bring an immediate credibility into the classroom (an ingredient often missing in many textbook-dominated Social Studies environments). I plan to schedule at least three guest speakers: one who will discuss the land grant issue, one who will discuss the Chicano Movement, and another who will discuss the political process and citizen participation. The traditional New Mexico history curriculum in seventh grade tends to stop when New Mexico achieves statehood in 1912, whipping through the 20th Century with snapshots of important people (like Governor Bruce King) and places (like Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb) without ever addressing the important social issues that have been brewing in this state since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) ended the Mexican-American war with a promise to respect the property rights of the Mexican-American population living in what is now the American Southwest. Many of my students unwittingly live on land that is part of the Atrisco land grant, and most have no idea that large sections of land have been disputed and are still in dispute. Issues like land rights in New Mexico, educational inequities in Texas, and immigrant labor in California will expand the focus of our inquiry outward from the home to the school, to the South Valley of Albuquerque to the city as a whole, from New Mexico to the Southwest region, and indeed, to issues of inequality and social justice throughout the nation and the world. Although this unit is designed as a companion to the required New Mexico history curriculum in our school district, other applications are possible.

The Constructivist philosophy of education

Generally speaking, I think there are two schools of thought about how kids learn -- the traditional model and the Constructivist model. The former sees kids as empty vessels that the teacher "fills up" with facts, dates, theories, and other information. Common activities in the traditional classroom are lectures, reading texts and answering questions about content, and doing skill worksheets that present one topic and let children practice that task (i.e. how to correctly write a bibliography entry). Although these skill-and-drill activities have their place in education, they should be balanced with a more challenging, holistic approach. Constructivist teachers see students as more than the receivers of knowledge. Constructivist teachers see the brain functioning primarily as a processing unit (rather than simply seeing it as a storage unit) and are constantly looking for ways that will immerse their students in situations that will allow them to make their own meaning. For example, a lesson on geology that has kids sorting out different kinds of rocks by color and texture and characteristic allows them to discover for themselves rather than memorize these classifications from a textbook. Constructivism is learning "from the inside out," hands-on activities involving more student choice and autonomy.

I’m not using a textbook to teach this unit, nor do I plan to do so. I want to present a body of facts, but I want to do it in a way that will allow students to feel like they are making sense of their world themselves rather than having a teacher or author do it for them. I believe my role as teacher is to create an environment where students can discover truths about themselves and the world they live in. Small group work is an essential part of this process, as students explore this environment in a spirit of mutual respect and joint ownership. Although I believe that traditional methods are sometimes the most practical and efficient way of teaching, my seven years of teaching experience has taught me that Constructivist lessons -- especially for thematic units like this one -- are the ones kids like the best and remember most. It was my intention that the activities contained herein reflect this philosophy.

Progression of Activities

These activities are designed to supplement the standard seventh grade Social Studies and Language Arts curriculum and provide a bridge from the abstract world of politics to the real-world political attitudes that impact everyone’s life. I think that too often Social Studies classes in general and History classes in particular spend far too much time presenting a progression of events and too little time discussing the impact these events have on the lives of the students themselves. I believe my students in the South Valley of Albuquerque are heirs to an important social movement they know nothing about -- the Chicano Movement of the 1960’s and early 1970’s. This remarkable social event was an attempt by Hispanics to reclaim their cultural identity and pride and address important issues of injustice and equality that still exist today (i.e. the Hispanic dropout rate in Albuquerque that has reached epidemic proportions). They also do not know how their parents and grandparents were affected by history and politics in the areas of employment and education.

To address these needs, I will provide a combination of traditional history (dates, events, battles, famous leaders, etc.) and oral history -- the recorded statements revealing the effects these events had on people living during these periods. Throughout the unit, I intend to interweave the data students need to understand events with the human emotions of the "real people" these events affected. For example, after the unit begins with a timeline building activity, the first segment of the video series will graphically illustrate the clash between the disenfranchised farm workers and the growers in California. One particularly strong image is then-governor Ronald Reagan eating grapes on national television in support of the growers, even as the striking workers struggle to survive under threats of violence. The land grant issue provides similar opportunities to mesh documented history with personal experience. After reading about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and its guarantees to protect the land rights of peoples living in New Mexico at the conclusion of the Mexican American war, a guest speaker will describe the struggle many current land grant heirs are undertaking to claim their inheritance.

The unit also meshes Social Studies and Language Arts activities in important ways. The students need a vocabulary to discuss politics, and the political spectrum framework will provide terminology for doing so. By transferring this model to their own particular home situation, students will connect terms like "liberal" and "conservative" with real people and real issues. An examination of Chicano Literature and Music will provide important links between events like the Vietnam War and artistic reaction and protest. Finally, a comparison of protest literature and political action of different social movements in the 1960’s and 1970’s will help students see this period in American history for what it was, a stormy time of upheaval and generational and class conflict whereby a nation redefined itself.

This unit has the potential for creating controversy, and teachers should anticipate questions from parents who may misunderstand the intentions of the project. One might remind students that if revolutionary ideologies were never pursued, important social strides in education (like racially integrated schools) and employment (like minimum wage protections) would never have been accomplished. If governments were never challenged, the United States would still be a colony of England. Controversy and conflict are the ball bearings that make democracies work, and a little of both in the classroom provides fertile ground for meaningful class discussions.

Another practical concern regarding these activities is the timing of the lessons themselves and the block or period schedules different schools use. Because I teach a Language Arts/Literature Block (technically two different classes combined), I see my students 70 minutes each day Monday through Friday. The activities for each day should take approximately 70 minutes; teachers working with smaller periods of time may adjust the schedule accordingly. Using a block system, the unit should take three weeks; using a period system of 40 minutes per class, this unit could easily take twice as long. The four video segments run approximately 57 minutes each.

Materials needed: A computer for every student or each team of 2-3 students; Internet access with the following web site bookmarked: (www.pbs.org/Chicano).

Procedure: 1. (Focus) On the blackboard, students are presented with five well-known events from history (Columbus lands in the Americas, The Moon Landing, etc). Students arrange these in order on a timeline next to the list. Discuss how timelines are useful. 2. Each student or team of students gets a time frame and an important person to research. (See Day 1 addendum for list of dates and people students can find more about at the PBS/Chicano web site.). 3. Students research the time period by double clicking on their dates. Students write down significant events from that time period. 4. Students then research their person from history (a person who was mentioned in the Chicano! series) by double-clicking on that name and writing down a short biographical sketch. 5. Students then research these topics independently using a search engine and conducting a search. Whatever further information they can find will improve what they can report to the class on Day Two.

Materials needed: A prominent timeline (1840-1975) ringing the classroom (years displayed should reflect the timeline we research on Day One -- see addendum for actual timeline); A "Cast of Characters" (people mentioned prominently in the Chicano! video series -- see addendum for list) displayed either on the blackboard or posterboard).

Procedure: 1. Students have their research notes from Day One, and today they will share what they’ve found with the class. 2. Give each student (or group of students if they worked in groups on day one) two different colored index cards -- one for their timeline report and one for their historical figure. 3. Give groups 10-15 minutes to prepare a short presentation to the class. Reports are written on the index cards. For each, students must decide what year to place their cards on the timeline. (For example, those reporting on Cesar Chavez might choose to highlight 1975, the year the California Labor Relations Act was passed). 4. Student groups read their reports to the class and place their index cards on the timeline. Classmates take notes at their seats, making a complete timeline of the period and a "Cast of Characters" they can use for an open-notes test at the end of the unit.

Evaluation: Students graded for their oral report to the class and index cards placed on the classroom timeline (20 points).

Day Three: Chicano! Video #2 "The Struggle In The Fields"

Materials needed: Video and worksheet, posters or pictures of Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez.

Procedure: 1. (Video focus) Divide blackboard into two parts; label one side "Martin Luther King" and the other "Cesar Chavez." Teacher invites students to share what they know about these two leaders, listing items as they are discussed. For example, non-violent protest was a tactic each used to make important advances for their peoples. 2. Ask students if they know who harvested the strawberries we had for breakfast or the lettuce and peaches we had for lunch. Discuss the terms "immigrant" and "migrant worker" and ask students what rights these people should have. 3. Distribute worksheet and view video.

Day Four: Chicano literature and music

Materials needed: A variety of poetry, short essays, and short stories by Hispanic authors. (See Classroom Materials addendum). Copies should be distributed so groups of two or three students have three examples each. Teacher should also have a tape player and some appropriate protest music, perhaps a Spanish corrido and more modern examples like Bob Dylan’s "Blowin’ In The Wind" or Bruce Springsteen’s "Ghost of Tom Joad."

Procedure: 1. (Focus) Teacher points to a list of appropriate vocabulary words on the blackboard and asks students to identify each (examples could include ballad, corrido, ode, protest music, mural, sculpture, etc.). How do these art forms give voice to protest? Teacher then plays an example of protest music; students discuss its tone and theme. 2. Students are divided into pairs. Each pair has three examples of Chicano literature (every example is different). 3. Pairs read their examples and choose one piece to share with the class. 4. Pairs read their selection to the class, with one student reading the piece and the other analyzing its tone, structure, content, and literary devices. 5. While classmates are reading, students at their seats take notes in list form (a three-column chart), writing down the author, title, and analysis for each oral report.

Evaluation: Students will be graded on their oral report (20 points). Notes will be collected and graded (10 points; completion grade) and returned for use on the exam at the end of the unit.

Day Five: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and Its Legacy in the Southwest

Materials needed: Large maps illustrating the United States and Mexico before and after the Mexican-American War. A class-sized supply of candy. A guest speaker familiar with Spanish land grants in the Southwest and legal efforts by Hispanics to use the land grants to keep the lands given to their ancestors (in Albuquerque, two such possible speakers could be Jaime Chavez or a representative of the Chilili land grant east of Albuquerque, a viable grant that still maintains the original boundaries of the land parcel apportioned to a group of settlers). Any documentation with references to land grants, such as an Abstract of Title on a piece of property owned by my father-in-law (the lot he lives on was originally part of the Atrisco Land Grant and this thick bundle of documents traces the history of the property back to January 15, 1892), would also be useful.

Procedure: 1. (Focus) The guest speaker will pass out candy to the class, two pieces per student. But before anyone can eat any, the speaker will announce that those with last beginning with letters A-J must give one piece of candy to students whose last names begin with letters K-Z. How did you feel about giving up half your candy? 2. How would a nation feel about giving up half its land? Show the maps of the United States and Mexico before and after the Mexican-American War to illustrate the huge parcel of land that the United States acquired and Mexico lost. 3. Review the key terms of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, a document assuring those living in New Mexico, Arizona, and California that their land rights established under Spanish, and later Mexican, rule would be honored. 4. The guest speaker will address the class and students will take notes on key names, dates, and places the speaker mentions. Notes will be used for a "guest speaker" question on the unit exam.

Day Six: Chicano! Video #1 "Quest for a Homeland"

Materials needed: Map and/or other documents illustrating land grants in the Southwest; video and worksheet.

Procedure: 1. (Focus) Teacher will share a map illustrating land grants in New Mexico or a property deed or other documentation showing how grants were apportioned long before New Mexico became a state in 1912. Teacher will ask recall questions dealing with Day Five’s guest speaker. 2. Video worksheets will be distributed. 3. Students view video and answer listening questions and take notes that will prepare them to participate in a class discussion following the video (same evaluation for all four video worksheets).

Materials needed: Blackboard or overhead projector; the political spectrum (see addendum); an assortment of newspaper articles focusing on partisan politics at different levels of government.

Procedure: 1. (Focus) Have a list of prominent political figures (Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, George W. Bush, Rush Limbaugh, etc.) on the board. See if student volunteers can place these figures in columns labeled "Conservative" and "Liberal". 2. Students make a long horizontal line on a sheet of paper, making marks on both ends and in the middle. Word by word, teacher adds terms to this model, defining each as it is added. 3. Layers of information, such as opposing policies on different issues (defense spending, school prayer, economic policy, etc.) can help illustrate the differences between liberals and conservatives and should be added once the basic terms (liberal, conservative, and moderate) are understood. Students save this model for future use and use on the unit exam. 4. Teacher divides class into pairs; each pair gets a different newspaper article to read and report on. 5. Students write the date, headline, and a one-paragraph summary explaining how liberals and conservatives clash over this issue.

Evaluation: Students graded on brief report to the class (10 points).

Day Eight: Interview Assignment

Materials needed: Index cards, list of 25 questions for parent interview.

Procedure: 1. (Focus and review) Teacher will present an incomplete political spectrum on the blackboard; students will fill in the blanks for each level. 2. (Class discussion) What other labels (besides political terms) help identify people and their views? Present students with the following terms on the board: Spanish, Spanish-American, Mexican, Mexican-American, Hispanic, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano. Which term(s) best describe you? Why? Would liberals and conservatives tend to pick different terms to identify themselves? Why? 3. Divide students into pairs. Each pair must write five questions they could ask a parent or family member to discover what kind of political views they have. 4. Teacher announces Q & A interview assignment: Students are to interview a parent (grandparents would be great), relative, or other adult and report their findings to the class (at least 25 Q’s and A’s). Questions should begin with basic information queries and build to more personal probes into values and views. 5. Teacher helps students by giving them the first five or six questions, then asks for volunteers to offer their best question. In this way, students build a list of 25 questions that will be used for their interview (tonight’s homework -- due on Day 10). 6. Teacher offers advice for a successful interview and accurate transcription and gives each student index cards to use for the speech (to help maintain eye-contact with audience). Students should bring in a picture or other visual representing their interviewee (used as an attention getter for their three-minute oral report on Day 10).

Day Nine: Chicano! Video #3 "Taking Back The Schools"

Materials needed: Video and worksheet.

Procedure: 1. (Video Focus) On the blackboard, have a "School Report Card" with the following categories: Condition of School Building; Condition of Books and Supplies; Access to Computers; Quality of Cafeteria Food; Quality of Teachers, Library/Media Center; Gymnasium; After-school programs; Safety of the School; The overall quality of education provided. Students have 5-10 minutes to grade the school. 2. Discuss your school’s report card, then pose the question: How could people use politics to change their school? 3. Students view video and complete worksheet.

Day Ten: Students present family interviews

Materials needed: Homework assignment.

Procedure: 1. Students copy a four-column chart from board (they’ll use this to take notes on their classmates’ presentations); Column headings: Student’s name; Interviewee; Something they did well; Something to improve next time. 2. Teacher models the presentation by giving three to five minute speech about a relative, highlighting his or her values and political beliefs. Students make this their first set of notes for their chart. 3. Students give oral reports while their classmates take notes.

Evaluation: Speech is graded for content and technique (10 points each); notes are completion grade (10 points).

Day 11: Read about and research an important Hispanic person

Materials needed: Individual biographies of famous Hispanics (past and present) -- see Classroom Materials addendum.

Procedure: 1. (Research focus) Have a list of famous Hispanics (who have been written about in biography form) on the board (examples may include Gloria Estevan, Roberto Clemente, Cesar Chavez, Pancho Villa, etc.). Take volunteers to identify these people. 2. Distribute grading rubric for 3-5 page research paper (or have students copy from the board). 3. Dismiss students to where biographies are located (have at least one book per student); students pick a book and sign it out through teacher. This may or may not be the same person they researched on Day 1. (Note: If your school library has adequate resources, you might schedule this day at the library). 4. Students spend the remainder of the period reading their book and taking notes that they will use to write their research paper. (You may want to give students a list of items to find and write down if they have not done many research papers). Paper is due after the unit is completed.

Day 12: Chicano! Video #4 "Fighting for Political Power"

Materials needed: Video and worksheet

Procedure: 1. (Video focus). Give students a hypothetical problem that might have a political solution. For example, what if our school’s air conditioning was out of order and the school claimed it didn’t have the money to fix it. How could political activity change this situation? 2. (Class discussion) What needs to be changed in our community now? How can politics play a part in solving the problem? 3. Students view video and complete worksheet.

Day 13: Guest speaker -- How you can get involved in the political process

Materials needed: Although a person is not material, possible speakers for this day include members of student government (a high school class president would be excellent), an editorial page editor from a local paper, a local activist who played a part in the Chicano movement we’ve been learning about, a representative from a local city council, or a member of The League of Womens Voters.

Procedure: 1. (Introduction of guest speaker) Teacher asks students to name people who "make a difference" via politics (list these names on the blackboard). Today, our class has the honor of a visit from another person making a difference..." 2. Guest speaker addresses class and explains what they do, be it write editorials, make laws, or register people to vote. 3. Students take notes; these will be used on unit exam.

Day 14: Social Movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s

Materials needed: Articles and books about various facets of the many social movements of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Topics could include Eldridge Cleaver, Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Brown vs. Board of Education and Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks (from the Black Civil Rights Movement); Gloria Steinem, Betty Freidan, and Susan B. Anthony (from the Women’s Movement); Tom Hayden, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the Kent State tragedy (from the Anti-Vietnam War Movement); The Brown Panthers, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, Ruben Salazar (from the Chicano Movement).

Procedure: 1. (Research focus) Teacher dresses in 1960’s style and opens the class by playing a rock n’ roll standard like "My Generation" or "Revolution". Teacher summarizes this period in history as one of unusual turbulance, generational conflict, and change. 2. In groups of 2-3, students read about one facet of this time period and prepare a 2-3 minute presentation about what they learned. 3. Students take notes on their classmates’ presentations in chart form; these notes will be used for the unit exam tomorrow.

Day 15: Unit Exam

Materials needed: Unit test will reflect the specific content of the unit. Students should be rewarded for taking good notes, so questions about all student presentations and guest speakers should be included, as well as general questions about the video series. Essay questions should 1) challenge students to summarize what the Chicano Movement was about and how it helped Mexican-Americans make important gains and 2) challenge students to explain what Hispanics still need to accomplish and discuss how participation in the political process might make a difference.

Day 1 Web page information: To do the Internet activities, locate and bookmark the Chicano! web page located within www.pbs.org. Students will use two links on Day One. First, they will go to the Time Line Overview link. There, they will click on one of nine time periods within the overall time range of 1840-1975 to find out what events related to Mexican-American rights happened during that period. (The individual periods are: 1840-1860; 1861-1880; 1881-1900; 1901-1920; 1921-1940; 1941-1960; 1961-1965; 1966-1970; 1971 -1975). Second, they will go to the Biographies link to find out more about a famous person mentioned during the course of the four-part video series and proceed in the same way, clicking on a name (from a list of about 100 names) to call up a short biographical sketch.

Classroom Materials (Day 4 -- Latino Literature and Music)

Baca, Jimmy Santiago. 1986. Black Mesa Poems. New York: New Directions Books.

Gomez, Alma (Editor). 1983. Cuentos: Stories by Latinas. Latham, New York: Kitchen Table Publishers.

Gonzalez, Ray. 1994. Currents from the Dancing River. Contemporary Latino Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Sauuageau, Juan. 1989. Stories That Must Not Die. Los Angeles: Pan American Publishing.

Simmen, Edward (Editor). 1992. North of The Rio Grande. The Mexican-American Experience in Short Fiction. New York: Mentor Books.

Sullivan, Charles. 1994. Here is My Kingdom. Hispanic American Literature and Art for Young People. New York: Harry N. Abrams.

West, John O. 1988. Mexican-American Folklore. Little Rock: August House Publishers.

Latino Poetry. 1994. Paramus, New Jersey: Globe Fearon Educational Publishing. (This compilation of various poets includes a teacher’s manual with activities).

Classroom Materials (Day 11 -- Researching Important Hispanic Personalities)

Morey, Janet Nomura, and Dunn. 1996. Famous Hispanic Americans. New York: Cobblehill Books.

de Ruiz, Dana Catherine and Larios, Richard. 1993. La Causa. The Migrant Farmworkers’ Story. New York: Steck-Vaughn.

Shorris, Earl. 1992. Latinos - A Biography of The People. New York: Avon Books.

Hispanic Stories. The Steck-Vaughn Classroom Library. (A collection 15 individual biographies by various authors. Includes teacher’s guide). 1993. New York: Steck-Vaughn.

Hispanic Biographies. (A Collection of 16 individual biographies by various authors). 1989. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Globe Book Company.

Grading rubric: If you use a point system, you may want to grade the unit this way: Timeline/oral report -- 20 points; four video worksheets (20 pts. each) -- 80 points; Chicano Literature oral report -- 20 points; Chicano Literature notes -- 10 points; Newspaper report -- 10 points; Family interview/report 40 points; Family Interview speech notes -- 10 points; Research paper -- 50 points; Unit exam -- 60 points. Unit total -- 300 points.

Name ____________________________________ Period __________

Chicano Video Part One: The Struggle In The Fields

Directions: As you watch the video, listen for important names, dates, and concepts. Write your answers below each question. Prepare to participate in a class discussion following the video.

1. What was the life expectancy of the average farm worker at this time?

2. What did the Bracero Program do?

3. What does the word huelga mean?

4. Where were most California growers from?

5. Write three adjectives to describe the work Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants performed on farms. Write three more adjectives to describe the leader of the United Farm Workers, Cesar Chavez.

6. What did the strike need to succeed?

7. What are strike breakers?

8. What US Senator took up the cause of the farmworkers?

9. Who was the patron saint of the UFW? Why did this use of religious imagery anger the growers?

10. Why did the Schenley Corporation give in to the demands of the workers?

11. What was the Delano Plan?

12. Why did the growers refer to union leaders as agitators?

13. What other unions supported the UFW?

14. Why were the farmworkers often the most visible participants in the Chicano movement?

15. What did California Governor Ronald Reagan say about the strikers?

For class discussion: What qualities does a labor leader need? Why did the UFW succeed? What other workers use strikes? How was Cesar Chavez like Martin Luther King?

Name ________________________________ Period ________

Chicano Video Part Two: Quest For A Homeland

Directions: As you watch the video, listen for important names, dates, and concepts. Write your answers below each question. Prepare to participate in a class discussion following the video.

1. What did the term "Chicano" originally mean?

2. Who was the leader of the "Alianza" of Northern New Mexicans?

3. How much of its territory did Mexico lose in the Mexican-American War?

4. What treaty, signed at the end of the Mexican-American War, guaranteed land rights for Mexican-Americans living in what is now the US Southwest?

5. According to folklore, what was traded away for the Tierra Amarilla land grant?

6. How did the U.S. Forest Service disrupt the lifestyle of Hispanics living in Northern New Mexico?

7. What federal charges did Reies Tijerina face as a result of his actions?

8. Who did the Alianza want to arrest when they stormed the courthouse in Tijera Amarilla?

9. How did David Cargo, the governor of New Mexico, respond?

10. What is a corrido?

12. Why did many Hispanic parents not talk to their children about the discrimination they experienced?

13. What did President Lyndon B. Johnson do to address discrimination?

14. What poem, written by Corky Gonzales, celebrates Chicano pride and identity?

15. How did Corky Gonzales try to change things through the political process.

For class discussion: What does it mean when Mexican-Americans say "We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us?" How did issues of gender surface at the Chicano Youth Conference in Denver? How did the Vietnam War divide Hispanic youth and their parents?

Name ______________________________ Period _______

Chicano Video Part Three: Taking Back The Schools

Directions: As you watch the video, listen for important names, dates, and concepts. Write your answers below each question. Prepare to participate in a class discussion following the video.

1. What is a barrio? In the 1960’s. what was the largest barrio in the United States?

2. What is "The American Dream?" What do most parents want for their children?

3. What was the dropout rate in the Los Angeles public schools? What is the dropout rate right now in Albuquerque?

4. Were children allowed to speak Spanish in school? Why?

5. What is "tracking" in education? Does this happen today?

6. What demands did Mexican-American students make to the Los Angeles School Board?

7. What is segregation? Can seperate schools for different groups of students be equal?

8. What was the Chicano Movement? What did it try to accomplish?

9. Who was Sal Castro? How did he try to change the L.A. schools?

10. What did the student walkout accomplish?

11. Who were the Brown Berets? What did they try to accomplish? What tactics did they use?

12. How did the L.A. Police respond to the protests?

13. What "big name" politician supported the students?

14. What positive outcomes came out of the protest and walkout?

15. How did the L.A. Board of Education retaliate against Castro and protest leaders?

For class discussion: What similarities do you see at the school you attend? What are your First Amendment rights? How can you use them to protect yourself?

Name _______________________________ Period _______

Chicano Video Part Four: Fighting For Political Power

1. What new political party formed to meet the needs of Mexican Americans?

2. What was the poll tax? How did it prevent Mexican Americans from gaining political power?

3. How did the Texas Rangers help intimidate Mexican Americans?

4. What does LULAC stand for? What did this organization try to do?

5. What is the American G.I. Forum? Howdid this oganization help a Mexican-American veteran get a proper burial?

6. Why did Mexican Americans support John F. Kennedy in the 1960 election?

7. In 1968, Jose Angel Gutierrez asked Mexican Americans to adopt what kinds of tactics to make change?

8. What Crystal City High School cheerleader refused to accept a policy she felt was unjust?

9. Why were Mexican Americans afraid to vote?

10. Who ran for governor in New Mexico as a member of La Raza Unida party?

11. Give examples of how artwork and literature (poetry and songs) expressed the goals of La Raza Unida?

12. Why did La Raza Unida confront the Democratic Party in California?

13. Why did Willy Velasquez leave La Raza Unida party?

14. What did Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzalez believe about "working within the system"?

15. What does MALDEF stand for? What does MALDEF do to help Hispanics?

For class discussion: Why did La Raza Unida vote to endorse neither Republican Richard Nixon or Democrat George McGovern in 1972? Even though La Raza Unida dissolved in the 1970’s, what did it accomplish? Do you think either major political party (Republican or Democrat) meets the needs of Hispanics today?