This is a five week unit designed to introduce Hispanic students to the urban environment and the opportunities such a setting provides. The objectives of this unit are: to increase the student’s knowledge and experiential background of the city; to help his language development in English; to aid and encourage a higher level of thinking skills; to explore and expose the students to a variety of enrichment activities; and to allow for expression of the student’s creativity as expressed in writing and drawings. This unit is designed to be taught in English, as part of the English as a Second Language component, which means the teacher does not have to be bilingual in order to present the material. In fact, I would encourage mainstream teachers, with a sizable number of Hispanics in their English classes, to present this unit, with a few modifications, and involve non-Hispanic students in learning about the Spanish culture and the problems of migration from the island.
(Recommended for 6th-12th grades English as a Second Language and 9th-12th grades Bilingual Urban Studies)
Key Words
Urban Life Spanish English ESL Bilingualism Ethnicity Migration Puerto Rican American Cities
