Lesson Plan I.
Puerto Rico
Theme
Three Puerto Rican authors—Luis Palés Matos, René Marqués and Eugenio Mar’a Hostos.
Objectives
Students will be introduced to a basic understanding of each author’s life, work and success.
Materials Needed
Map of Puerto Rico, copies of the lessons, a dictionary and illustrations pertaining to the authors being studied.
Procedures
Step 1
: The teacher begins the lesson by giving an overview of the island of Puerto Rico. To generate student discussions the teacher can write on the chalkboard the following questions:
1.
|
Who are the Puerto Rican authors?
|
2.
|
Do you know of any?
|
3.
|
Why are we interested in studying the Puerto Rican authors?
|
4.
|
Do you know about Puerto Rican poetry?
|
5.
|
What is poetry?
|
6.
|
What is a poet?
|
Step 2
: Vocabulary Activities. The teacher will use the following words to introduce vocabulary activities. It is suggested that the vocabulary words should be written on the chaulkboard before the lesson begins.
-
poetry
-
loyalty
-
Modernist
-
Conformist
-
poems
-
setting
-
repudiate
-
exhausted
-
independence
-
agriculture
-
illustrious
-
optimism
-
Contemporary
-
success
-
utopia
-
civilization
-
idealistic
-
achievement
-
contrast
-
literature
-
agronomy
-
agriculturalist
-
career
-
Hispanic
Using the dictionary the students should be asked to find definitions of the words listed above.
Step
3: Small Group Discussion Activity. The teacher can divide the class into three or four groups and ask students from each group for definitions, at random, of the words listed. To achieve greater participation in this activity, the teacher will establish a contest where an award will be presented to the winning group.
Step
4: Making Comparisons. The teacher can have the students again divide into small groups for the purpose of competition and select a student from each group to distribute handouts of the lesson. Each student will read the lesson silently while the teacher writes the following information on the chalkboard:
Describe the following authors:
a.
|
Luis Palés Matos,
|
b.
|
René Marqués,
|
c.
|
Eugenio Mar’a Hostos.
|
It is suggested that the student be given at least 20 minutes for answering these questions, leaving at least 15 minutes for group discussion. The teacher will select the winning group, distributing appropriate rewards. All students should be praised for their participation and effort.
Step
5. Writing Activity. To accomplish this task the teacher can become involved in one or two methods of instruction. The class can again be divided into small groups or students can work individually. This task will involve students writing their autobiography. When completed, the students will exchange their autobiographies and the teacher ask the students, at random, to present orally the autobiography of their classmate. So that no student will feel pressure regarding his/her autobiography, the teacher must emphasize confidentiality.
Step
6: Homework Assignment. The teacher may have a short-range or longrange homework assignments. As an example of a shortrange assignment would be a review of the daily lesson to prepare the student for the next step. The preparation of a composition is an example of a longrange assignment where the student would research the subject topic. The teacher would assign the topic in accordance with the subject being studied.
NOTE
It is recommended that a minimum of 5 school class periods be utilized for the completion of Lesson Plan I.
Lesson Plan II.
Cuba
Sample Lesson Plan II
Theme
Two Cuban authors—José Marti and Nicolas Guillén.
Objectives
Students will be encouraged to compare their own autobiography with those of the authors.
Materials Needed
Map of Cuba, copies of the lessons, a dictionary and illustrations pertaining to the Cuban authors being studied. A bulletin board must be available for displays of the illustrations and the students’ work.
Procedures
Step
1: Warm-up Activity. The teacher begins with a review of the previous study on Puerto Rico and an introduction to the Cuban country. Questions will be presented by the teacher covering the subjects of both countries.
1.
|
What have you learned about Puerto Rican authors and the country of Puerto Rico?
|
2.
|
Name the three famous Puerto Rican authors studied.
|
3.
|
Why are we interested in learning about the famous Cuban authors?
|
4.
|
Do you know any Cuban authors?
|
5.
|
How should we as a class begin our study of Cuban authors?
|
Step 2:
Art Activity. The teacher will ask the students to draw the island of Cuba indicating with a black dot the location of the birthplaces of the authors being studied. The proximity of Cuba, the United States and Puerto Rico could be mentioned at this time. The teacher will choose the best drawings for display purposes on the bulletin board. Again, it is important that all students be praised for their efforts.
Step
3: Small Group Activity—Further Vocabulary Study—Once again the teacher can divide the class into three or four groups and assign five to six words from the above listed vocabulary (See Lesson Plan I) to each group for definition purposes. The groups will review the definitions of the assigned words to prepare for a definition and spelling review quiz. A student should be able to score 90% or better in order to demonstrate achievement of the task.
Step 4:
Library Activity. The teacher can take the class to the library for the purpose of conducting further research on the Puerto Rican and Cuban authors being studied in this unit. This will prepare the students for further individual research using the Student Bibliography List.
Step 5.
Group Discussion Activity. The teacher will begin the discussion by asking the class to write a short composition on their research conducted at the library. This activity should be given a minimum of 20 minutes time, followed by a group discussion. The teacher will select, at random, students to orally present their composition. The teacher will assign a student to collect all compositions for teacher review and grading.
Step 6:
Homework Assignment. At this time the teacher will assign a longrange project. A project report is to be prepared by the students encompassing Lessons I, II and III (Lesson III follows). Students will be urged to consult the Student Bibliography List as well as reviewing topic covered in Lesson I and II. Teacher may allow students at least one week for completion of the project report, following the completion of Lesson III.
NOTE
It is recommended that a minimum of 5 school class periods be utilized for the completion of Lesson Plan II.
Lesson Plan III.
Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
Theme
Two authors from the Dominican Republic—Jose Mar’a Heredia and Manual De Jesús Galván.
Objectives
Students will improve their writing skills, their research methods, their critical thinking and their academic interests in the studies of Latin American literature.
Materials Needed
Map of Santo Domingo, copies of the lessons, a dictionary and Santo Domingo illustrations. Also it is recommended that the reference book
Modern Latin America Literature,
Volume I, by David William Foster and Frederick Unger, Publishers, New York, be used by the teacher to expand lesson planning. This volume contains valuable information on Latin American writers listing each author by country.
Procedures
Step 1:
Warm-up Activity. The teacher begins with a review of the previous study on Puerto Rico and Cuba and an introduction to the studies of Santo Domingo. Questions will be presented by the teacher covering:
1.
|
Describe the life of any of the authors we have already studied.
|
2.
|
Compare their work.
|
3.
|
Compare their life with yours. The above questions must be written on the chalkboard before the class begins. The teacher will allow a minimum of 20 minutes for this activity, followed by a discussion.
|
Step 2:
Introduction of two Santo Domingo writers and further review of the Puerto Rican and Cuban authors studied. At this point the teacher will use a chalkboard illustration with input from the students emphasizing the comparative qualities of each author.
Step 3:
Art Activity. The teacher will ask the students to draw an illustration similar to the chalkboard illustration in Step 2. It is suggested that the teacher divide the class into group for the purpose of comparative discussion of the illustrations. A leader will be selected from each group to make an oral presentation of the illustrations. It is suggested that the teacher make this activity a “competitive” activity with the students choosing the group making the best presentation. As always, all students are to be praised for their efforts. Best illustrations will be displayed on the bulletin board.
Step 4:
Review Activity. The teacher using the questions presented in Step 5 will generate discussion on the content of this unit, preparing the students for a unit evaluation test.
NOTE
At this point the teacher will need to monitor the progress of each student on the previously assigned research project and encourage the use of the library for further research information. The teacher should also remind the students of the completion date which should be set for the following week, giving the student ample time for completion following the close of the study of Santo Domingo.
Step
5: Test Activity—Suggested essay type questions.
1.
|
What have you learned about the life, work and success of the authors studied? Write a short essay in answer to this question.
|
2.
|
Compare your life with that of the authors studied.
|
NOTE
It is recommended that a minimum of 5 school class periods be utilized for the completion of Lesson Plan III.