Book Report Picture & Description

The book How the García Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez is a story about four sisters that grew up in the Dominican Republic until their family sought refuge from the government in the United States. The story describes the struggles and life events of the girls and their family as they grew accustomed to the life and culture of being an American and what it meant to lose their Spanish accents. (Emily Vos)

Teaching Strategies

Making Connections through Social Interactions

            This teaching strategy encourages students to make connections to what they are reading from their lives and the lives of others around them.  These connections can be made through teacher led classroom discussions and also through conversations of student led small groups.  These groups can also model comprehension by acting the reading out, creating a poster, drawing a picture, and a variety of other small projects. 

            This strategy works well in an elementary setting because it will allow students to see connections to the real world.  It is easier for English language learners to talk about things that they know about, so making connection to their lives will make it easier for them to discuss what they are reading about. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4

Daily Sharing

            Because culture affects oral language, this teaching strategy helps English language learners to learn the socially valued way of speaking while also listening to how their culture organizes its communication.  After listening to how an English language learning tells his or her story, the teacher will then ask the students questions and write down responses that will model the socially valued way of telling the story. 

            This would be especially effective in an elementary classroom where sharing daily events with the class is an everyday occurrence.  It would help your English language learners to improve their oral language.   This strategy will also help your English speakers to practice their listening skills. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4

Student/Teacher Conferences

            This strategy puts the teacher and the student together one-on-one to discuss the work that the student is doing.  This takes away the competition that a student might be feeling from the more proficient students in the classroom.  During this conference, the teacher and student discuss what was written or drawn.  They talk about what the students did especially well and what the student could improve on for next time. 

            In an elementary classroom, this strategy would be effective when having the students do daily writing assignments and special writing projects.  If would not only be effective for students who are learning English but also for all English speakers who need help with their writing.  The teacher could spend just a couple of minutes with each student, as they complete their writing, discussing what is done well and what could be done better. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4

Description of Hispanic learners

Hispanic students want to be accepted in the classroom. They are afraid of the me vs. them mentality. Some students struggle with poverty and hunger issues leaving them tired and hungry in the classroom and some work in order to help the family and fall behind in schoolwork. They often struggle with learning the new language because the conflicting language at home.

 

Hispanic students learn best with interactive technology and visual aids. They feel safest in an inviting and accepting classroom with a teacher than cares about their story. They benefit from “hands on” experiences. They enjoy interaction with other students.  

Hispanic Influence in United States History

• The Spanish were the first Europeans to land in what was to become the continental United States when Jose Ponce de Leon landed in Florida in 1513. Since that time, the Spanish continued to be the foremost European explorers in North America, seeing half of what would be the lower 48 states before the English settled in Roanoke in 1585.
• In 1835, Texas, a Mexican state, revolted from Mexico and was then annexed into the United States in 1845. In response, Mexico initiated the Mexican-American war, which ended with the cessation of the Mexican states of Alta California and Nuevo Mexico to the United States. 
• Tales of Spanish atrocities in Cuba sparked the beginning of the Spanish-American war in 1898. The war was fought mainly for Cuban independence, but resulted not only in Cuban freedom, but also in the United States's colonial acquisition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
• In the mid-twentieth century, there were many migrant workers in the Western and Southwestern United States who were treated poorly by their employers. Cesear Chavez, a Mexican-American field-worker, organized the National Farm Workers Association. This union successfully improved conditions for millions of migrant workers in the United States. 

Current Films

In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.

UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA) tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico. Unexpected circumstances drive both Rosario and Carlitos to embark on their own journeys in a desperate attempt to reunite. Along the way, mother and son face challenges and obstacles but never lose hope that they will one day be together again

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War photographer Grace, devastated after a violent incident in Iraq, renounces her profession. Her Belgian husband, Max, is a cataract surgeon working at an eye clinic in the high Andes of Peru. Nearby, the villagers of Turubamba succumb to illnesses caused by a mercury spill from a local mine. Saturnina, a young woman in Turubamba, loses her fiancé to the contamination. Ignorant of its true source, the villagers turn their rage on the foreign doctors, and in the ensuing riot Max is killed. Grace sets out on a journey of mourning to the place of Max's death. Saturnina takes drastic measures to protest against the endless violations towards her people and her land. Grace and Saturnina's destinies merge. ALTIPLANO is a lyrical and probing film about our divided but inextricably linked world.

Two Works of Art

The first piece of art is called "Woman at the Window (Muchacha en la ventana)". It was done by the Hispanic artist Salvador Dalí in the year 1925 by using oil on a board. Salvador Dalí was a Spanish painter and sculptor.

The next piece of art is called "Execution of the Defenders of Madrid, 3rd May 1808" by the artist Francisco de Goya, a Spanish painter and printmaker. The art piece was done by the use of oil on canvas and is a reaction to the historical event of the Madrid civilians' revolt against the Napoleonic French army attack.

Picturebooks

 
In My Family by: Carmen Lomas Garza
In this book, the author describes her childhood memories, in both English and Spanish, about growing up in a traditional Mexican American community.  The illustrations are paintings done by the author which show her memories. 



Papa and Me by Arthur Dorros and Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
This book describes how a father, who speaks only Spanish, and his bilingual son spend a day together, from morning until evening.  The illustrations in this book show actions to help you understand what the Spanish words mean.