The study reported in this paper contributes to the literature on prospective teachers' decision making, specifically regarding how they analyze and make informed decisions about the use of their textbooks. We designed a training intervention with 28 future Costa Rican teachers, in which they had to identify and manage semiotic conflicts that can…

The hegemonic ideology of racial democracy and rural cultural norms of racial silence continue to inform racial identities and national racial discourse in Brazil, in this case within the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST), a left-wing movement for agrarian reform. In this article I engage in textual analysis of a textbook from the MST's youth…

This study created a medical word list (MWL) to bridge the gap between non-technical and technical vocabulary. The researcher compiled a corpus containing 155 textbooks across 31 medical subject areas from e-book databases (totaling 15 million running words) and examined the range and frequency of words outside the most frequent 3,000-word…

This second edition contains annotated entries of over 200 print, audiovisual, and computer-based resources dealing with Mexico for instructional use at the K-12 levels. The bibliographic search was designed to be comprehensive, not evaluative. The bibliography is organized into four principal sections: (1) print materials; (2) audiovisual…

This anthology/textbook is part of a Mexican series of instructional materials designed for Spanish speaking adults who are in the process of becoming literate or have recently become literate in their native language. This document presents a collection of works from important writers directed to the population of Baja California, especially to…

This unit for high school social studies and Spanish language students deals with Mexico's transition toward democracy. Lesson activities include: (1) "What Is An Early Democratic Family Incident That You Remember?"; (2) "What is Democracy?"; (3) "Locating the Five Nations of Mexico"; (4) "Scenes from the Five…

This curriculum emphasizes El Salvador's physical and human geography and involves students in active learning situations using critical and creative thinking skills. The seven lessons include: (1) "Why Study El Salvador?"; (2) "Where in the World Is El Salvador?"; (3) "Picturing El Salvador: Looking Beyond the…

These materials are designed to help students bridge the gaps in the news and their textbooks about the country of Haiti and to provide suggestions for further research. The following framework is suggested for studying Haiti today: (1) Haiti's current crisis is best understood in historical perspective; (2) the U.S. government has heavily…

This unit is designed for a second-year Spanish language class. The focus is on the Mayans and the 1994 Zapatista uprising in Chiapas (Mexico). The topics addressed include: (1) the Mayans' historical problems; (2) the 1994 rebellion in Chiapas; and (3) the reactions of the world and of the Mexican federal government to the rebellion. Suggestions…

This curriculum guide presents materials for teaching about Central America and emphasizes the concepts of environment, culture, interdependence, and citizenship. The guide is designed to integrate the study of geographic, economic, historic, political, and social features of Central American nations. The major theme of the document deals with how…

This curriculum guide provides activities to help students understand Latin America. A foundation for analyzing the interdependence of world nations develops critical thinking, and problem solving skills. Activities emphasize research, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Detailed lesson plans and accompanying reproducible student handouts are…

This unit provides background information and activities about ancient Mexico including the Olmecs, the Mayans, the Toltecs, the Zapotecs and Mixtecs, and the Aztecs. Brief readings are followed by activities that cover a wide range of subjects within each culture. Illustrations throughout the text highlight the topics. A 24-item bibliography…

This student's resource book contains sources that bring Mexico's evolving national identity into sharper focus for U.S. high school students through utilization of a Mexican perspective. Students see the world through Mexican eyes and contemplate current Mexican choices in the areas of economic development, political reform, and foreign…

This document contains reproducible maps, charts and graphs of Latin America for use by teachers and students. The maps are divided into five categories (1) the land; (2) peoples, countries, cities, and governments; (3) the national economies, product, trade, agriculture, and resources; (4) energy, education, employment, illicit drugs, consumer…

Presenting autobiographical stories from Hispanic culture and history, especially the stories of fascinating, historic role models can be beneficial, educational, therapeutic, and empowering for presenters and audiences. This paper is divided into two sections. Section (1) discusses in detail presenting such autobiographical stories and how to…