Latin America's rapid change in recent years has prompted the American Forum for Global Education to take a closer look at this important and dynamic region. This booklet summarizes how Latin America should be viewed in today's global world and highlights strategies for teaching these ideas. The booklet consists of the following four sections. The…

This lesson plan was designed for students in Montana schools. The objectives for this culture unit are having: (1) students recognize the similarities between their home stat of Montana and the Mexican state of Chihuahua; (2) students learn about features unique to Chihuahua; and (3) students create an advertising brochure marketing Chihuahua to…

This curriculum project offers ways to teach students about Mexico to make the country come alive for them. The curriculum is designed to create avenues for third-year Spanish students to practice the following language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The lessons included can be adapted for other-level students. There are four…

This mini-unit focuses on the lives and accomplishments of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood and their contacts with the Maya. This project deals specifically with how Stephens' published accounts and Catherwood's drawings became the basis from which all further Mayan research developed. These two explorers were the first to describe…

This report explores two bilingual educational approaches currently in use in Mexico and the United States. The study pursues a limited comparison between two modalities of bilingual instruction, as observed and reported in the consulted literature. The U.S. model featured is known as the two-way bilingual model, an additive approach to…

This study guide seeks to provide resources to bring the voices and experiences of Panamanian students into classrooms. This guide includes: (1) "History of a Canal" (in English and Spanish) (Pablo Neruda); (2) "Poems by Cubena"; (3) "Maps of Panama and The Canal Zone"; (4) "Historical Overview: Panama…

In this unit, designed for use with grades three through eight, students explore the biology and peoples of Latin American rainforests and the problems caused by the interactions of people with this environment. The featured activities integrate art, science, language, and social studies. Fourteen lessons, arranged in sequential order, comprise…

This packet provides an overview of historical and contemporary Mexico. The interdisciplinary lessons for grades 7-12 include history, geography, art, cooperative learning activities, and map work. Worksheets are included. (EH)

This project shares the information that an elementary school media specialist gleaned from a summer seminar in Mexico. The document consists almost entirely of pictures of Macintosh video screens. The author used still frame video slide pictures and computerized notes to prepare a "hypercard stack" that readers could access using…

Travel allows teachers to gather the data and realia to enliven history or global education in the classroom. In this special issue teachers describe personal travel experiences to many parts of the globe. Points of interest, itineraries, budgets, and artifacts collected are discussed. (RM)

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…

The unit is intended as part of a world cultures curriculum taught at the 10th grade level. The lessons include: (1) "Mexico in Brief"; (2) "The Mexican American War 1846-1848"; and (3) "History and Educational Status of Americans of Mexican Descent (Chicanos) in the Southwest." Additional resources and a 32-item…

This interdisciplinary unit is designed for secondary level history students but can be adapted for other levels. The focus of the unit is on Diego Rivera's mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda." Students use the mural to examine three major phases of Mexican history and to provide a basis of research of Mexican history and…

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…

This packet shares general impressions and interpretations of Mexico offered by a participant in a 5-week Fulbright-Hays Seminar. Included are suggestions on how to use this information to open up communication between the school and Mexican students and their parents. In addition to the background information and statistics, the material also has…