Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona

Center for Latin American Studies

Arizona State Standards:

Reading: Strand 2-Concept 2 (Recognize historical & cultural perspectives)
Listening and Speaking: LS-F1 and LS-F3 (shares, presents, participates in activities)
History: 1SS-F2 (knowledge of past & present) 1SS-E1(research tools)
Civics and Government: 2SS-F1 (multiculturalism)
Geography: 3SS-R1 (concept of location) 3SS-F1 (map skills)
Arts: 1AM-R1 (songs) 1AM-R2 (rhythm) 1AM-R6 (instruments) 1AM-R7 (Respect for personal work and work of others) 1AV-R1/F2 (use of art materials) 1AV-R2/E1/3AV-R2 (communicate through art) 1AV-R3 (art symbolism) 1AM-R6/3AV-R4 (art appreciation) 2AV-R2 (art & culture) 1AD-R7 (dance appreciation)

Goals & Objectives: Students will...

Length of lesson: Two one hour periods or one block period.

Materials & Preparation:

First Period:

Show students a map of the United States. Where is Puerto Rico? Wait until students find it on the map. Puerto Rico is an island. What are the closest countries to Puerto Rico? What is the first language in Puerto Rico?
Look at the map of Puerto Rico. Where is the capital of Puerto Rico? What is the name of the capital? Have students ask you yes/no questions until they guess: Is it to the North? To the South? Is it to the East? To the West? Is it on the coast?
Ask students to write and draw on a paper whatever comes to their mind when they think of Puerto Rico. Discuss their answers.
Is Puerto Rico a U.S. state? Explain to students that in some ways it is and in some it is not. With the higher grades you can make a list on the board comparing and contrasting a regular U.S. state with Puerto Rico based on the information on handout #1.
Play some Puerto Rican salsa music to students and let them dance to the music. What instruments can they hear? What comes to their mind when they hear that music? Does the music make them want to visit Puerto Rico? Students can draw a picture inspired by the music.

Second Period:

Tell students that besides the salsa music they already heard, Puerto Rico has all kinds of music. An example is what they call La Danza, which is not so popular today but it was very popular when Puerto Rican grandparents were young. One feature of la danza is that women carry fans, abanicos. Do they know what a fan looks like? If possible, take a Spanish fan to class so they can see it.
Divide the class into groups and give each group some pictures and books on Puerto Rico. Tell them they are all going to make a fan and decorate it with pictures about Puerto Rico. To make a fan, simply fold a white paper in an accordion shape, hold one side and unfold the other. Show students that they should draw the pictures and decorations of Puerto Rico before folding their fans.
Play Puerto Rican danza music and have students walk around showing their fans and to the rhythm of the music. They should look at others’ fans and pick three they like most. (You can show them ‘the language of the fan’, which was the way women used to communicate with the men they wanted to dance with. Use the following web page: http://www.ladanza.com/lenguaje.htm
Pick some students to share the designs of their fans, and how they reflect what they have learned about Puerto Rico. Students vote on their favorite fans. Display the fans in class.

Evaluation:

Assess students’ individual and group participation,
Give students feedback on their individual fans based on the content, the creativity and the effort.

Extensions:

Invite someone from Puerto Rico to speak to the students in class. Take time to work with them on what makes a good question. Ideally, each student should have a question ready prior to the speaker’s visit.
Identify the different instruments in a Latin jazz band and try to make a class Latin jazz band with homemade instruments.