1. Latinos en el USA Spanish Heritage Teachers’ Project
Lizy Moromisato, Valeria Valencia, Michelle Nicola

2. Spanish HL Learner Profile
High School Juniors & Seniors
Lots of exposure to the language in the community, friends, family, religious and other cultural events
There is a need for students to feel pride and a sense of accomplishment in their HL language
Classes are: mixed level ability, one class for sophomores and another for juniors/seniors

3. Spanish HL Learner Profile
Additional Information Regarding the HL community:
Students attend De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon. The school belongs to a network of schools in the US called Cristo Rey. Cristo Rey schools provide private education to traditionally underserved populations. Students participate in a work study program which pays for their tuition. For this reason, students attend school four days a week and work at banks, law firms and other community organizations the fifth day of the week.
While motivation to learn is high, many students deal with extra-stressors outside of school that make it more difficult to learn. Additionally, students are in general one or two grade levels behind.

4. Language Proficiency Extensive background exposure to the HL
Advanced oral proficiency
Novice-High reading and writing proficiency
Intermediate speaking proficiency
Need practice with presentational speech

5. Students’ Strengths & Areas of Need
Ability to read abstract language independently
Create complex questions
Ability to comprehend authentic listening materials
Presentational Skills
Identity development
Sense of belonging as bilingual individuals
Explaining preterit v. imperfect
Vocabulary

6. Enduring Understanding
Students will value the Latino contribution through poetry and activism as part of US culture

7. Students will be able to . . .
Defend opinions about Latino contributions to US culture using formal discourse
Read a short poem
Interview members of the Latino community using the formal register
Write two poems (individual and group) in Spanish
Identify and explain the application of preterit and imperfect past tenses
Present their writing to the class

8. Students will understand . . .
How to interview
Common experiences of Latinos in the US
The difference between preterit and imperfect

9. Differentiated Instructional Strategies
KWL – What do you already know about Latinos living in the US?
Think Pair Share – Students are asked a question, have time to think about an answer and share with a partner
Graphic Organizer Template – to help guide students in discovering the rule for preterit and imperfect
Group work – students write a poem with a group before writing their own poem
Exit Cards

10. Unit Plan – Day 1 SWBAT: Defend opinions about Latino contributions to US culture
KWL – What do you already know about Latinos living in the US?
Teacher guides students in asking questions.
¿Qué saben?
¿Qué quieren saber?
¿Qué aprendieron?

11. Unit Plan – Day 1 SWBAT: Listen and discuss Latino contribution to US culture
Authentic Video – CNN Latinos in the USA
Think-Pair-Share: Students answer the questions for themselves that the reporter asks in the video. Then, they share these questions with a partner.
After watching, students discuss what they learned and as a class fill in the L of the KWL
Video Link

12. Unit Plan – Day 1 SWBAT: Defend opinions about Latino contributions to US culture
Video Questions
¿Cómo se siente ser un estudiante joven en el estado de Arizona?
¿Cuál es tu opinion sobre el DREAM Act?
¿Cómo es ser joven en Miami, a diferencia que los de Chicago o Portland? 
¿Cómo ha cambiado la vida de los inmigrantes en Miami?  
¿Es un sentido renovado anti-inmigración en los EEUU?
“Por ser latino, me han clasificado como mexicano.” 
________________ habla del “adobe ceiling” sin mencionarlo precisamente. ¿A qué se puede referir el termino “adobe ceiling”? 
¿Cuál es tu sueno americano? 
¿Qué consejos les da a los jovenes? 
¿Cómo son los latinos en otras partes del país, según los entrevistados?

13. The Poem: En un barrio de Los Ángeles (In a Neighborhood of Los Angeles) by Francisco X. Alarcón
el español
lo aprendí
de mi abuela
mijito
no llores
me decía
en las mañanas
cuando salían
mis padres
a trabajar
en las canerías
de pescado …
I learned
Spanish
From my grandmother
“Don’t cry,
my little son”
She would tell me
In the mornings
When my parents
Would leave the house
to go work
in the fish canneries …

14. Read poem & discuss themes as a class
Unit Plan – Day 2 SWBAT: Read a short poem and review conjugations and application of preterit and imperfect past tenses
Read poem & discuss themes as a class
Themes: when you learned Spanish, things we learned from our family members, landscape of our HL country
Focus on verbs, using the template:
español
English
Observations
Verbs that describe habitual actions
Verbs that describe completed events

15. Unit Plan – Day 2 SWBAT: Read a short poem and review conjugations and application of preterit and imperfect past tenses
Ask students the following questions:
What do you notice about your verb groups?
In the first verse “lo aprendí,” is that a complete or incomplete action?
What is the context – is the verb helping describe something or is it a completed action?
Do any of the verbs describe routines?
How would you rephrase ___________ line in the third person plural?
When are other times that we use verbs like trabajaba, estudiaba, etc.?

16. Unit Plan – Day 2 SWBAT: Read a short poem and review conjugations and application of preterit and imperfect past tenses
Based on the previous guidance, students come up with the rule for preterit and imperfect.
Teacher uses a PowerPoint to give a short mini-lesson to cover any information not provided by students
Exit Slip Question:
How would you explain to a non-native Spanish speaker when to use preterit and when to use imperfect?

17. Unit Plan – Day 3 SWBAT: Interview members of the Latino community using the formal register
Students work in teacher selected heterogeneous by level groups to create interview questions with the objective of using the information obtained to write a poem about a Latino teacher from the school.
Teacher asks students to think about the interview that they observed in the video and brainstorm questions that they appreciated.

18. Unit Plan – Day 3 SWBAT: Interview members of the Latino community using the formal register
Teacher models writing activity, using the first stanza of the poem, “If you wanted to know how Sra. Cabrera learned Spanish, what would you ask her? Would you use usted (formal register) or tú (informal register)?”
Students write their questions and interview selected teachers after school.

19. Unit Plan – Day 4 SWBAT: Write two poems (individual and group) in Spanish
Students use the information gathered to write a poem in groups about the teacher they interviewed.
Students begin work on their own poem. Advanced students write a narrative using full sentences. Lower level students write a shorter poem and illustrate it.
Poems can be read at the Hispanic Heritage Assembly.

20. Unit Plan – Day 5 SWBAT: Present their writing to the class
Students present their poems to the class.
Formative assessment/feedback given on presentational skills: voice, poise, inflection, professionalism.
Short Preterit/Imperfect quiz given

21. Summary of Materials Used
En un barrio de Los Angeles, por Francisco X. Alarcón
Latinos en el USA, CNN News Report
Additional Resources for Teacher:
Explanation of “En un barrio”

22. Assessment Create script for the interview (Low Stakes) 10%
Conduct the interview (Low) 10%
Quiz on the preterit/imperfect (High Stakes) 20%
Create a poem based on own experience
(individual work) (High) 20%
Create a poem based on interviewee’s experience
(group work) (High) 20%
Presentation of the poems (Low) 10%
Exit/Reflection Card (Low) 10%