Hispanic Literature Final Progect

Title: Hunger for Mangos

Objective: To introduce Hispanic Literature to the students to broaden their understanding of cultural difference and the importance of keeping an open mind.

Texts:
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

11/12th Grade

Activity: A book talk over each book to introduce them to the students. They will then evenly divide down the middle on who will read which book, and I would then have the two halves split into two or three smaller groups.

The books would be taught through discussions, and activities such as power points, creative pamphlets promoting multicultural support which we could put up in the community, online web responses, and creative rewrites.

Final Project: Personal Inquiry over other cultures they're personally interested in.

The assessment would include a total of the assignments, in class participation, and online discussion.

Duration of Unit: 3Weeks

Dandelions: My Heritage

Dandelions
By Danielle Cavinder

I am from cornfields
From dirt roads and snow sludge.
I am from deer crossings,
From muddy tires and foot deep bumps.

I am from hay barns,
From musty lofts and prickly bales.
I am from grain feed,
(Crumbly and sticky it tasted like syrup.

I am from blanket tents,
From scabbed knees and Disney movies.
I am from Saturday afternoons,
From chlorine water and trampoline burns.

I am from twilight evenings,
From lightning bugs and cricket song.
I am from divorce,
From goodbye tears and long farewells.

I am from “I’ll miss you,”
From “Please come with me,” and “Please stay here.”
I am from different worlds,
From books and pages of different lands.

I am from Dandelions,
From scattered seeds cast out by lawn-mower winds.
Each place blooming with new flowers
Until old scars are over grown.

I chose to add this poem because when I wrote I was thinking about what and where I come from. It's not always about places. It's about words, people, feelings, things, and experiences that shape us into our current state of mind. Culture plays a part in how accepting we are of others but even caged birds have the capacity to sing out to others.

The book I chose to read

I chose the novel Sister Chicas by Lisa Alvarado. I chose this book for several reasons. First, when I found it, I thought it would show a world that would naturally show hispanic culture. I also chose it because the main characters are teenage girls and will be easy to relate to for many of my future students. Without having read it I won't know for sure how I would use it in the classroom. I hope it works out, but I look forward to it regardless. At the very least it ends up as a recommendation for the students.

House on Mango Street

I wasn't really sure what to focus on for this blog because I missed class on Thursday. The themes in this book were very twisted. I would almost say it was a book for the feminist movement because of the way men are portrayed in it. They are abusive, tyrannical, and the women either rollover or run away. The fact that Esperanza wants to help the women of the barrio says something about her strength of character at the end of the book. She will leave the barrio only to return and make it better. I was reading a little bit online about the author and there's actually quite a bit of criticism. Many people fault it because it supports assimilation in a time when we support multiculturalism. Mexican-American men found it offensive because it focused on abusive stereotypes, however, they also feel that women understand nothing. I was shocked by this, and how she never seemed to blame her rapers. It wasn't their fault to her. That's incredibly disturbing.

Expanding the Circle

I loved this article because it explains the injustice of the expected curriculum but it doesn't place the blame on educators. It does ask us to be adventurous, and it gives us a starting point on where to look for certain texts. I also really enjoyed the examples they listed, and I'm looking forward to reading The House on Mango Street after the brief excerpt. I'm frustrated by the ignorance and discrimination in our curriculum and I'm taking it up as a personal challenge to educate my students about other cultures. No culture should be left behind because it isn't followed by a majority. Precious things would be lost or never realized due to neglect. I felt empowered at the end of it, and I can't wait until I'm in the classroom and can fight for the misfit cultures that we throw away like the "island of misfit toys". After all, it’s our job to open up possibilities for our students. We need to guide them into a future of being globally aware, and maybe, just maybe, they won’t be ruled by the hate ignorance breeds.

Culturally Diverse Classroom

This is an amazing tool and guide! This is exactly what a teacher could use to guide them in creating an engaging unit, and to support ESL students. They need so much more support than the other students will because they're completely immersed in a foreign language and a foreign culture. I can't even imagine what they would be going through. I've gone away to camp and felt homesick when I was younger. Those students are truly amazing that they can deal with feeling out of place, learn a second language, and learn the curriculum all at once. All of this is on top of any normal adolescent issues that are going on. It's no wonder they need the support, and teachers need to know what they're students are going through. This handbook is a guide to becoming that support! It is really overwhelming though. Where do you begin? It’s one thing to read this through and another to actually face an ESL student. How do you prevent the other students from confusing the ESL student or prevent bullying and teasing? This raises a lot of questions even as it provides answers.

Oye Amigo's in Marshall

I was out of town this weekend so I searched for a authentic restaurant in the area. The food there was very different from places such as Don Pablos or Taco bell. The place is small and dark, and it was filled with people when I went in. It was very quaint, and the service, I think, is family run. It seemed like home cooking to me, and I had guacamole dip and ships for an appetizer which was new for me, and I decided I didn't like avocado outside of sushi. I had chicken enchiladas for my entree and they were the best I've ever eaten. I don't know what kind of seasoning they used but it was chuck full of onions and green peppers. There was cheese melted over the top. It was served with refried beans and spanish rice which was normal, but they must do something different with their beans. If I had to guess I would say they were homemade because they didn't taste like what comes out of the can. They served heated and buttered soft toria shells with the meal for bread. Everything was pretty bland except for the complimentary house salsa they served with warmed ships. Now that stuff made me guzzle several glasses of diet coke, but it was tasty!