La Familia (a Spanish language lesson)

In this lesson students will use Boulder County Latino History Project interview and photo to practice family-related vocabulary and learn about a local Latino family and one Latina’s experiences growing up in Boulder County. La familia can be used over several classes to 1) learn/review family vocabulary, 2) to compare/contrast specific aspects of family with students’ own experiences.
[NOTE: Many mini-lessons around family and other vocabulary/structures can be introduced throughout the year and related to local Latino history: describing family, family and work/play, family and clothing, family and education, family and fighting discrimination. This can also be used in conjunction with cultural reading about Latino families that often is part of Spanish textbook series.]

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La Raza: Who Am I? Where Am I From? Exploring Latino History in Colorado and Boulder County with English Language Learner Students

In this lesson students will study the following inquiry questions, Who are you? What made you? Research and present three topics of interest from your/the past using La Raza videos and make connections with Boulder County Latino History. Beginning of the school year unit to get to know long term English Language Learner [ELL] students and have them get to know themselves.

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Labor Strife in Colorado: Comparing the Ludlow Massacre and the Columbine Mine Strike

In this lesson students will get a sense of Industrialization in America in the early 20th century. They will describe similarities and differences between the miners strike in Ludlow Colorado (1914) and the miners strike in Lafayette Colorado (1927). It can also be adapted to the Progressive Era. Students should come away with an understanding of labor, capital, and the emergence of labor unions as forces in American History.
Created By: Michael Codrey, New Vista High School

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Lafayette History: Farm Work and Coal Mining

In this lesson students will learn the history of Lafayette by discussing images and investigating coal mining and farm work. The objective is to allow the students to connect to the history of Lafayette by participating in physical activities that miners and farm workers did that took place between 1900’s-1950’s.

Created By: Kathy Luna, Escuela Bilingue Pioneer

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Latino Farmworkers Past and Present

In this lesson students compare and contrast Latino farmworkers lives and their artifacts in the past and present using the BCLHP (Boulder County Latino History Project) primary resources.

Students learn about farmworker roles in and contributions to society. Students write a short paragraph about farmworkers, their differences and similarities in the past and present. Students also share an experience of someone they know who is currently a farmworker.

Created By: Alma Fernandez Araujo, Indian Peaks Elementary School 

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Latino History Matters: Making a Podcast

This unit has two overarching goals: first, for students to learn to use primary sources to make an argument about a particular historical event; second, for students to learn more about the history of their community. Students will work in teams of two to three to create a podcast that serves to inform their classmates about a specific aspect of Latino experience in Boulder County during a particular time period. Beyond providing information, the students will focus on using one specific rhetorical appeal (ethos, logos, pathos) in their podcast in a way that will be recognizable to their audience.

  • This lesson can be tweaked for different grade levels and contexts. For instance, the teacher may choose to limit the topic choices in order to make connections to a specific novel/unit of study. Upper-level teachers might choose to incorporate additional rhetorical devices into the project. In other cases, teachers may choose to focus on storytelling instead of argument.

Created By: Jamie Neufeld, Silver Creek High School 

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Life Experiences of Child Migrant Workers

In this lesson students analyze how life experiences shape character, using primary sources from the Boulder County Latino History Project’s primary sources library. The focus is on local Latino Migrant Children. This lesson is part of several designed to be used together or as stand-alone lessons. At the conclusion of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Identify at least three examples of how children of migrant workers’ life experiences helped shaped their character,
2. Rank order the life experiences’ impact based on how they would personally react to them,
3. Hypothesize the impact of each of these three life experiences on the child of a migrant worker today.

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Local Goods and Services: Past and Present

In this lesson Students will be able to identify goods and services in their community and then compare community services in Longmont from the past. A special focus is on Latino related businesses. Students learn to understand the function of businesses in the community by studying goods and services both past and present.

Created By: Ana Campos Davila, Indian Peaks Elementary School 

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