This site is a collection of resources and lesson plans designed by teachers who attended seminars, met with local indigenous communities, and visited a variety of cultural sites in Peru and Ecuador. The site is theme-organized. It includes a variety of topics: Environment (Going Green in Los Andes and Cotopaxi National Park), Daily Students Life, Comparing and Contrasting Cultural Values, Diversity in The Andes, Cultural Patrimony and Andean Textiles. The resources provide videos and video activities, powerpoint presentations, podcasts, slide scripts, guidelines, bilingual photo stories and worksheets. This collection of resources has been created for students of Spanish I and II classes and it covers from beginner to advanced, AP and IB levels. Each topic can stand as a lesson on its own or as supplementary material such as a group work project, homework assignment, etc.
The website describes a program called "Traveling Suitcases" which is run by the University of Florida. Teachers can check out a "suitcase" (a box containing cultural artifacts) from various Latin American countries to use in the classroom.
Type of Material:
The items in the suitcases include books, toys, music, product packaging, national symbols such as maps, currency and flags, artifacts from the agricultural, commercial and service sectors of the economy, as well as handicrafts and newspapers. There is also a teacher's guide which includes an annotated contents list, country information, maps, teaching guidelines, additional resource lists, sample lesson plans, and an evaluation form. The suitcases pertain to the following countries and regions: Bolivia, Brazil, Caribbean, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica (elementary, high school), Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico (elementary, high school),Peru, Puerto Rico, Southern Cone, and Venezuela
Recommended Uses:
As a simple, straight-forward exercise, the suitcase can be used as a lesson in culture. However, it also represents an excellent opportunity to teach critical thinking skills by asking students to guess what certain objects may be used for or to compare and contrast the way objects are used in different cultures. Intermediate and upper-level students will also have the opportunity to read authentic texts such as newspapers and magazines.
Technical Requirements:
Additional plug-ins or applications are needed to view some of the resources suggested in this site.
Java-applet, Quick Time, Acrobat Reader, Flash, Windows Real Player, Firefox, Internet Explorer.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
The authors have clearly stated the learning goals in each lesson plan that accompanies each topic and lesson.
•Students will be able to identify basic vocabulary words related to recycling and will be able to understand the advantages and the importance of recycling.
•Students will be able to discuss about their family and free time activities, the school and uniforms, music, their likes and dislikes, their cultural traditions.
•Students will be able to identify (by analyzing photographic evidence a Latin America country and two cities)
•Students will be able to describe the race and physical characteristics of the people in that region; products and industries, occupations, politics, religion, geography, climate, topography, style of dress (traditional and non-traditional), plants, animals, relative economic status, means of transportation, etc.
•Students will be able to compare and contrast the region and its people and culture and offer opinions orally and in writing about the degree of “livability” of the area both from their own perspectives and from the point of view of the region’s residents.
•Students will be able to talk about their cultural patrimony.
•Students will be able to describe and discuss about the Andean textiles.
For all levels, a traveling suitcase is an innovative way to introduce students to various aspects of a culture. The items, for the most part, pertain to daily life in that country and are not items that a student would typically see as a tourist.
Target Student Population:
•Elementary, Middle and High School students attending Spanish 1 and 2, from beginner to advanced levels.
•Lower Level Spanish K-4, Spanish 1-4, Spanish IB and AP.
•For independent learner with a basic knowledge of Spanish.
From high school to the college level.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
•A basic introduction to how the Spanish language is organized would provide a foundation for the range of supporting information on thesite.
•Basic web navigation and basic computer skills.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
•The site has a collection of engaging videos, podcasts, powerpoint presentations, slide shares and photo stories.
•The design of the material is clear and easy to navigate.
•Each lesson has been designed according to the student’s level, and includes follow-up activities to contribute to the students’ knowledge.
•Most of the resources provide authentic materials such as government sites and pages, real life videos and podcasts.
Concerns:
•The external link “Las Islas Uros Photostory Project” does not work. It has the legend “404-file or directory not found”.
•The link in Lesson 2 http://www.ecuadormagic.com/artesanias.html sends a security alert. But if typed directly in the browser, it works perfectly well. The same alert was found in the links included in Lesson 4.( Inca Trail Map and the meaning of fiesta de Intiraymi) . As for this link: http://www.guayasamin.com/pages/index.html, the server cannot be found.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
•The materials are well-designed and organized so much so that they can be readily integrated into language/culture learning activities.
•The teaching and learning goals are highlighted in each lesson plan so they are really easy to identify.
•The instructor /teacher can easily designed learning assignments and activities based on the material provided by the site.
Giving students an object they have never seen before and asking them to guess what it might be used for is an excellent way to employ students' creativity, critical thinking, as well as a good way to challenge their language skills in the target language.
•The material can be used as a valuable tool to help students work in new projects.
Concerns:
The suitcases will be most effective if the teacher has had time to prepare a relevant lesson plan. The value of some objects may be lost on the students if they do not understand the cultural significance. In most cases, the teacher will need to be the student's guide through the artifacts, especially for those objects that may not be self explanatory. Since the loan time for the suitcase is two weeks, teachers will want to take into account the time they need to prepare the lesson and to teach it when borrowing the suitcases.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
•The variety of link choices makes this site useful to a broad audience.
•The lesson plans provide a wide variety of activities to practice vocabulary and apply language acquisition concepts.
•The presentation is clearly designed.
•The content area is connected.
•The labels, buttons, menus, texts, and general layout are consistent and visually distinct.
The site is easy to navigate and the instructions are clearly written. Teachers fill out a lending agreement (posted on the site) with UF and then may borrow up to 5 items for up to two weeks. These five items may include no more than one traveling suitcase and two films.
•The user can easily navigate in this site.
•The site does not require a lot of technical support.
Concerns:
Teachers who live far from UF will have to pay a bit more for shipping the items. Schools may or may not reimburse cost to teachers.
Other Issues and Comments:
None.
Creative Commons:
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