PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
Title of Lesson: WHAT IS A REVOLUTION? (DAY 1)- ¿QUÉ ES UNA REVOLUCIÓN? (DÍA 1)
Josue Lopez, Windham Middle School, Social Studies-History, Grade 7 ‘New Arrivals’
Classroom, One 90 minute Class period
Introduction: The class is a self-contained bilingual classroom. Students who are in the
classroom are Spanish-speaking students who are all below English proficiency levels as
measured by LAS Links.
This “revolutionary” unit has students exploring revolutions, uprisings, and movements
in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. They will explore different events in
Latin America history with themes that are culturally relevant and valuable in the world today
such as poverty, racism, sexism, and more.
Geographic Connections: D2.Civ.12.6-8. Assess specific rules and laws (both actual and
proposed) as means of addressing public problems.
-Students will be expected to negotiate through problem-solving skills applied to universal
struggles such as poverty and equality. The goal is not to ultimately come up with a democratic
analysis of revolution, but to watch the students thinking through these problems and making
determinations about what is important to them and, ultimately, what is worth defending.
Key Terms (Day 1 through 5 of Unit):
1. Revolution (revolución),
2. Cuba
3. La Ley de Ajuste Cubano,
4. terror (terror),
5. imperialism (imperialismo),
6. businesses (empresas),
7. immigration (inmigración)
8. Fulgencio Batista
9. Ernesto “El Che” Guevara
10. Fidel y Raul Castro
Content Standards: Common Core Content Standard(s)
-Content Objective: Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze their
development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RI.7.2).
-Objetivo de contenido: Objetivo de contenido: Definen el tema o idea principal y analizan su
desarrollo a lo largo del texto. Resumen objetivamente el texto sin dar opiniones o juicios
personales (California CCSS in Spanish)
-Language Objective: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.4).
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
-Objetivo de lenguaje: Determinan el significado de palabras y frases que se utilizan en un
texto, incluyendo tanto el sentido figurado, como el connotativo y técnico (California CCSS in
Spanish)
Essential Question(s)
Sub-unit question(s): What is a revolution? What are some advantages and disadvantages of a
revolution?
-¿Qué es una revolución? ¿Cuáles son algunas ventajas y desventajas de una revolución?
Whole unit question: What are the differences/similarities between a movement, uprising,
and revolution? What can we use to change the world today?
-¿Cuáles son algunas diferencias y similitudes entre un movimiento, levantamiento, y
revolución? ¿Qué podemos utilizar hoy para cambiar el mundo?
Literacy through the Content Area: Students will examine various pieces of news, media
resources, and more throughout the unit that show competing opinions and/or differing
perspectives on one topic. For some students this will be the first time they are exposed to news
articles and resources like these so an emphasis is made on how to approach resources,
determine what they are saying, and think critically about that information. The citations and
links for the sources are available at the end of this lesson.
Placement of Lesson within Broader Curriculum/Context: This lesson follows our
discussion of human rights and the concept of a universal standard for social living. Students
have previously explored some sources and have discussed looking at titles, skimming,
identifying main points, and summarizing.
This lesson is the beginning of the unit “Revolutions, Uprisings, and Movements” and will
explore different events in history and present-day to help define these terms that are often
substituted for one another. This lesson, “What is a Revolution Day 1” helps the student think
about the results of a revolution present day. As the students in the classroom are foreign born,
this lesson begins the examination of the impact of the Cuban Revolution through current
immigration policies. After establishing a link to the present and providing students with
attention-catching sources, students will begin an exploration of the history of the Cuban
Revolution beginning with Batista.
Throughout the unit, students will be continually asked to define what they have learned that
can help define a revolution, why do people start a revolution, and is this a successful and
effective way to change the world.
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
Learner Background: The students are from Latin American countries and Puerto Rico, and
they all have limited English proficiency. The goal in this course is to ensure learning in their
first language while making connections between technical vocabulary in the subject area.
Students have previously explored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and analyzed
why these rights are critical and belong to all people. Students have also spent time with news
and media sources and understanding how to determine what the point of the piece is,
summarize it so someone else understands it, make a determination on its validity, and
determine whether they agree or disagree with the point and explain why.
Students explored present-day labor relations through Cesar Chavez and his impact on
agriculture and workers’ rights.
Objectives for Lesson:
Content Objective: Students will identify the main arguments in an article and key
points which support the argument.
Language Objective: Students will orally summarize and article to a small group or
the classroom.
Integration of 21st century skills/Development of Consciousness: Students will
question why certain immigration policies exist and how they affect the world today.
Assessments:
Assessment of previous knowledge: Post-its definition of revolution, small group work on Chavez
Assessment of content objective/language objective: Small group work and reporting on articles
(whole group and individual).
Assessment of 21
st
century skills/Development of Consciousness: Short-write after articles are
summarized
Exit ticket: Predict why there was a revolution, who revolted, and what happened to Batista?
Materials/Resources: Class arrangement varies from whole group, small group, and
individual work. Students will need post-it notes for brainstorming, writing utensils, and their
reflective journal. The educator will have the news articles, videos, and power point presentation
for the students to access.
Lesson Development/Instructional Strategies
Warm Up (10 minutes): Introduce the unit and overall questions, and then introduce the sub unit and
the questions for it. Pass out one post-it note for students and tell them they will have one minute to write
down what they think a revolution is, what is something that has to do with a revolution, or maybe even a
revolution they already know about. If a student is finished early, they may get another post-it note. After
their post it noted are done, students put them on the board and categorize them how they believe they
should be categorized. If students are not sure, facilitate the process by telling them to point out
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
similarities, differences, or things that seem unfamiliar. Students must explain why they are categorizing
the post-it notes as such.
Activating Prior Knowledge (15 minutes): Divide students into groups of three. Each students has a
job (organizer, note taker, or reporter). The educator shows the short movie trailer (available in link
below) of the Cesar Chavez movie (link provided at the end). Students will have five minutes to answer
the following questions based on Cesar Chavez and his work on labor rights:
-What were the causes of the movement? Who was involved? What strategies were used to change the
conditions the workers faced? What were some advantages and disadvantages of the strategies used in
this movement? The organizer keeps track of the time, the note taker records agreed upon answers, and
the speaker reports answers to the class.
-After the five minutes are up, students report the answers to the classroom.
Body of Lesson (40 minutes): Present Day Cuban-American Relations. Distribute note-taking template
Whole Group (6 minutes)
-Powerpoint showing images of Cuban immigrants coming to the United States as well as Haitian
Immigrants. The educator poses the question: Why would someone want to leave their homeland?
-Educator introduces slide with La Ley de Ajuste Cubano. The educator explains that this law says
anyone from Cuba who gets to the United States cannot be deported and automatically becomes a
resident of the United States. The educator poses the question: Is this fair? Why do you think Cuba gets
this special relationship?
Small Group of Three (28 minutes)
-Distribute articles for groups. Each groups gets a different article (If the class is big, then make multiple
copies of the articles as necessary).Students will read the articles and answer the following questions
using the strategies provided by the educator which are in non-italics: What is the article about? (Look at
the title, pictures, and read the first section/paragraph of the article). What is the most interesting or
surprising point in the article? (Make a self-to-text, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections). After
reading the article, why do you think someone would leave their country? (Use what you read in the
article plus what you know about the world to infer (inferir).
-Students have to read the articles and answer the questions. Students will mark any difficult words or
phrases in the text (achieving the language objective) and they can revise those words with the group.
Afterwards, the speaker for the group summarizes the article for the rest of the class, and points out the
difficult words or phrases they could not figure out. The class attempts to solve them together first, and
then the educator can step in if necessary.
Individual Work (6 minutes)
-Wrap up this part of the lesson by sharing the video of the Cuban who windsurfed to the United States in
2013. Following the video, give students 30 seconds to reflect on what they watched, and then take their
writing journal out and write for two minutes two answer one of the following questions, answer both
questions, or write about something burning in them that they need to share about the topic:
-How do you think the United States and Cuba ended up with La Ley de Ajuste Cubano?
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
-Immigration happens all around the world. Why do you think immigration happens?
- Your burning thought connected to revolution, immigration, or Cuba/US…
Student Share Out (5 minutes)
-Students share the ideas they wrote about and students can ask or answer questions about them. A
student always has the right to pass on sharing their work, but all work will be collected and reviewed
after class. The educator is there to facilitate discussion by asking key questions like: How does this
connect to you? How does this affect your community? Why are Cubans the only immigrant group that
can come to the United States and never be deported? Why do some people oppose immigration?
Cuban Revolution: Fulgencio Batista (10 minutes)
-10 minute lecture-style presentation through powerpoint on Fulgencio Batista and the status of Cuba.
Students will fill in the graphic organizer with the information presented (informal assessment of
following lecture which can be checked at the end of class).
Closing (5 minutes)
-Review the content and language objective before closing the lesson. Pose the following questions and
have students answer them with one full-sentence answers as their exit ticket to leave the classroom: Why
do you think there was a revolution? Who do you think participated in the revolution? Who do you think
did not participate in the revolution? What do you think happened to Fulgencio Batista?
*Five minutes of time are left over for transitions between conversations and allowing students to
expand/continue discussion as available.
Students Needing Differentiated Instruction:
How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson for students you may anticipate struggling
with the content/learning objectives?
Students are put in heterogeneous groups of three based on their reading levels. This means
there will be an advanced reader, an on-grade reader, and a reader who is approaching grade
level. Images are included in the lesson through Powerpoint to assist students following the
lesson. Resources are designed to engage students through different modalities i.e. pictures,
readings, videos, etc.
How will you provide opportunities for enrichment/higher level of challenge for students?
Enrichment students will be challenged engaging with the questions for class discussions. Enrichment
students should always be grappling with question of social justice because of the rigor and problem
solving it requires.
For a more concrete experience (which I would not limit to enrichment/higher level students), I would
have them apply the content and language objectives to two images that promote revolution in Cuba.
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
Students can discuss what these images mean, what they are challenging, and what they mean to the
people (the images are included with the citations).
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Sample Lesson
In order to preserve the formatting of this document, please use this link to go to the images:
-Images for Haitian and Cuban Refugees
https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0#folders/0B_TDc-Zgvsl6YzhCRGFmVDNUemc
-Images on Batista, terror, and a New Cuba
-Note Organizer (Four out of ten terms in Day 1)
-Maps of world with flags, map of Cuba with Central America
https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0#folders/0B_KQ3zxPcAkJUHo2LW5QZTAwS0
0
-Articles for students:
Arroyo, Lorena. ‘El Cubano que emigró a EE. UU. En tabla de windsurf’ en BBC Mundo, Miami. 6 May
2014. Web.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2014/05/140428_cubano_inmigro_eeuu_tabla_windsurf_lav.shtml
EFE. ‘Aumenta el número de cubanos que intenta llegar a Estados Unidos’ en EL País Internaciónal. 9
October 2011. Web.
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2011/10/09/actualidad/1318180232_363821.html
*Allen, Gregg. ‘Poll Findings: On Cuban-Americans and the elusive American “Dream”’ in Morning
Edition. National Public Radio. 22 January 2014. Web.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/01/22/264689163/poll-findings-on-cuban-americans-and-the-
elusive-american-dream
*Gregg’s article was translated by the Cuban government and reproduced in their own media. The article
is this below:
Aguirre, Jorge. ‘El “Sueño Americano” es pesadilla para los cubanos que llegan a EEUU, revela
importante encuesta’ en Cubadebate. 24 Enero 2014. Web.
http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2014/01/24/sueno-americano-ya-no-es-tal-para-los-cubanos-que-
llegan-a-eeuu-revela-importante-encuesta/#.U8gw3_mSzCZ
Videos for students in lesson:
-Windsurfer from Cuba video:
Arroyo, Lorena. ‘El Cubano que emigró a EE. UU. En tabla de windsurf’ en BBC Mundo, Miami. 6 May
2014. Web.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/noticias/2014/05/140428_cubano_inmigro_eeuu_tabla_windsurf_lav.shtml
-Cesar Chavez video:
Cesar Chavez Trailer En Español HD. Youtube. Uploaded by: Clevver TeVe. 1 March 2014. Web.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwRlWZmB8MU
-Fall of Batista in 1959 clip
DiFilm- Caída de Fulgencio Batista en Cuba (1959). Youtube. Uploaded by: archivodichiara. 5
December 2011. Web.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMNAmri6vHM
