Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Standard
SI.7 Students will develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of Spanish-speaking cultures.
Spain
Art
Guernica, Pablo Picasso
Maps
Map of Islamic expansion in Spain
Writing
Fiction
Don Quijote de la Mancha Miguel de Cervantes La Casa de Bernarda Alba Federico Garca Lorca Religion in Spain Laura Ellis
Non Fiction
Picasso, P. (1937). Guernica [Oil on canvas]. Madrid, Spain: Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia.
Latin America
Art
Bailarinos, Fernando Botero
Maps
Map of indigenous populations in Latin America
Writing
Fiction:
Un seor muy viejo con unas alas enormes - Gabriel Garca Mrquez La Casa de Los Espritus - Isabel Allende Me Llamo Rigoberta Mench - Rigoberta Mench Realismo Mgico y Postcolonialismo Erna von der Walde
Non Fiction:
Fernando Botero is a prominent artist in Colombia, and across Latin America, and is famous for his round and large forms. This speaks to the values of hispanic countries and can add to the full understanding of culture.
Un seor muy viejo con unas alas enormes Gabriel Garca Mrquez
Mrquez, G. G. (1928). Un seor muy viejo con unas alas enormes. Aracata, Colombia. Readability: 19.9 (average grade level: 16)
This is a more difficult text than the rest, however, if used effectively with appropriate support, can be useful for upper level students. This story, written by Colombian writer Gabriel Garca Mrquez, is full of literary devices common of the genre of magical realism. Latin America is the birth place of this genre, and as such, the study of magical realist texts is culturally important in understanding the development of Latin American culture in the mid 1900s.
von der Walde, E. (n.d.). Realismo magico y postcolonialismo [Magical realism and postcolonialism]. Robertexto. Readability: 25.5 (average grade level: 13.2) This article gives first an overview and then an in depth analysis of the development of magical realism in Latin America and how it emerged within the context of history and culture.
The Tequila Worm follows the story of a Mexican American student in Texas. This is a highly valuable text, because it highlights things that are not addressed when studying Latin American or Spanish culture. This text highlights the nature of border culture, and the influence that Latin American culture has had and continues to have on the United States. This gives a relevant example that will provide motivation for learning language.
This book provides a fictional example of real things going on in American schools. It is very helpful for various reasons, including its address of the problem of bullying, as well as highlighting struggles that hispanic students go through in American schools. This makes the language relevant to students, because they can see the hardships of their classmates firsthand and relate to what is going on in their lives.