Curated OER
Caribbean Cooking
Students complete a unit that explores the cultures of the Caribbean, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba through cooking. They follow step-by-step directions of a variety of recipes, create a Caribbean scrapbook or cookbook,...
Curated OER
Cuban Americans: Exiles from an Island Home
Students define the terms Hispanic and Latino and explain why most immigrants from Central and South America and teh Caribbean prefer one over the other. They define cultural identity, acculturation, and assimilation. Students explain...
Smithsonian Institution
Jamaican Song, Dance, and Play: Experiences with Jamaican Musical Traditions
Young musicians experience song, dance, and play of the Jamaican culture. Scholars listen for and recreate beats, they play tunes, make up original dances, and play a game that challenges pupils to pass stones to a specific beat.
Smithsonian Institution
The Sounds of an Island: Jamaican Music for the Classroom
Introduce young explorers to the music and history of Jamaican culture through game songs and dances. As a bonus, class members get to play simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
Curated OER
Development and Social Issues in the Caribbean
Students work together to research social issues in the Caribbean. They role-play different positions in society to determine how each group is affected. They share their results with the class.
Curated OER
Island Maracas
Students listen to Caribbean folk music and discuss maracas and their role in music. They construct and design pairs of maracas using paper mache, then perform a Puerto Rican folk song using their maracas.
Curated OER
Mango Walk
Students sing music representing the Caribbean culture in the calypso style. They discover the role that the event of African slavery and the history of Carribean culture played in generating calypso music.
Curated OER
Coral Reefs
Students research an inhabitant of a Caribbean coral reef using a list of common organisms that live on or near it. Students then write a description of their organism and draw a picture or a 3-D model of it. Eventually they all work...
Curated OER
Geography, Climate, and Community in the Dominican Republic
Students familiarize themselves with the geography and culture of the Dominican Republic. They use primary source materials on the Dominican Republic to explore the question: How does where you live influence how you live? They describe...
Curated OER
Life in a Hurricane Zone
Learners study the nature of hurricanes and examine in detail the effect of Hurricane Georges upon the Dominican Republic. They explain the way in which physical systems (e.g., a hurricane) can affect human systems (e.g., the life of a...
Curated OER
Press Conference on Hurricane Georges
Students reinforce oral communication skills and organize a "press conference" on Hurricane Georges. They demonstrate their comprehension of the following enduring understanding: Where we live influences how we live. No matter where we...
Curated OER
A Creole Cinderella
Students engage in shared verbal and written reflections about ethnic traditions. They study fairy tales of the Caribbean and the repeating patterns or themes used in folktales and fairy tales. They discuss similarities and differences...
Curated OER
Island Research
Students collaborate to gather information about the geography, history, economy, climate, culture, and other aspects of life on the island of Eleuthera.
Curated OER
Latin America and the Caribbean in the Classroom: The Economy and Trade
Learners use the internet to gather information on daily exchange rates. They calculate the exchange rates between two countries by role playing they are going on vacation to these destinations.
Curated OER
Island Culture: Puerto Rico
Students explore the culture of Puerto Rico. They create maps of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. They work in small groups to research a decade in history and add drawings and pictures to a timeline of their decade. They practice...
Azar Grammar
Song Lessons: You Gotta Be
Des'ree's song "You Gotta Be" is used to model for language learners the forms that can be used to express necessity (must, have to, have got to). After examining the grammar in the song, the attention switches to a discussion of the...
Curated OER
American Culture in a Musical Setting
Students discover the significance of similarities and contrasts of three separate cultures of the United States through music. They take out maps and trace the expedition of the Spanish along the coasts of Mexico and North and South...
Little Kids Rock
The Latin Rhythms of “Despacito”
When you hear the first few beats of "Despacito," the unrivaled Latin pop hit of 2017, you can't keep your feet from moving! A music analysis lesson plan examines the intoxicating hit by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee and introduces the...
Curated OER
Running the Road to ABC
Second graders, while reading and discussing the book, "The Best Older Sister," by Sook Nyul Choi, practices predicting the meaning of a passage based on its title and illustrations. They experience determining the main idea from text...
Curated OER
Early European Explorers Map
Fifth graders create an explorer's map. In this explorers lesson students use a map of the world as reference to draw their own map of Europe, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. The students use their maps to show...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
Yellow Journalism
What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...
Curated OER
West Indies and The Caribbean: Sugar & Slavery
Young scholars study the state of the world before the slave trade. They explain the geography and economics of the slave trade. They explore primary sources and how historians use these sources to create historical interpretations.
Curated OER
Slavery, Society, and Apartheid
Young scholars examine the St. John slave revolt of 1733. In this slavery and apartheid lesson, students view the DVD "Slavery, Society, and Apartheid." Young scholars respond to discussion questions regarding the content of the DVD...
Curated OER
Coral Snapshots
Using photographs and a coral reef identification key, junior marine biologists compare changes in coral cover for a No-Take Area and the surrounding unprotected area. The data that is collected is then analyzed for richness,...