Beginning with inquiry – La Guerra Sucia

Spanish 4 and 5 have certainly studied their fair share of wars and atrocities. Last year they learned about how the civil war in El Salvador led to the creation of the world’s most dangerous gang – the Mara Salvatrucha. Last semester they studied the Spanish Civil War. And now we are embarking on the Guerra Sucia in Argentina. They know the drill…fascism versus communism…same story different people. They have a LOT of useful background knowledge. So why would I need to TELL them about it?

I decided I really love using stations this year. I’ve always wanted to try them, but this year I took the plunge. In chatting with others via twitter, I learned that stations really work well when they are used to introduce new information. So, this is what I have come up with so far.

Station 1:

(A laptop is set up with the links open. I have small plastic baskets containing 5 sets of headphones and a headphone jack splitter for each station that involves listening.)

Listen to the song “Dinosaurios” y Charley Garcia

The lyrics are here: http://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=819221

Answer discussion questions together.

1. ¿Quiénes han desaparecido?
2. ¿Qué tono/emoción tiene la canción?
3. ¿El cantante menciona dinosaurios? ¿Por qué?
4. Translate this quote by Charley Garcia:   “Milagrosamente no me llevaron preso, ni me torturaron. Me pasó lo que le pasó a cualquier tipo que tenía el pelo largo: que me llevaran frecuentemente a comisarías, por ejemplo para pedirme explicaciones sobre las letras de las canciones.”

Station 2:

(A desktop computer is set up with the link open)

Día Nacional del Derecho a la Identidad
Watch this video (by the way, this video is awesomely comprehensible for my students!):

Listen to the video and write down 5 sentences in Spanish that describe the main idea of the video.

Station 3:

(A chromebook is set up with the link open)

Comparación de fotos

NOTE: This video is no longer available!

You will see several sets of 2 photos compared. In each set, what relationship do you think the person(s) who disappear(s) has to the others in the photo? Write at least 7 sentences.

__________ desapareció.

__________ y ___________ desparecieron.

Example: La madre tenía un bebé pero el bebé desapareció en la otra foto.

Station 4:

Wall of the disappeared activity

http://www.desaparecidos.org/arg/victimas/muro2.html

Haz clic en cinco fotos y llena la información.

NOMBRE	EDAD (AGE)	PROFESIÓN	¿HAY OTRA INFOMACIÓN IMPORTANTE?

Station 5:

Read the article and answer the questions.

I provided the Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo encuentran a otro hijo de desaparecidos article (which I modified slightly for improved comprehensibility) and a set of highlighters.

Station 6:

View the photos. Discuss in your group what you think is happening in each photo. Video yourself as you describe 3-4 of the photos to me in Spanish.

STATIONS PACKET

I am very excited that next week we will be viewing the film Cautiva and using Today’s Meet to chat about the film with Bethanie @lovemysummer Drew’s kiddos in North Carolina! Should be fun! I will let you know how the rest of the unit goes!

My pinterest board for La Guerra Sucia