Author: Michael Steele-Eytle

School/Organization:

West Philadelphia High School

Year: 2008

Seminar: Philadelphia and the Immigrant Experience

Grade Level: 9-12

Keywords: Caribbean, Central America, Hispanic presence, immigrants, immigration, Latinos in Philadelphia, lectura, Level Two Spanish, Mexico, South America, Spanish

School Subject(s): Languages, Spanish

La Gente de Latinoamérica en Filadelfia is a collection of ten lessons written in Spanish that aims to inform Level Two Spanish students of the diverse Hispanic presence in Philadelphia. This population includes long-term residents and immigrants from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America. Though the Puerto Ricans from the Caribbean region are well known to most and the Dominicans have become familiar, there are others who have revealed and maintained vestiges of their unique culture to this area of the eastern seaboard. Among those are the Mexicans, Cubans, Columbians, and to a lesser extent the Peruvians, Guatemalans, and Hondurans.

The Lecturas (short and informative readings) delineate, as much as possible within the parameters of the unit, the history of Latinos in Philadelphia from as far back as the 1700s up to and including 2000, “when merchants traded with Cuba and Puerto Rico, when people temporarily migrated primarily for work or immigrated permanently for educational or professional opportunities or to flee regimes of terror as refugees, political exiles and activists.” The final lesson ¡Te Toca a Ti! (It’s Your Turn), invites students to use the resources of the Web and create lessons based on celebrations in the Hispanic world.

The lessons can to be taught within a twenty-day period depending on the proficiency of the student. English translations are available in the Appendix, however, it should be noted that some of the activities and exercises are lost in English.

Download Unit: Michael-Steele-Eytle-2.pdf

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