Las Madres de la Plaza Lesson Plan (Spanish 4AC)

Objectives:
-

Students will understand La Guerra Sucia (The Dirty War) and its affect on Argentina.
Students will understand who Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo were.
Students will understand how this war still affects the people of Argentina today.

Rationale:
Students have been learning about the family structure and beliefs in Spanish speaking countries
during this unit. This lesson is to introduce some history to the unit about a topic many students probably
have never heard of. The history of this war and what the mothers of many of the disappeared victims did
in terms of protesting then and even now, relates to the family ties that have been discussed throughout
the course of this unit.

Activity
Warm Up
Picture

Time
5 min

Description
Students will look at a picture of
people camping out in tents in front of
Best Buy before Black Friday and
answer the following prompt, in
Spanish, to their partner; Have you
ever been this dedicated to buy
electronics? Have you participated in
Black Friday? Why or why not?
Before beginning the cultural lesson,
students will learn 10 vocabulary
words that are focused around the
lesson. Students will write the
translation of each word down on
their worksheet.

Teacher Thinking
This is picture and prompts attracts
the attention of the students. Students
will eventually relate this to Las
Madres and their determination to
protest for their missing children and
grandchildren every Thursday.

Vocabulary

7 min

Anticipation/
Conversation

7 min

On their packet, students have

received 4 anticipation and
conversation questions. Students will
have 2 minutes discuss each question
with a partner. After 2 minutes, we
will discuss them together as a class.

Some of the questions relate to What

does Guerra Sucia mean? Students
are given the chance to think about
protests in the US and war that will
lead into the conversation about the
Dirty War and Las Madres.

La Guerra
Sucia

10 min

Students will listen to my presentation

on the Dirty War before explaining
who The mothers of the Plaza Mayo
were. Students will write down some
facts they learned during the
presentation on their sheet.

Information about the Dirty War will

help students understand what
happened and why the mothers were
protesting. Many students have
probably not heard about the war and
this presentation is to ensure students
understand the history.

The PowerPoint will have pictures

and the Spanish word on the screen.
Students will guess the translation by
the picture and I will confirm. These
words will appear various times
throughout the lesson and I want
students to know their meaning.

Brain Break
Video
Las Madres
de la Plaza
Reading/
Discussion

5 min

Short Spanish Video

15 min

Students will read a short article about

Las Madres and answer a few of the
comprehension questions
individually. After the reading,
students will listen to my presentation
on Las Madres and I will promote a
discussion with my students.

The article conveys some important

facts about Las Madres and it was
the perfect way to start up a
conversation with students. After the
article, I am able to provide more
details to the students about this
history.

Video de las
Madres

5 min

Students will watch a short authentic

video that displays footage from the
protest and these mothers expressing
their feelings and thoughts about their
disappeared children. Students will
follow along with the dialogue on
their worksheet and fill in the blank
with words they hear.

This video is an authentic video that

shows the women that were part of
this protest group. This video forces
students to listen to the authentic
dialogue and comprehend what they
are expressing. This authentic source
also allows students to view some of
the protests and real women that
suffered.

Writing and
Reflection

10 min

After students have learned about Las

Madres, I would like them to write
down what they learned today and
also to put some perspective into the
lesson. The prompt also asks students
to imagine they were one of Las
Madres and to think about how they
would feel, what they would think
about.

This is a nice way to end things in the

form of an assessment and to also
assign as a homework assignment if
we run out of time at the end of the
hour (which we most likely will).
Students will have a chance to reflect
what they learned throughout the
lesson and also to think about the
types of emotions that these women
experienced.

Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo (Worksheet)

Vocabulario
Los Desaparecidos
El Dictador
La Guerra Sucia
Los Nietos
Embarazada
Secuestrada
Recuperado
El Golpe Militar
Gritar
Protestar

___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
__________ _________________
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________

Anticipacin y Conversacin
1. Son tpicas las protestas conducidas por madres y abuelas? Conoces alguna?
2. De qu sirve una plaza en el mundo hispnico?
3. Qu puede significar la frase <<guerra sucia>>?
4. Piensas que el gobierno tiene secretos?
Durante la presentacin escriba 5 cosas que aprendas
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Despus de Leer:
Por favor, responde a las siguientes preguntas en INGLS:
1. Describe the problem shared by members of <Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo>.
2. What goal do <Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo> share or want?

3. What are two reasons that <Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo> protest?

4. Where and when do <Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo> protest?

Video Corto de Las Madres
Mujer 1: <<No nos dicen a nosotros si estn vivos, si estn muertos. Por qu no nos
_____________________? Si buscamos eso nada ms. Que nos respondan, nada ms. Despus
nos retiramos.>>
Mujer 2: <<Lo que el gobierno diga. No es que dice _______________. Miente, miente. Hace 2
aos que estamos as, dos aos.>>
Mujer 3: <<Mi ________________ estaba __________________ de cinco meses cuando se la
llevaron. Mi _____________ tiene que haber nacido en _______________ del aos pasado. Hasta
ahora no he podido saber nada de l.
Mujer 4: << Nosotros solamente queremos saber dnde estn nuestros ________________, vivos
o muertos. Angustia, porque no sabemos si estn enfermos, si tienen fro, si tienen
_______________, no sabemos nada. Y desesperacin, seor, porque ya no sabemos a quin
recurrir. Consulados, consulados, embajadas, ministerios, iglesias, todas partes se no han
cerrado todas partes se no han cerrado las ________________. Por eso les rogamos a ustedes
les rogamos a ustedes son nuestra ltima _______________. Por favor, aydennos.
Aydennos, por favor! Son nuestra ltima esperanza>>

Dicen Mentiras Puertas Agosto Nieto Hijos Embarazada Esperanza Hija Hambre


Refleja y Escriba; Aprendemos sobre la Guerra Sucia y Las Madres de la Plaza. Qu
aprendes sobre las Madres de la Plaza y lo que hicieron? Depus, imagnate que era una
Madre de la Plaza de Mayo, Cmo te sientes? Qu quieres? Qu piensas?
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