Strategies
In order to give students the opportunity to better understand the Spanish Civil War and to be able to decode many of the themes symbols, cultural, social and political references, I am going to gradually introduce background information to them. The first day, I am going to show them a couple of very representative pictures either on the overhead projector or in the smart board, and I am going to ask them to describe in the target language what they see, by calling on different people. They will have a graphic organizer in front of them in which they will write down the information they are getting from their classmates. I do not count on them knowing what the pictures are, but I want to question them to see their approaches. Upon the completion of the graphic organizer, I will ask them to choose one of the two pictures and create a 10-line story about it. I will reveal the time frame we are dealing with and I will ask students to brainstorm on the topic.
Once I have pointed out the topic of study, I will ask them to write at least five things they hope to learn within the unit. This might seem abstract, but I think that at least it forces them to reflect on the process of learning. Immediately after this, I will give them a reading comprehension exercise that will consist of a very brief easy overview of the Civil War. My intention with this opening lesson is to call students attention to the subject matter in an effective way so they will be motivated.
The unit will be taught once or twice a week starting in December when students will be more confident using Spanish as the only language to communicate in class.
"Discussing Movies"
In many lessons of the unit I will start the class introducing one or two (depending on time) "Viewing Cue(s)" contained in Timothy Corrigan's The Film Experience. (8) As the author says, "they are designed to encourage critical viewing habits and offer cues for film analysis." I will try to sample all these with scenes of Spanish movies on the civil war, when possible. This will take a good 20 to 30 minutes every day, but I consider learning to look at a movie important. In addition, they will be practicing their listening comprehension.
Some of the movies to be used for this purpose will be:
- Los Años Bárbaros (Spain, Fernando Colomo, 1998)
- iAy, Carmela! (Spain, Carlos Saura, 1991)
- Belle Époque (Spain, Fernando Trueba, 1992)
- La Colmena (Spain, Mario Camus, 1982)
- Los días del Pasado (Spain, Mario Camus, 1977)
- El Espíritu de la Colmena (Spain, Victor Erice, 1973)
- La Hora de los Valientes (Spain, Antonio Mercero, 1998)
- Libertarias (Spain, Vicente Aranda, 1996)
- Muerte de un Ciclista (Spain, Juan Antonio Bardem, 1955)
- La Niña de tus Ojos (Spain, Fernando Trueba, 1998)
- Tu Nombre Envenena mis Sueños (Spain, Pilar Miró, 1996)
- Soldados de Salamina (Spain, David Trueba, 2003)
- La Vaquilla (Spain, Luis García Berlanga, 1985)
- El Verdugo (Spain, Luis García Berlanga, 1963)
Comparative time line
In order to facilitate students acquiring a global view of history and to frame the conflict in a context, we will be creating a comparative time line, including the main historical events in the United States, the rest of the world (just mentioning the most relevant issues) and Spain. This activity will directly address one of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences (9): the visual-spatial.
"Posters, pictures and other visuals"
Every other week we will be analyzing a picture, or a poster. We will use the same format as the opening lesson. Students will first examine and discuss posters using their prior knowledge and, later on, individually they will either write a paragraph on it or answer given reflective questions previously prepared by the teacher. One of these will be Picasso´s Guernica (1937.) See Sample Lesson Plan 2: Guernica.
War songs and lyrics
We will work on this strategy only twice to sample real war songs. We will work on two different (and carefully chosen) songs: one from the Republican side and one from the Nationalist side. (10)
The first day we will listen to one of the songs a couple of times. The teacher will give each student the lyrics with numbered blank spaces. The first time they will be asked to listen carefully and to read along to see if they understand. The second time they will fill in the blanks. They might need a third listening of the song, since the quality of the audio is not as clear as I wished. The teacher will ask if a third time is necessary. If so, the teacher will write a "word bank" on the board to make it easier.
A couple of students will read the lyrics as a way of correcting the exercise. We will stop in each stanza to go over the meanings and symbology. The teacher will question different students on what they think.
The second day for this exercise (it does not have to be consecutive, actually I recommend to do it a week later), we will be doing exactly the same thing: two or three listenings to the song, fill in the blanks, reading. . . The main difference will be that they will be asked to compare both of them. They will be given a chart and they will have to reflect on the different ideologies of the two political groups and compare them. We will discuss this orally in class and they will be asked to write a long reflective essay as homework. The teacher will give them a week to work on this assignment.
Debate
Towards the end of the unit, the teacher will evenly and thoughtfully divide the class in two. One group is going to be representing the Nationalist party and the other will be representing the Republican Party. Students will have to defend their ideology and try to reason and convince the other group. Students will get a rubric and some strategies for effective speech. They will have to complete mini-tasks both days in order to make sure they utilize their time well. This will take a couple of classes to complete. The teacher will be supervising and helping both groups. When the class engages in the debate, a student moderator will lend authenticity to the process.
Analysis and comparing of movies
As mentioned before, both movies Raza and La Lengua de las Mariposas will be analyzed comparatively. Students will be asked to compare a couple of scenes from both. They will have to write a short essay doing so and introducing Corrigan's "viewing cues" mentioned previously.
Final Project
This final project will be explained to students at the beginning of the unit, so they will have it in mind and can prepare their material: gathering information form the movies, handouts. . .
Students will have to prepare a final group project that will be presented in class. The teacher will divide the class in four different groups. Each group will be assigned a different task. In order to decide who will do what, students will have to choose a person who will draw a paper with the task.
The four tasks will be: Politics, language, culture and film. Detailed rubrics will be given to each group.
Política (politics)
Students will gather information on the major political groups of the moment, what were their ideologies, what did they defend. . . Students will be asked to identify examples and information in the movies we watch. This is a good practice to develop a critical attitude since identification will lead to analysis. They can do whatever they want in order to present their research to the rest of the class, as long as they do so in Spanish: posters, a Power Point presentation, games, iMovie. . ..
Lengua-glosario (language)
Since we are in a language class, this group is going to develop a glossary with warlike, propagandistic and political terms that appear in the movies and handouts. Students will have to put it together and organize it thoughtfully. They will have to present it to the teacher a couple of days before their presentation to the class. Parts of the glossary will be on the final assessment or quiz.
Cultura (culture)
This group will have to identify specific Spanish cultural features in the movies (good resources will be the No-dos, movies such as La Niña de tus Ojos, La Vaquilla. . .) This group could make a Power Point presentation showing still images and explaining them. (These are just suggestions, the teacher will have no problem to get different creative proposals from the students if she thinks they will work.)
Películas (movies)
This group will be doing a film glossary in Spanish in which they will explain terms and will show examples from the movies. They will not be able to use the same scenes or the teacher used while working with the "viewing cues." Students will have to give the teacher a copy of the glossary a couple of days before their presentation to the class. Parts of the glossary will be on the final assessment or quiz.
Every period, students will be given a brief handout structured differently for every group so they can take notes so the teacher will see the progress and will be able to help a group if needed.
Assessment
As part of the final project, every group will submit 15 multiple choice questions from their work to the teacher and to their classmates. The teacher will choose about 40 of them that will pass at the very end of the unit.
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