Making Global Connections

8th Grade Social Studies Period 1 Ms. Babiarz, Mr. Coyle and Ms. Janney

Learning Objectives
The students will be able to: The students will:

explain how the different

economies of the United States and Mexico frequently result in immigration.

determine the main ideas

from the reading selection and create a double entry journal.

explain how immigrants

affect the United States.

integrate the information

provided in the video and map with the reading selection.

define new words presented

in the reading selection.

U.S.-Mexican Border

Can you locate the Mexican border where it meets the United States? Can you locate Vermont? This is where the video was created.

Name_____________

Date___________________

Vocabulary Warm-Up
Field of Tears Directions: Write a definition for each vocabulary word under the column What I Think it Means. Your teacher will lead the class in discussion and you will be able to complete the What it Actually Means column. Words Border-Patrol Agents Hispanic What I Think it Means What it Actually Means

What do you see or think about these words?

Immigrants Maize Migrants Rubbish Vast Undocumented

We will discover as a class the actual definitions of these words.

Under the Cloak of Darkness: Vermonts Mexican Farm Workers

https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Jpuh7wwjfho

You will be watching this video and then participating in a whole class review about Mexico and border economics. We will connect this knowledge with the reading.

FIELD OF TEARS READING ASSIGNMENT

TERESA VEGA'S first son was two when a flood carried rubbish, dead animals and disease through the canals of Oaxaca, her desperately poor home state in southern Mexico . The boy started vomiting, got diarrhea and ran a fever. There was a doctor a few hours' walk away, but Ms Vega and her husband, Marco Lopez, had no money to pay him. They could do nothing, she says. They watched their son die. Ms Vega now says this event is the reason for everything she and her husband have done since. When they had another son, Erminio, they decided that they had to make money in case he also fell ill. But Oaxaca offered them no jobs , save for a bit of maize -harvesting every July. Teresa's younger brother Felix had already left for America to find work in California's fruit and vegetable fields. In 2005, seeing no alternative, Ms Vega and her husband set out to follow. Once they walked all night through the desert of Arizona , slashing themselves on fences of barbed wire and running out of water, before border-patrol agents ambushed them. The agents tied them up, shouted at them, threw them into a van and then into a freezing jail , where they slept on a bare floor for several nights until enough migrants had been rounded up to fill a bus that took them back to the Mexican side.

Felix Vega and three of his group, including his wife, were dropped off in Oxnard (they are back in America after a successful border crossing), famous for its strawberries. But they arrived out of season , so they slept on the streets, then in a doghouse, then in somebody's car. For two months they did not bathe and barely ate. Finally, they found jobs picking strawberries and made their first money in America And thus they joined the vast undocumented workforce that supports the production of America's food supply. The government estimates that more than 80% of America's crop workers are Hispanic (mostly Mexican), and more than half are illegal aliens. But Rob Williams, the director of the Migrant Farm worker Justice Project (which represents farm workers in court), considers those numbers grossly misleading because they rely on self-reporting. He estimates that more than 90% of farm workers are sin papeles (without papers ), just as the Vegas are.

Retrieved from: http://www.economist.com/node/17722932

Review the thought activating questions on your reading sheet and discuss with your small group. Dont forget to activate your prior knowledge about this topic.

You will read the entry and connect it to your life. What does this reading make you feel and think?

Do you know anyone who has immigrated? what do you know about this topic?

Make a personal connection !!

Name______________________________

Answer the four questions related to our class work today. Show me what you know !

EXIT CARD
Make connections and infer meaning.

Define new vocabulary.

Latino Heroes Homework

There have been several Latinos throughout history who have made a huge impact on America and the world. The impact of these Latino Heroes ranges from cultural and political impact to sports and entertainment. Please choose a Latino hero from the list below or pick one of your own and use a book, newspaper article or reliable website (not Wikipedia) to learn more about your hero. Please bring your selected reading with you to class. Your assignment is to write one paragraph about the impact your hero has made in the world and draw a picture that encompasses his or her accomplishments. Try to find an impact beyond simple sport and entertainment value the athletes and actors have likely made an impact far beyond the world of entertainment! Remember, a hero is different to everyone. If you choose one of the controversial heroes, be prepared to explain why.

You are free to choose a different hero not on the list.

Suggested Latino Heroes: Cesar Chavez Ruben Blades Alex Rodriguez Enrique Iglesias Gloria Estefan Ernesto "Che" Guevara Gabriel Garcia Marquez Rigoberta Menchu Eva Peron Vicente Fox Judge Sonia Sotomayor Hugo Chavez Fidel Castro