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Welcome Teachers and
Parents!
Here
are three interdisciplinary units that each include: a glossary
of terms, a discussion guide and a project to engage your students
in a dialogue about poor communities, the importance of community
in our society, and lessons on how to create change in a community.
These teaching aids were designed for students in grades 7-12 and
are standards-based.
Use
these materials to engage your students in a thoughtful and lively
discussion encouraging them to consider their own experiences, what
they have learned from the film The Forgotten Americans,
and what they have learned from others about how people connect
in communities.
These
questions and guides were developed by the Llano
Grande Center for Research and Development in conjunction with
teachers and high school students who live in or near colonias
in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. Their own efforts to improve the
quality of life in their neighborhoods are a model for understanding
how powerful it is when people work together.
Please
send us your feedback
on how you used these teaching guides and what results you found.
Thanks.
Life
in a Colonia (Download
PDF)
Teachers
or parents may use this unit to begin a discussion about life in
a poor neighborhood. It encourages students to go beyond a classroom
discussion and to view their lives in a different way.
Community
Organization (Download
PDF)
This unit enables teachers and parents to discuss with students
how communities are organized. It encourages discussion on what
it takes to mobilize a community, to make a change, and how our
political system works.
Your
Town (Download
PDF)
The
last of the three units encourages students to examine what assets
and liabilities are relevant to poor communities and what it takes
to make a change in a neighborhood. It is just the beginning step
for a discussion about life in less fortunate communities.
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