Curriculum Highlights: Middle School Spanish – Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo
This week, middle school Spanish teacher Camilo Coelho shares how his Spanish Immersion class developed a deeper understanding and perspective around the history of Argentine changemakers, while practicing their Spanish language development through discussion.
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In eighth grade Spanish Immersion, students explored the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentine women who have spent decades searching for their children and grandchildren who were forcibly disappeared during Argentina’s military dictatorship. Through selected readings and videos, students developed their Spanish reading and listening comprehension while learning about Argentina’s history and the power of peaceful activism.
They also strengthened their conversational fluency through class discussions guided by the unit’s essential questions: What does it mean to be an activist? In what situations do we show courage? What methods can we use to effect change in our lives, communities, and the world? By exploring the concept of changemakers—people who work to create positive change—students reflected on identity, human rights, perseverance, and the importance of standing up for justice.
These lessons help students broaden their perspectives, develop empathy, and recognize how they can contribute to positive change in their own communities and the world. To bring their learning into the present, students completed a culminating project in which they explored a current issue they care about and the individuals or organizations working to address it. Through essays, advocacy campaigns, or oral presentations in Spanish, they explained why the issue matters, connected it to the courage and perseverance of the Abuelas, and considered ways to create positive change. This project encouraged students to apply their language skills to real-world issues and reflect on how they, too, can become changemakers in their communities and beyond.
By: Camilo Coelho
Middle School Spanish Teacher
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Live Oak’s Curriculum Highlights series gives faculty a platform to share the engaging learning that is taking place in their classrooms throughout the year. Choosing an activity or unit of their choice, Live Oak faculty tell the story of what inspired their selected academic highlight, how their students’ learning intersects with year-long throughlines and essential questions that seed important big-picture thinking, and why the skills, knowledge, and perspectives developed in their activity translate to their students’ lives beyond the classroom.
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In eighth grade Spanish Immersion, students explored the story of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, a group of Argentine women who have spent decades searching for their children and grandchildren who were forcibly disappeared during Argentina’s military dictatorship. Through selected readings and videos, students developed their Spanish reading and listening comprehension while learning about Argentina’s history and the power of peaceful activism.
They also strengthened their conversational fluency through class discussions guided by the unit’s essential questions: What does it mean to be an activist? In what situations do we show courage? What methods can we use to effect change in our lives, communities, and the world? By exploring the concept of changemakers—people who work to create positive change—students reflected on identity, human rights, perseverance, and the importance of standing up for justice.
These lessons help students broaden their perspectives, develop empathy, and recognize how they can contribute to positive change in their own communities and the world. To bring their learning into the present, students completed a culminating project in which they explored a current issue they care about and the individuals or organizations working to address it. Through essays, advocacy campaigns, or oral presentations in Spanish, they explained why the issue matters, connected it to the courage and perseverance of the Abuelas, and considered ways to create positive change. This project encouraged students to apply their language skills to real-world issues and reflect on how they, too, can become changemakers in their communities and beyond.
By: Camilo Coelho
Middle School Spanish Teacher
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Live Oak’s Curriculum Highlights series gives faculty a platform to share the engaging learning that is taking place in their classrooms throughout the year. Choosing an activity or unit of their choice, Live Oak faculty tell the story of what inspired their selected academic highlight, how their students’ learning intersects with year-long throughlines and essential questions that seed important big-picture thinking, and why the skills, knowledge, and perspectives developed in their activity translate to their students’ lives beyond the classroom.
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