3 Place-Based Ideas to Explore Our Connection with Mexico
Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner. Cue the maracas, the margaritas and the guacamole!
In Spanish-bilingual classrooms, teachers might take advantage of Cinco de Mayo as an opportunity to share the culture, traditions, and celebrations of Mexico. Teachers Pay Teachers is full of cutesy lesson ideas with typical symbols associated with the country. I’ve often shied away from the holiday in my teaching because of the feeling of perpetuating stereotypes and the sort of superficial nature of the holiday.
This year I started to think about how I might connect my students with Mexico through a place-based lens, beginning with their own communities here in Calgary and Alberta. In this post I’ll share 3 Mexico-inspired ideas to try this year instead…
1.Compare city planning between La Ciudad de México (CDMX) and Calgary to answer this question: What might Calgary be like in 400 years? ¿Cómo será la ciudad de Calgary dentro de 400 años?
This Calgary Herald article has many starting points to use as “sparks”. Here are some of my favourites:
How are Mexico City’s alcaldías like Calgary’s quadrants?
What is population density and how does each city’s density compare?
How effective is each city’s public transportation system?
How is being a child different in Calgary that it would be in Mexico City?
I’m sure you’re imagining the opportunities for rich vocabulary development:
los espacios públicos, la población, el transporte público, las aceras, una calle peatonal, abarrotado/a, limpio/a, vivir, viajar al trabajo, diariamente…
Any opportunity to use math is always exciting, so imagine taking a map of one of your student’s neighbourhoods and researching the number of people who live there. Suggest that students try multiplying the number by 4. Students might imagine what it would be like to live on their street with 4 times as many residents.
2. Learn about the economic connections between Alberta and Mexico to answer this question: How do Alberta and Mexico collaborate to innovate and to improve industries in both countries? ¿Cómo colaboran Alberta y México para innovar y mejorar las industrias de los dos países?
The Alberta government website contains a ton of information about the partnership between Mexico and our province. Stand out points include:
Mexico is the 4th ranked country for Alberta’s exports. Read more here.
The Calgary and Edmonton ring roads are part of a larger transportation corridor called the CANAMEX Corridor to improve transportation of people and goods to/from Mexico! Read more here.
Alberta and Jalisco have been sister-states since 1999! Read more here.
It might be interesting for students to consider how they benefit in their day-to-day lives from these partnerships. What would happen if this relationship were to weaken?
3. Benefitting from our urban setting in Calgary, consider how a Calgarian can experience Mexican cuisine right here in the prairies with the following question: How is Mexican cuisine unique and what could a Calgarian expect when visiting a Mexican restaurant in Calgary? ¿Cómo es única la cocina mexicana y cómo sería una visita a un restaurante mexicano en Calgary?
To answer this question, students might explore some of the Mexican restaurants in their city and take a look at the menus. What are some of the dishes that are common between the menus? The ingredients? Are these typical, day--to-day dishes in Mexico or more special meals?
Tu tierra: SE Calgary
The Moose and Poncho: Downtown Calgary
Tres Marias: SW Calgary
Native Tongues: Downtown Calgary
I know we are still living in the middle of a global pandemic, but dream with me about eating together with our classes! Sitting alongside them as they explore new flavours and, right in their own city! Imagine the ways of incorporating rich-language in such a multi-sensory topic.
Obviously these are three of many possible connections between us and Mexico. I’m curious as to the others that come to mind for you! From a place-based lens, students will form deeper connections to a topic when they can experience it in their own lives. In our dreams we would have the opportunity to jump on a plane with our class and eat fresh tacos that our students ordered in Spanish… In reality, there are infinite possibilities for connecting them to faraway places right here in their city!
I hope these ideas inspire you to go beyond Cinco de Mayo and connect your students in meaningful, authentic ways. If you would like me to share more with you about how you can incorporate place-based education into your practice, be sure to sign up for updates about future products and opportunities!
