I spent the last few days working on the curriculum for my enrichment class. This year each teacher will teach a 30 minute enrichment period on a topic they are passionate about. I love the idea and am thrilled to delve deeper into the monarchs with my classes! I will teach the class 4 times, to a different class each marking period.
I decided to focus a lot on the area of Mexico where the Monarchs migrate. That means looking at the Aztecs and Mayans, modern-day Michoacan, and the monarch’s effects on the culture. I’ve come up with a rough outline of the class, seen below.
Filed under: enrichment, monarch butterflies, monarchs | Tagged: monarch butterflies |
The Reading Zone 
I’ve got a few books dealing with Monarch Migration for a post on Friday… I’ll try to remember to link back to you with that post!
Sarah,
It looks like you have a great class planned. That will be a fun project for you.
I wanted to get back to you about the resource post. I have unpacked my classroom, but I realized that all the books I was thinking of are in Spanish. Do you have any Spanish speaking students in your class?
It might be fun for you to show your students the on-line version of the Purépecha page on La Voz de Michoacán (the local newspaper). It is bilingual (Spanish and Purépecha). This is an example of how the culture and traditions are still present today. They also have bilingual schools in Michoacán to maintain the native language. Here is an example link for the newspaper: http://www.vozdemichoacan.com.mx/secciones/secciono/E001816.html
Even if your students don’t know either language, it might still be fun to see what their written language looks like.
I also thought about how you might show your students Purépecha ruins. Tzintzunzan is an example. Even though the Aztecs and Mayans are more well known overall, the Purépechas were the group that is located in the region where the butterflies go. I am sure that you already know that. Your students might be interested in knowing that the Purepechans were one of the only groups that was able to resist the Aztecs.
Sorry I could not find English book examples for you, but I hope that the few ideas will be helpful. They were tidbits that I found interesting when I was in Mexico, and my students seemed to enjoy the information as well.
I just remembered that since you are also focusing on immigration, you might want to use Francisco Jimenez’s La Mariposa. It is a Spanish title but available in both English and Spanish. It has both immigration and monarch butterflies in it.
Mrs. V-
Thanks so much! I actually visited a bilingual Spanish/Purepecha school in Santa Fe, Michoacan when I visited last winter. I was also fortunate enough to visit Tzintzunzan but had completely forgotten until I just read your message. When I visited the school the teachers gave me their basic Purepecha language workbooks so I will be letting the kids explore the language that way. However, I will also show them the newspaper website- thank you so much for the link!
I would have loved to actually visit one of the schools. I just heard about them. That is nice that you were able to get the workbooks.
I look forward to hearing more about your class as the year goes on. I bet your students are going to absolutely love it. It seems anytime teachers are as passionate about a topic as you are with this one, the excitement is contagious!