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Los Caminos Antiguos
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Lesson Plan: Follow the Road to Farming
Standards-Based Themes: Geography, History, and Reading and Writing
By Amy Swartz, Fourth Grade Teacher, Denver Public Schools
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Overview
In this lesson, students will learn the history of farming for both Spanish and American settlers in the San Luis Valley. Through the use of interactive video, they will examine the various events occurring during the mid-1700s and 1800s in the United States and Mexico. By creating a dictionary of historical, agricultural, and regional terms, they will learn how farms and settlements were developed by pioneering people from both cultures. Students will create a picture of a Hispanic farm. Last, students will write a paragraph stating how these settlements affected the history and development of the San Luis Valley. |
Video
America's Byways, Los Caminos Antiguos
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. Interpret historical data
2. Create a specific dictionary
3. Make a historical drawing
4. Identify cause-and-effect relationships
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Colorado Model Content Standards Addressed
Geography Standard 2
Students know the physical and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define and study regions and their patterns of change.
Geography Standard 5
Students understand the effects of interactions between human and physical systems and the changes in meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
History Standard 1
Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships.
History Standard 4
Students understand how science, technology, and economic activity have developed, changed, and affected societies throughout history.
Reading and Writing Standard 4
Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.
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Materials for the Teacher
- Los Caminos Antiguos video
- Chart paper
- Markers
- Reference books
- Map of Colorado
- Spanish/English Dictionary
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Materials for Each Student
- Paper
- Pencil
- Markers
- Map of North America
- Piece of white 12" x 18" construction paper
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Pre-Viewing Focus
- Ask students to brainstorm some significant events in the history of Colorado. List their responses on chart paper. Students usually cite the Anasazi, trappers/traders, gold rush, etc., but may not mention farming or the Spanish heritage of the state.
- Have students focus on the early settlements in Colorado. Ask them to name some of the farming areas that might have existed during the mid-1800s.
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| Focus for Viewing
Tell students that they are going to check their predictions and learn more about this significant period of settlement by watching a video. To give students a specific responsibility for viewing, have them listen for the names of several mountains that define this important farming region. |
| Viewing Activities
Pass out paper for note taking and copies of a map of North America and START the video at Segment II, “Tierra Incognita” where Castelar Garcia is identifying the Sangre de Cristo, San Juans, Mt. Blanca, and La Sierra Blanca in the background. PAUSE the tape and ask students to tell you the names of the mountains that define this region. Find these mountains on a map of Colorado. Give students time to write the names of these mountains on their paper. Then have students circle this southern region of Colorado on their maps. PLAY the video so that students can hear the origin of the name for the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
PAUSE to ask students to identify the language used to name so much of this region (Spanish). Ask students to predict why Spanish words are used to name the places in this region. Have students look at their maps and note that Mexico is close to the United States and the people in Mexico speak Spanish.
Ask students to number their papers from 1 to 12. Explain that they will be making a special dictionary that includes English and Spanish words. Many of these words will explain the farming methods that the Spanish-speaking settlers used in the 1840s and 1850s in the San Luis Valley. RESUME the video and continue to view and PAUSE while adding the following words and their definitions to the dictionary: land grants, San Luis Valley, varas, acequias, crops, irrigation, communal pastures, and vegas. REWIND the video to check on the definitions. Look up definitions in a dictionary if students are still unclear. RESUME the video and add the words Hispanic and Ute to the dictionary. PAUSE and predict the problems that occurred when these two cultures wanted the same land, but for different reasons.
FAST FORWARD to Segment III, “A New Flag” which begins with a picture of the American flag. PLAY until the narrator explains what happened to the Utes. PAUSE and discuss the history of the region: the Mexican-American War, the concept of Manifest Destiny, the changes in government, and the confinement of the Utes to reservations that occurred during this time. Add the words reservation and treaty to the dictionary. Explain to the students that after the United States acquired this land in the San Luis Valley, the Hispanic people living there had difficulties keeping their land and farms.
FAST FORWARD to Segment IV, “A Breeze of Freedom,” to the archival photo of Hispanic men standing in front of a farmhouse. PLAY the video to the end as the narrator explains the legal battles that Hispanic farmers continue to fight in the courts. He also explains the traditions, the “breeze of freedom,” and the feeling of security that keeps this culture alive in the San Luis Valley.
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| Post-Viewing Activities
Check the students’ dictionaries for accuracy. Answer any questions or allow time for discussion. Explain that the San Luis Valley is still the home of many proud Hispanic farmers. Remind students that these farmers perfected a special kind of farming that is still used today. This special method of farming was based on their Spanish traditions. The ancient Mexicans had used irrigation to bring water to their crops. The Mexican settlers brought this method to the San Luis Valley where rainfall was scarce. The settlers from Mexico laid out their fields in long strips called varas and shared grazing land, called vegas, with their neighbors.
Students should recall scenes of farming in the San Luis Valley from the archival photos and color footage in the video. To help students interpret this important portion of Colorado history, have them draw a Hispanic farm as it may have looked in the mid-1800s. Students should remember to include a backdrop of mountains, adobe farm dwellings, irrigation ditches, fenced fields planted in rows, and large communal pastures. Some may want to add a church in the distance.
Ask students to write a paragraph that explains why agriculture in the San Luis Valley is significant to the history and development of the region. |
| Resources
Curran, Joseph, ed.
Fearon's United States History.
New Jersey: Globe Fearon Educational Publishing, 1994.
Downey, Matthew and Metcalf, Fay.
Colorado: Crossroads of the West.
Boulder, Colorado: Pruett Publishing Co,1986. |
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