PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Based on the SEED Common Core of Teaching (CCT) Rubric for Effective Teaching
Title of Lesson: Dos caras de Potosí--Jigsaw Reading and Discussion
Author: Jennifer Glandt
School: Ashwaubenon High School
Subject Areas: Spanish
Grade Level(s): 9-12
Time Frame to Allow for Lesson: one 90-minute Block
Introduction:
The lesson was created for upper level Spanish students in a Latin American Civilization course.
It is based on the colonial boom-town of Potosi, Bolivia and the complex society that quickly
grew up to support the silver mining, which in turn supported the Spanish Empire. Students will
work in four expert groups (Mining and Money, the Mita System and Slavery, the Commerce
and Society of Potosi, and the Birth of World Trade) and then reorganize into base groups to
share their knowledge and complete an exit ticket activity.
Geographic Connections:
Change, Continuity and Context
D2.His.1.9-12 Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique
circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
Vocabulary: real de a ocho, fundir, la mena, el lingote, el sello, la mita, el desarrollo, criollo,
mestizo, impuestos
Content Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CC.AA.R.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and
to make logical inferences from it. Cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to
support conclusions drawn from text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.SC.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of
conversations and collaborations with diverse partners building on others’ ideas and expressing
their own clearly and persuasively.
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Based on the SEED Common Core of Teaching (CCT) Rubric for Effective Teaching
Essential Question:
How did wide ranging patterns of cause and effect result in the rise and fall of Potosi? The rise
and fall of the Spanish Empire?
Literacy through the Content Area: Each student, as a member of an expert group, will be
responsible for a one-page, approximately 400 word focused reading in the target language.
Their goal is to not only understand the reading but to process it into their own words in order
to be able to explain it to base group members who read about different aspects of Potosi. The
students will also be looking for evidence of cause and effect patterns to give their reading a
specific focus as well.
Placement of Lesson within Broader Curriculum/Context:
This lesson follows a unit on Pizarro’s conquest of the Incan Empire and transitions into a larger
unit on the colonial period. It provides a springboard for students to delve into particular areas
of interest that they will explore in individual research projects.
Learner Background:
All students will have completed at least through Spanish 5. Our 3 upper level courses rotate so
that there is some difference in language ability and background knowledge. Most students are
at least Intermediate Mid on the ACTFL proficiency scale. Students who have already taken
Spanish Civilization will have more background knowledge on Carlos I/V and Felipe II.
However, the readings do not assume nor require this background.
Objectives for Lesson: Students will be able to:
• Read a page in Spanish to obtain information and retell the information learned in their
own words
• Identify cause and effect relationships and how they intersect
• Express ideas and opinions through spoken and written language in Spanish
Integration of 21st century skills:
Students will be working in base and expert groups to construct an understanding of the
Spanish colonial world. The focus on cause and effect gives them a task beyond simply decoding
the language and forces them to think more deeply about the content. The exit ticket also asks
them to make connections to other knowledge and to their own lives where possible.
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Based on the SEED Common Core of Teaching (CCT) Rubric for Effective Teaching
Assessment:
• Formative Assessment: Informal assessment of students’ language proficiency
during group work and discussions and assessment of Exit ticket responses.
• Summative Assessment: This would come later, at the end of the colonial unit
students give 5 minute presentations and hand in a research paper on the topic of their
choice. This allows students to focus in on an area or person of particular interest to
them.
Materials/Resources:
Teacher-created documents:
Introduction page projected for class
4 one-page readings:
La minería y monedas (mining and money)
La mita y la esclavitud (the Mita System and Slavery)
El comercio y la sociedad de Potosí (Trade and the Culture of Potosí)
El nacimiento del comercio mundial (the Birth of World Trade)
Exit ticket
Sources:
Dell, Melissa. The Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining Mita. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, 2009. Web
Flynn, Dennis O. and Giráldez, Arturo. Born with a “Silver Spoon”: The Origin of World Trade
in 1571. University of the Pacific Journal of World History, Vol. 6, No. 2 ©1995 by University of
Hawai‘i Press Web. http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/journals/jwh/jwh062p201.pdf
Demos, John. The High Place: Potosi. Web. http://www.common-place.org/vol-03/no-
04/potosi/
Flynn, Dennis O. and Giráldez, Arturo. CHINA AND THE SPANISH EMPIRE. Web.
http://orff.uc3m.es/bitstream/handle/10016/2009/RHE-1996-XIV-2-Flynn-
Giraldez.pdf?sequence=1
La trata de esclavos en la Casa de Moneda de Potosí – Bolivia
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos70/trata-esclavos-casa-moneda-potosi/trata-esclavos-
casa-moneda-potosi.shtml#ixzz387YB3xvs
Mangan, Jane E., Trading Roles: Gender, Ethnicity, and the Urban Economy in Colonial Potosí
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Based on the SEED Common Core of Teaching (CCT) Rubric for Effective Teaching
Lesson Development/Instructional Strategies
Introduction:
Start with the introduction page either as a hand-out or projected on a screen for the whole
class. The image is that of a Spanish 8 real coin. If the students do not already have the
background knowledge, this would be the perfect time to explain the symbolism seen on the coin
as well as the Spanish flag (i.e., the Pillars of Hercules, the two worlds under one crown, the
origin of the dollar sign, etc.). If possible, purchase a few sets of replica coins and show how
change could be made by cutting the coin into pieces.
In English we refer to two “sides” of a coin—in Spanish they say the two “faces”. The
introduction uses the image of two sides of a coin to explain how the students will be studying
the two sides of Potosi—the grandeur and power on the one side and the poverty and oppression
on the other. Depending on the level of background information covered, the introduction could
be very brief or perhaps take 10-15 minutes if the symbolism is explored and replicas of coins
passed around.
Base groups:
Arrange the students into four equal groups. Explain that they are going to look at Potosi from 4
ever-enlarging points of view. The starting point was the silver and the money that was
generated. Then, obviously, the workers were needed. With the workers came their families
and other people to provide needed goods and services. Finally, they will look at Potosi’s
position and role within the colonial world.
Introduce the Guiding Question. Pass out the Exit ticket and explain that throughout the
reading and discussion, they should be paying particular attention to the instances of cause and
effect and how they sometimes stand separate but often link together.
Give the Base groups 20-30 minutes to read, discuss, and practice retelling as well as identify at
least three cause/effect pairs. Circulate and informally assess students during this time.
Expert groups:
When they have accomplished their base group tasks, rearrange the students into Expert Groups
of 4—one expert for each reading. Encourage them to set the readings aside so that they are not
tempted to read! Have each student in turn share the main points of their reading. Students
should continue to identify at least one cause/effect pair from each of the other readings. A
teacher may want to have expert groups compete to see who can identify the most or perhaps
give extra credit to individuals who are able to generate more than the six required. Allow 20
minutes.
PIER Summer Institutes 2014 Lesson Plan for Classroom Teachers
Based on the SEED Common Core of Teaching (CCT) Rubric for Effective Teaching
Wrap up:
Allow students 5-10 minutes to work individually at the end to answer the last questions on the
exit ticket making connection to previous knowledge and/or personal experiences. Collect exit
tickets at the door as they leave.
Students Needing Differentiated Instruction:
Since there are generally students of varied abilities in your classroom, identify ways to modify
and enrich this lesson. Consider that students may represent a range of ability and/or
achievement levels, including students with IEPs, gifted and talented students, struggling
learners, and English language learners.
How will you differentiate instruction in this lesson for students you may anticipate struggling
with the content/learning objectives?
These types of activities allow for students to complete the activities at their own level. Some students
will communicate their ideas more fluently than others but all can make themselves understood.
Struggling students could be allowed to read from their own notes
—just not directly from the document
when pre
senting. Pictures and images could be provided to help them remember the main points to make
when presenting in their expert groups.
How will you provide opportunities for enrichment/higher level of challenge for students?
I encourage higher level students to challenge themselves to use higher level vocabulary and grammatical
structures in both the writing and speaking. For example, instead of saying “they were very poor” they
could say “they were living in oppressive poverty.”
An enrichment activity could be choosing a person (or representative of a group) for further research and
having them write a journal entry from that person’s point of view (i.e., a mita worker
, a female Spanish
colonist ref
lecting on the trip from Madrid, a mestizo or an African slave working in the mint).
