Lesson Plan. TOPIC: Cúba y sus sabores (Cuba and its flavors) Objectives: Class Level: Spanish I & II. Duration: min.

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1 Lesson Plan TOPIC: Cúba y sus sabores (Cuba and its flavors) Objectives: To become more aware of Cuba and its culture To form questions To develop research skills To report information To learn about Cuban foods Class Level: Spanish I & II Duration: min. Periods Type: Groups of 3 4 students Materials: Time for Kids article Cuba on the Cusp to be found at also attached here). Computers with internet access Overview: Students will read the article from Time For Kids Magazine, Cuba on the Cusp. They will get a closer look at Cuba s geography, history, culture, cuisine, and music. by formulating 5 10 questions using word questions such as: Qué? Dónde? Cuándo? Cuál? Cómo? Por qué? Quién? And then researching the answers in the internet. Activities: The teacher will read article on Cuba to the class. Then, the teacher will give instructions to the students about the project and set groups of 3 4 students. In their groups the students will develop 5 10 questions to research about Cuba. Questions such as: Where is Cuba? What is the capital of Cuba? What type of government does Cuba have? What type of head of government do they have? Why do Cuban s speak Spanish? What is their heritage? What are their hobbies? What types of foods do they eat? What are the most common or famous dishes? The students working in groups will search the internet to find the answers to their questions.

2 The students will collect, summarize, and translate into Spanish the information in order to create a slide show (power point) that they will present to the class. The students will also search and choose their favorite Cuban dishes and they will create a poster meal menu using pictures and Spanish descriptions of the foods. Assessment: The students can be assessed on their presentation skills, oral skills, written skills, and creativity.

3 TIME For Kids Cuba on the Cusp As its relations with the U.S. improve, the Caribbean nation gets ready for changes JUL 28, 2015 By Karl Vick for TIME with reporting by Dolly Mascareñas YURI KOZYREV NOOR FOR TIME A boy gets his haircut in a barbershop in Regla, a suburb of Havana, Cuba, as the barber shows him a portrait of revolutionary hero Che Gevara. YURI KOZYREV NOOR FOR TIME Imagine living in a country where you don t have access to the Internet, where your phone conversations are monitored, and where you have to get government permission to move or start a business. Now imagine that your homeland is just 90 miles away from the United States but you ve never met an American. In fact, very few Americans have visited your country in the last half century. For 55 years, Cuba and the U.S. have been at odds, but now that is about to change. On December 17, President Barack Obama and Cuba s President Raúl Castro announced that the two countries would begin to normalize relations. On April 10, the two presidents met at the Summit of the Americas, in Panama City, Panama. TIME s Karl Vick visited Cuba in January. Here is his report. Finding Friends Among the visitors passing through José Martí International Airport the day I arrived was a group from the U.S. State Department. It was the most senior delegation to visit Cuba in 35 years. They were there to discuss the opening of an American embassy in Havana and a Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1961, after relations between the two countries fell apart, the U.S. closed its embassy in Cuba s capital. The talks went well, riding the wave of giddy good feeling that greeted the joint statements by Obama and Castro.

4 I believe in humanity. We think everything can be better to benefit both countries, says Caridad Alfonso. She is relaxing after work on the Malecón, the seawall that protects downtown Havana from winds that gain force across 90 miles of the Florida Strait. A doctor, Alfonso has met Americans at conventions in the Bahamas. She would like to know more of them. I don t have any American friends, says her companion, Leonel Díaz. Not yet, says Alfonso with a smile. He will find them. Life Under Castro And what will Americans find? The image Americans had in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy called Cuba that imprisoned island would frighten any visitor. Kennedy had sent lightly armed Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs in hopes of deposing the new government led by Fidel Castro. The exiles were defeated. At the time, Americans saw Castro as a cruel dictator and the Cuban people as victims. The facts supported that view. In 1959, Castro had led an army into Havana to get rid of the corrupt government of U.S. backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Castro s government imprisoned tens of thousands of people. Under Castro, Cuba moved toward a communist system, in which the government owns all the land and businesses. Cuba allied itself with the Soviet Union. The U.S. and the Soviet Union came close to nuclear war when the U.S. discovered that the Soviets were keeping missiles near Havana. For two more decades, the U.S. worked to get rid of Castro. The U.S. acted very badly from the beginning. They pushed us into the arms of the Soviet Union. This was not our plan, a senior Cuban official tells me one afternoon, speaking fluent English. (He was unwilling to have his name used.) But you re put in the position where you have to survive. Cuba survived and changed. Many middle class Cubans fled their homeland and settled in the U.S. Today, the island is poor monthly salaries average $20. But rent is free. The literacy rate is 99.8%. The health care system is among the world s best. Other achievements involve harsh trade offs. Ordinary Cubans have limited freedoms. Every block has a Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, which allows neighbors to inform on each other. But there is little violent crime or drug trade. The good thing about my country is no drugs at all, says Julio Pérez, 49. No guns on the street and really strong culture. Great Expectations Tourists arriving from the U.S. will be eager to soak up Cuba s culture, including music, dance, architecture, and art. Cubans, in return, will want to get material rewards. Let them bring stuff so we can have stuff is how Leonel Díaz put it. Since January, travelers from the U.S. have been able to arrange trips without advance permission from the U.S. government. Americans still cannot go to beach resorts, since straightforward tourism is not allowed. The U.S. government lists 12 reasons for which Americans can travel to Cuba. These include visiting family and doing government, journalistic, educational, and humanitarian work. Cuba is not ready for a tourist invasion. The country has only 60,000 hotel rooms. There are also thousands of rooms licensed for rental to foreigners in private homes, but those rooms are far from luxurious. There is

5 almost no Internet outside major hotels, and Cuba s cell network won t support smartphones. I don t think the average American is ready to put up with the discomforts of traveling in Cuba, says Lucy Davies, a Brit who runs a company in Havana that specializes in bicycle tours. Moving Slowly The National Cuban Capitol Building, El Capitolio, was restored to Cubaís National Assembly in December The National Cuban Capitol Building, El Capitolio, was restored to Cubaís National Assembly in December Change is coming slowly to Cuba. Farmers can now cultivate some land privately, but they are required to sell much of their harvest to the government, at below market prices. Glossy private restaurants exist. But they are filled with foreigners and just a few Cubans wealthy enough to dine in style. Change is also coming slowly to the U.S. The trade embargo is a law that prevents American companies from selling goods in Cuba. For decades, Cuban Americans have opposed any easing of the embargo. President Obama has executive power to relax laws. But only Congress can lift the embargo so that U.S. firms can do business on the island. Even if that were to happen, Cuba has to let the companies in. Will engaging with Cuba change how it is governed? Economic changes do not automatically mean political freedom. The U.S. State Department cautiously notes that political detentions there dropped to 610 people in March, from a monthly average last year of 741. That is an improvement. But any new tolerance is as untested as the fragile spirit of cooperation between Havana and Washington. «Back to Article This article was taken from the SCHOLASTIC website.