Digital Unit Plan Template

Unit Title: Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Name: Rosalinda Zavala

Content Area: Spanish

CA Content Standard(s)/Common Core Standard(s):

Grade Level: 11 & 12

World Languages Standards

Content Stage III-IV
3.1/4.1 Students address complex, concrete, factual, and abstract topics related to the immediate external environment, including:
b. Cultural and literary archetypes
d. World events, social and political issues
e. Belief systems
Communication Stage III-IV
3.1/4.1 Engage in oral, written, or signed (ASL) conversations.
3.2/4.2 Interpret written, spoken, or signed (ASL) language.
Functions
3.4/4.4 Discuss, compare and contrast, and support an opinion; persuade.
Culture Stage III-IV
3.2/4.2 Explain similarities and differences in the target cultures and between students own cultures.
Big Ideas/Unit Goals:
Students will learn about Latin American culture and the Mexican Revolution history by responding to the following
questions throughout the unit plan:
What do we understand about culture?
What are the differences and similarities between the novel's culture/traditions to our own?
What is the relationship between the novel and the Mexican Revolution?
What is the purpose on rebelling?
Why is Revolution a good idea and when is it necessary?
What were the advantages and disadvantages of the Mexican Revolution?

Unit Summary:
In this unit we will use Como agua para chocolate, a book by Laura Esquivel to learn about culture, Latin American traditions, and its
parallelism to the Mexican Revolution. We will be comparing the family in the novel to the governmental structure of Mexico from the
19th Century. We will briefly compare and contrast the American traditions to the Latin American's. In addition, we will define what
traditions developed from the Mexican Revolution. We will use individual and small group work, and some online activities, to complete
this unit.
Assessment Plan:

Entry-Level:
The assessment will benefit my students by
introducing new vocabulary terms that will
guide them through the lesson. Students are
going to brainstorm different definitions
such as the meaning of culture and
traditions for them to have a better
understanding of culture, traditions, and
different roles of society during the
Mexican Revolution.

Formative:
Students will be able to compare and
contrast the Mexican Revolution and Agua
como chocolate. They are going to be able
to follow the lecture through guided notes.
They will have a set of exercises to practice.
The students are going to gain knowledge
about the different customs during the
Mexican Revolution through history and a
fiction novel. This lesson will align with
objectives of learning a culture, using
critical thinking to compare and contrast,
and learning new vocabulary words.

Summative:
Students will be able to write a well
structure essay using the new vocabulary
and the guided notes as a reference along
with a Rubric that will guide them on the
expectations of content. The essay will
consist of two well-structured analytical
questions of five sentences each. The
teacher is going to benefit from this because
if the students do well the teacher will use
the same methods for next activities.

Lesson 1

Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able to
learn new vocabulary
words along with the
history of the Mexican

Acceptable Evidence
(Assessments):
The students will be
able to learn the
background of the
Mexican Revolution

Lesson Activities:
Students are going to be able to follow the PowerPoint Presentation through guided
notes in which they are going to have the opportunity to participate by providing
answers as well as asking questions. From this, students are going to gain more
knowledge about the Mexican Revolution.

Revolution that will

help them understand
the outcomes of the
novel Como agua para
chocolate.

through a PowerPoint
presentation and use
guided notes.

Lesson 2

Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able to
know more in depth
about culture, traditions
and concepts from the
Mexican Revolution and
integrate this to their own
costumes.

Lesson 3
Student Learning
Objective:
Students will be able to
compare and contrast the
family in the novel to the
governmental structures
of the Mexican
revolution. They will be
able to think critically by
doing these comparisons.

Acceptable Evidence:
Students will be able to
learn about the Mexican
culture and traditions
through Webercise, which
also points out the
parallelism between the
novel and the Mexican
revolution and its
components.

Lesson Activities:
Students will be engaging with one another by reading the book and learning new
vocabulary words. They will also be engaging in doing research about both topics.

Acceptable Evidence:
A Graphic Organizer is
provided in order for
students to find the
differences and
similarities of the families
in the novel to the
Mexican revolution. A
sample of a Graphic
Organizer is provided as a
guide and a Scoring
Guide that they will
follow to complete the
assignment.

Lesson Activities:
Students will have the option to work independently or in small groups when working in the
graphic organizer. They will be given a class session to complete this task. They will also be
given the option to complete the assignment in class and if needed extra time they can finish
it at home and turn it in the next day for full credit.

In groups of four they will be discussing about their own culture and traditions while
comparing them to the Mexican tradition of the 18th century.

Unit Resources:
Esquivel, L. (1989). Como agua para chocolate: Novela de entregas mensuales con recetas, amores y remedios caseros. New York: Anchor Books.
Mexican Culture: Customs & Traditions. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/38647-mexican-culture.html
The Mexican Revolution: November 20th, 1910 | EDSITEment. Retrieved from https://edsitement.neh.gov/feature/mexican-revolution-november20th-1910
Like Water for Chocolate: Visual Essay by Frankie Ross on Retrieved from https://prezi.com/u2exnnjsg0rf/like-water-for-chocolate-visual-essay/
Useful Websites:
SparkNotes.com (summary of each chapter of the book) - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/likewater/
Spanishdictator (learn where to mark the written accents) - http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/118
WPI (helpful transitional words for composition) - https://users.wpi.edu/~arivera/transi.html
Real Academia Espaola (a useful online dictionary) - https://users.wpi.edu/~arivera/transi.html
Quizlet (vocabulary words from the novel)- https://quizlet.com/11236603/como-agua-para-chocolate-vocabulario-flash-cards/
YouTube Video on how to make manual Flip Charts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7UZ6Iv8b_Y
YouTube Video Documentary of the Mexican Revolution - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iUfno48VEQ
History of the Mexican Revolution Website - http://www.historiacultural.com/2010/12/revolucion-mexicana.html
History of the Mexican Revolution Webpage - http://lahistoriamexicana.mx/siglo-xx/revolucion-mexicana

Blog on the Mexicos culture and traditions - http://eva-schmitz.blogspot.com/2011/06/costumbres-y-tradiciones-de-mexico.html