Lesson Plan Title: Mexican Revolution
Time: 2 days
Concept/ Topic to Teach: The students will engage in the social class struggle
and the rise of the Mexican revolution (1908-1917).
Goals/Objectives: Role-play the different individuals to understand the
complexities of the interests involved in the Mexican Revolution. The students
will gain a deeper understanding of the causes of the Mexican Revolution.
Materials: Descriptions of individual participants in the Mexican Revolution.
Background Knowledge: Before the Mexican Revolution, the dictator, Porfirio
Díaz, had been in power for many years.
Anticipatory Set:
Bring in a pillow/cushion and beanbag/really comfy oversized pillow or cushion to
have the students debate over. Choose 3 students who are outgoing and
persuasive speakers. Have them come to the front of the room. Give the biggest
most comfortable pillow to one student and have them relax, tell them they can
come and go as they pleas for the moment, and not to feel guilty for having the
best seat in the classroom because they earned you gave it to them. For another
student give them the less comfortable pillow the moderate pillow to the other
student. However, they must answer some simple questions to make sure they
are “educated”. When done asking questions tell them you will give them the
pillow only because of who their parents are. Then for the last student, they must
sit on the floor, but before they can sit they must perform some tasks and
jobs.(pat head and rub belly, stand on one foot, walk backwards around the
room) when done tell them they still can’t sit down. Now you have set the stage
for a little discussion on who should get the comfortable pillow or at least a place
to sit. Get the class to decide how or who should be able to sit. Don’t spend too
much time they will have much more time later to debate. (20 min.)
Procedure:
Day 1
Review the time before the revolution, during the reign of Porfiro Diaz and the
status of the country. (The land in Mexico belonged to the very rich even though
agriculture was the main source of income in the country. Diaz protected the
interests of the few rich, who had all the power. The country was, therefore,
divided into two parts: a few very wealthy families with large estates and many
luxuries, and many very poor families who lived hand to mouth.)
Set the stage: The poor and middle class people had a difficult time gaining any
land or none at all. It was these people of Mexico who fought in the Revolution in
order to change this situation. The rich fought against the Revolution in order to
keep what they already had. The most important thing was control of the land,
which was what people struggled for the hardest.
Make it real: Divide the class into three groups and explain that each group will
get a role to play in the Revolution. Each group will become a member of the
different social classes. Give the students all 3 roles that are going to be played.
Have the groups read all three parts and allow them to discuss any information
they think is important and what each person feels about the revolution and why
they might feel that way.
After allowing them a little time to reflect assign each group a role to play. Give
them the following questions to discuss as a group (if time) or for the next day
they should have some idea of what their answers to the questions should be
and how the other groups will answer the questions.
QUESTIONS:
1) Who should own the land of Mexico and why?
2) Why do you want or don’t want the Revolution? Why?
3) What will happen to the country if the Rich win? Middle Class/Poor?
Day 2
The students will have a chance to act out their roles in an organized debate
question/answer session. The teacher will play mediator/ judge, posing the
questions and listening to each side. The students may make statements,
rebuttals, or raise questions to the other groups.
**Suggestion** This can get pretty heated and controversial, have an item that
can be tosses from person to person (like a Nerf ball). Only the person with the
object is allowed to speak.
Have the students get into their 3 different groups. And collaborate over the
following 6 questions so that all members in the group are on the same page,
and will have the same information. Give them 5 min. to discuss the questions.
Pose one question at a time and then have the students discuss their opinion.
Questions:
1.
Why should you own the land? Can you tell what rights you think you have for ownership?
2.
What would you do with the land? How would this help you? How would it help Mexico?
3.
Why are you for or against the Revolution?
4.
If you win the Revolution, what things would you change? Keep the same?
5.
What do you think the other people should do? How should they behave for the good of
Mexico?
6.
If you lose the Revolution, what do you think will happen to you? To the Country?
7.
RESULTS: Regardless of who won or lost the argument in the class Mexico won’t change.
After the Revolution some of the poor and middle class people did get some land but
generally the situation remains nearly the same.
Resources:
What Your 6th Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good Sixth-Grade
Education (Core Knowledge Series: Resource Books for Grades One Through
Six,)
by E. D. Hirsch (Editor)
Dona María Luz Gorostiza
I am the wife of a wealthy landowner. We have a large and beautiful
hacienda 100 miles south of Mexico City. I love the hacienda. You can ride a
horse for days and never leave our land. My husband, Don Gerónimo, and I are
descendants of the first Spaniards who arrived in Mexico. Our land was given to
our ancestors by the King of Spain and it has been in the family ever since.
When the King gave the land, he also gave the family the hundreds of Indians
who were living there. My family taught them to be Christians and to speak
Spanish. We still care for our peasants, the descendants of those Indians. We let
them farm small plots to provide beans and chilies for their children, we give
them wages for helping harvest and at Christmas we give them gifts. The
peasants used to be happy when I was a child. They didn't have the funny ideas
about revolution and taking our land. Now people from out-side are stirring up
trouble.
My life until now has been very pleasant. We have a house in Mexico City
where we spend most of our time. I have many fine dresses from Paris. I go to
church everyday and to the theater and balls quite often. My husband works very
hard handling the financial matters of the hacienda. It is a big responsibility. I
have two children. Like myself, they will eventually marry the children of
landowners. This is the way it has always been and will always be. To change it
is to try and change the way God made this world.
Pedro Jiménez Sarmiento
My parents came to Mexico from Spain 40 years ago. They had a little
shop in Madrid where they sold material for dresses and suits but life was hard.
They came to Mexico to earn more money. Here in Mexico City they have
another small shop and they have done quite well. Because they have a little
money, and because I studied and worked hard, I was able to become a lawyer. I
love Mexico but sometimes I get angry. There is no progress here because the
old wealthy families have all the land and they just let most of it sit there. Of
course - if you have so much you can live very well without working! The
peasants on the other hand are poor, miserable, uneducated. How can they do
anything to make their own lives better?
Now if I had my way, the land would be given to people who had
education and ideas of progress! It's time that Mexico entered the modern world.
If we applied technology and hard work to our land we could make Mexico one of
the greatest nations on earth. To do this we need to get those old fogies out of
the government, make new laws and let those who are intelligent and prepared
do the proper thing with the land.
Juan Pérez
I am a peasant like my parents, my grandparents and the people who
lived here before the Spaniards came and took the land. Once a peasant, always
a peasant - at least here in Mexico. I live in the village of San Gregorio.
Sometimes I help on the hacienda, repairing a road, picking cotton, planting, but
they pay me very little and hire me only from time to time. I do a little farming on
a piece of land my family has always cultivated. To use the land we must give
some of our crop to the owners. They live in Mexico City. Some people have told
me that in other countries the peasants have their own land and I have heard that
in the South some Mexicans have taken guns and followed Zapata to take all the
land from the landowners and give it to the peasants. I think perhaps I should do
the same. Many years, when the crops are bad, my family is hungry and cold.
We have no schools, no doctors. If I had more land, I would be able to raise
enough food and maybe even sell some of the produce in the markets. Then we
could save money and have a better house and clothing. After all, this land
belonged to my ancestors before the Spaniards came and took it, and my family
has always lived on it and cultivated it.