Mi vida en México prehispánica
por Laura Hovey Ozuna y Lisa Sragovicz
Level: High School Spanish (Can be applied to all levels depending on amount
of Spanish used to complete unit)
Effigy Incense Burners Pair of bi-conical
effigy incense burners.
Central Mexican Highlands. Mixtec. AD 1200–
1500. Polychromed buff ceramic.
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special
Collections Division, Library of Congress (10)
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/earlyamericas/online/precontact/precontact2.html
Overall Objectives:
1. Students will describe what their lives would be like if they lived in Pre-colonial
Mesoamerica through writing, speaking, and/or artistic presentation.
2. Students will make a connection between their own cultures and the cultures
of Mesoamerica through writing or speaking.
3. Students will identify the ways in which Mesoamerican culture lives on in
present day life through writing or speaking.
Day 1: Prior knowledge activation regarding Mesoamerican cultures
Day 1 Objective: Students activate prior knowledge or document misconceptions about
Mesoamerica while teacher monitors and sparks interest in students’ learning about his area.
Group Brainstorming activity (See separate document “Brainstorming
Worksheet”)
1. Each group will have about 10 minutes to complete worksheet. Teacher will
let groups know that group with most correct answers receives homework passes
or other incentives when primary and secondary investigations are complete on
Day 3.
2. Teacher collects worksheets. After students complete an investigation of
primary and secondary sources, teacher will go over possible answers to today’s
activity. In this way, students will develop their own conclusions about the
questions presented in today’s class.
3. At this point it is also important to point out to the students that this unit will
culminate in a final project and that while they do their investigations throughout
the week, they should create “personal lists” of what they connect with/think is
important & interesting in order to help them decide on and create a final project.
5. Presentation of Stephanie Wood’s exercise on Nahuatl that entered
Spanish at:
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/NahLoansToSpanEngl.pdf
This activity will gage students’ knowledge on the brainstorming activity they just
completed before getting it back later in the week. (10 minutes)
Day 2: How to read glyphs/codices + examination of primary sources
Day 2 Objectives: Students find evidence or lack of evidence concerning their hypothesis about
Pre-Hispanic life in Mesoamerica from yesterday’s class using primary sources.
Students compare and contrast information presented about daily life in Mesoamerica while
explaining their interpretation of primary sources.
Introductory Presentations:
In preparation for students to investigate codices, they must be prepared using
the following exercises/activities provided by colleagues:
**Note: Links must be COPIED AND PASTED. They cannot all be directly
accessed by clicking on the links.
1. Stephanie Wood’s “Nahua Glyphs” (5 min)
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/NahSyllabicGlyphs.pdf
2. Marc Zender’s exercise for reading Mayan glyphs (15 min)
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/MayanGlyphsZender.pdf
3. Excerpts of Stephanie Wood’s PowerPoint on Pictorial Manuscript Studies
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/21JulyMSS1.mov (10 min)
Group activity
Teacher will divide the class into approximately eight groups. Each group will be
given a different source. Students will write down ten facts of daily life to share
with the whole class, focusing on the brainstorming questions completed
yesterday. (15 minutes)
Sources:
1. Codex Beker
http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/history/terraciano/images/PAGE2/pictures/codex_bek
er.htm
2. UNESCO site on Codex Yanhuitlan and Quautlapa, Tepuxaco y Xolo.
Tepotzotlán. Edo. de México
http://www.unesco-ci.org/photos/showphoto.php/photo/6160/title/codex-3aquaunazco-place-3b-tepecingomor-/cat/1028
3. Codex Nuttall
http://www.famsi.org/research/graz/zouche_nuttall/thumbs_0.html
4. Florentine Codex
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/florentine-codex-1.htm
5. Codex Mendoza
http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=iUGKKObwcJ4C&printsec=frontcover&dq
=codex+mendoza&source=bl&ots=ce8DD8JybK&sig=fNbWqldmIrKKs9efU0MFR
35Ma6Q&hl=es&ei=jktTTLSBCYTQsAPhy6DaAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=resu
lt&resnum=16&ved=0CGAQ6AEwDw#v=onepage&q&f=false
6. Codex Selden/Codex Añute
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/selden/scene_by_scene.htm
7. Mapas project
http://mapas.uoregon.edu/mapa_directory.lasso
8. Codex Borgia
http://www.famsi.org/research/loubat/Borgia/thumbs0.html
Whole-class discussion: Groups will report back to the whole class, making
comparisons and contrasts of facts they noted about daily life. In some cases
they will be asked to explain their thinking. (10 min)
Day 3: Examining Secondary Source Documents
Day 3 Objectives: Students find evidence or lack of evidence concerning their hypotheses about
Pre-Hispanic life in Mesoamerica from yesterday’s class using secondary sources.
Students compare and contrast information presented about daily life in Mesoamerica while
explaining their interpretation of secondary sources.
Students view cultural and linguistic maps of Mesoamerica, comparing these with their previous
knowledge or misconceptions about Mesoamerican culture and languages.
The same exercise from yesterday (groups write down 10 aspects of daily life)
will be repeated with secondary source documents using the following sources
most of which can be found on amazon.com:
(15 min)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The Time/Life series on the Aztecs and Maya,
John Green’s coloring book “Life in Ancient Mexico.”
John Pohl’s Lord 8 Deer
Stephanie Wood’s Transcending Conquest
Miguel Leon Portillo’s The Broken Spears
6. MACAZAGA ORDOÑO, CESAR Version indigena de la conquista
7. Ron Spores’s Yucundaa: Pueblo Viejo de Teposcolula
8. Victor Montejo and Luis Garay’s version of Popol Vuh
Whole-class discussion: Groups will report back to the whole class, making
comparisons and contrasts of facts they noted about daily life. In some cases
they will be asked to explain their thinking. (10 min)
Comparison of Prior Knowledge: Teacher will return the Brainstorming activity
from Day 1, so that students can consider how closely their prior knowledge
compares to the knowledge after reading of codices and secondary sources +
winners will be rewarded with homework passes or other appropriate incentives.
(5 min)
Presentation of Mesoamerican Maps: http://www.famsi.org/maps/index.html
Using John Pohl’s map of Mesoamerica México, teacher will demonstrate to
students the different cultural areas + the linguistic maps in order that they see
the wide variety of indigenous languages used upon considering the results of
their brainstorming activity. (5 min)
Clarification of questions from brainstorming activity: Teacher will clarify
any other doubts from the brainstorming activities, such as jobs, items used as
currency, that may have not previously been discussed. (5-20 min)
Days 4 & 5: Internet exploration
(Primary and secondary print media from previous days’ lessons may also be
used)
Days 4 & 5 Objectives: Students discover facts about everyday life in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica
by exploring websites previously researched by teachers and noting the information they find in
an effort to discover which aspect most interests them.
Students compare and contrast many aspects of Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican society with their
own society.
Teacher should pass out Internet Activity (See separate document “Internet
Investigation”).
Two days of entire class time should be devoted to individuals completing the
investigation. Any unfinished portions should be completed for homework after
the second day.
Day 6: Discussion of Internet Exploration
Day 6 Objectives: Students present findings of their Internet investigation through speaking
and/or visuals by becoming “experts” in 2 areas of the investigation.
Student “audience” members promote discussion by asking questions to experts comparing their
investigations.
Possible discussion format: Panel
Each group decides on 2 topics from the Internet Search for which they will be
the “experts.” All topics must be covered, first come, first taken. After briefly
discussing the information they will present, each group will give their findings to
the “audience” who are also experts and may politely ask questions after the
group has presented their each topic. Note: there may be overlap of some
topics depending on number of groups per class. Each member of the group
should speak for a participation grade.
***Optional homework assignment (teacher’s choice, not students’):
Precolonial nametag -- Each student will be given amate paper, or
brown/white construction paper designed by the teacher to look like amate paper.
The size can be standard 9X12 construction paper, folded in threes to stand up
and make a visible nametag to be set on each students’ desk so classmates may
see each other’s day names and given names tomorrow in class. The day
names and given names should follow the pattern studied in the first item of the
Internet Search. Each nametag should include:
1. Day name written neatly and large enough to see
2. Given name written neatly and large enough to see
3. Glyphic symbol with accompanying dots and bars to signify the day name
based on the Internet investigation.
4. A separate drawing of the students’ choice to symbolize her/his given name.
Day 7: Further investigation of jobs in Mesoamérica Prehispánica
OBJ: Students concentrate their investigation on jobs of Prehispanic
Mesoamerica using photos, videos, books, Internet, and
games in order to decide the focus of their unit projects.
CLASSIFICATION ACTIVITY: 1. Groups are given copies of the cards for
LOTERIA -- PERSONAJES DEL MEXICO PREHISPANICO (front has the name
of the person + pictures -- back has an explanation of that job). Working
together, they should categorize the people into at least 7 categories. (5 min)
2. Students share some of their categories and compare them with teacher’s
categories. The following are the categories I organized which would be easy to
organize in to a PowerPoint: (5-10 min)
gobierno
religiosidad
ciencia
alimentación
entretenimiento arte: textiles (tejedora/hilandera)
arte: escribir (pintor/escriba)
arte: decorativa (orfebre, platero, engarzador de plumas)
otros (borracha, ladrón, preso)
3. GROUP STATION INVESTIGATION ACTIVITY
Based on the first 8 categories shown above, stations will be organized around
the room for groups of four to investigate. Teacher should organize groups as
he/she sees fit, trying to distribute students equally according to interest. Possibly
ask students to list first, second, and third choices of investigation. Stations will
be comprised of the resources mentioned above in the day’s objective and in
detail below. (Resources subject to change as new research occurs) Through
their investigation students must present key information to the class by creating
a 2 minute presentation that must include visual representation of what they
encountered using PowerPoint, Pages, Prezi, Glogster, etc.
15 minutes investigation time
15 minutes discussion and preparation time with groups
**All participants must speak for participation points.
***Note: Links must be COPIED AND PASTED. They cannot all be directly
accessed by clicking on the links.
Alimentación
1. University of Texas, Outreach World handout on chocolate:
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/ChocTextsUTexas.pdf
2. Website for Restaurant Itanoní
http://www.itanoni.com.mx/
3. Video of Chauplines and Gusanos outside of Oaxaca Market
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mSEjUPhIoY
4. Article on Prehispanic cuisine from Univision.com
http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=462525
5. Article on Prehispanic cusine of Oaxaca on arqueología mexicana
http://www.arqueomex.com/S9N5n5Esp12.html
Arte - Textiles
1. Mesoamerican Textiles: Text, Subtext, and Context (bilingual; Stephanie
Wood and Blanca Aranda)
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/TextilesOax.mov
2. Diseños de los tejidos huicholes by Stacy B. Schafer from Famsi.org
http://www.famsi.org/reports/95010es/
3. Explanation of various textiles and clothing from El Portal de Mexico
http://www.elportaldemexico.com/arte/artepopular/estadodeoaxaca.htm
4. Leocadia Cruz, tejedora a modo prehispánico from Milenio.com
http://impreso.milenio.com/node/7116741
5. Viewing of Códice Matrícula de Tributos (copy), also found on Web
http://www.mesolore.com/archive/manuscripts/4/about and various photos of
weavings from Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca (Photos titled textiles1, textiles2,
textiles 3, textiles 4)
Gobierno
1. Book: Ocho Venado, Garra de Jaguar, héroe de varios códices by Krystyna
M. Libura
2. Copy and explanation of Códice de Ñunaha
3. Excerpts from the first chapter of Indian Conquistadors by Laura Matthew,
Michel R. Oudijk
http://books.google.com/books?id=RSPE2oaa8ZkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=In
dian+Conquistadors&source=bl&ots=1NssNhGAHA&sig=vTS8ZPkynULQEt1PS
EAk_w0i0Fo&hl=en&ei=qVB8TIWnIsndngfYmvSWCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct
=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
4. Explanation of social classes and political organization of the Mixteca from
Wikipedia.com in Spanish
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultura_mixteca#Organizaci.C3.B3n_pol.C3.ADtica
5. Explanation of the use of “usos y costumbres” by pueblos de Oaxaca
http://www.usosycostumbres.org/
Religiosidad
1. Book: Los mayas by María del Carmen Valverde -- Sections on Religion, pp.
38-45.
2. “La Gran Calzada de las Cuevas” from book: Yucundaa -- Pueblo de viejo de
Teposcolula by Ronald Spores.
3. Photos: a. Figure of Cocijo: Zapotec Rain God b. Stone miniatures found in
Burial and Offering I-15 at Yucundaa (Photos titled Cocijo and miniaturas)
4. Sections from pp. 34, 49, and 59 of The Plumed Serpent, by Maarten Jansen
and Gabina Aurora Pérez Jiménez dealing with cyclical time focusing on ecology
and respect for natural powers, the naming ceremony at age 7, and role of
priests/ceremonial centers.
5. “Why did Mexica priests have matted hair?”
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=fac&id=498&typ=reg
and “Aztec/Mexica” gods
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=god
Ciencia
1. The Badianus Manuscript – America’s Earliest Medical Book from
http://www.wrf.org/ancient-medicine/badianus-manuscript-americas-earliestmedical-book.php and
http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/rare_books/herbalism/badianus.cfm
2. Google Images of Badianus Manuscript
3. Maya Calendrics from Famsi.org
http://www.famsi.org/research/calendrics/index.html
4. Section on the Castillo and Observatorio de Chichen Itza in book: México
prehispánico -- arequeología by Hervé Baeza Braga
5. More on Aztec measure of time from mexicolore.com
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=cal
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=fac&id=234
6. UNAM online directory of medicinal plants:
http://www.medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/
Otras artes plásticas
1. Lynn Stephen’s PowerPoint on Clay Production:
http://whp.uoregon.edu/mesoinstitute/wpcontent/uploads/2010/mesofiles/PotteryLynnStephen.mov
2. Book: Esplendor de la antigua mixteca by Juan Arturo López Ramos, pp.
110-131 on “Las Joyas”
3. YouTube videos on Present day pottery production in San Marcos Tlapazola:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br7t2k5fKnQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqUcXRMd8ZM&NR=1
4. Exploration of various themes of the Guggenheim’s Aztec Empire Guide for
Teachers:
http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/school-educator-programs/teacherresources/arts-curriculum-online?view=item&catid=720&id=33
5. Photos of Mixtec mosaics (Mitla), Aztec stone carvings (Museo Rufino
Tamayo) and Zapotec stelas (Museo Monte Albán).
Arte de escribir/pintar:
1. The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Reproduction of the Ancient Mexican
Mauscript by Giselle Diaz.
2. The Codex Nuttall by Zelia Nuttall
3. John Pohl’s explanation of how the Mixtec Group Codices were painted:
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec2.html
4. Introduction to the Mapas Project with encouragement to further explore the
manuscript on this site:
http://mapas.uoregon.edu/about_mapas.lasso
5. Peter Mathews’ explanation of how to identify Classic Maya individuals
through Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions also from FAMSI:
http://research.famsi.org/whos_who/identify_maya.htm
Entretenimiento:
1. John Pohl’s explanation of how the Mixtec codices were performed:
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec3.html
2. Book: The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame by E.
Michael Whittington
3. Exploration of the Website for the musical group Pasatono:
http://www.pasatono.com/articulo3.html and Youtube video of a performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vM9zoWFuew&feature=related
4. Photos of Ballgame related artifacts from Museo Rufino Tamayo:
Sculptures of ballplayer and ballgame scenes, yugos, and hachas.
(photos entitled Jugador, Juego de pelota, yugos, and hachas)
5. TV Report on how the Ballgame in played and how communities struggle to
continue playing it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ-YnmEcv4&feature=related
Presentation: Groups should begin presenting their 2-minute presentation
including visual as described above with additional groups presenting tomorrow if
more time is needed.
Day 7: Further presentations of jobs/life in Mesoamerica + brainstorming
sessions
Job presentations: Any additional groups finish presentations from yesterday. (510 minutes)
Indigenous languages of Mesoamerica Presentation by teacher: (approximately
20 min)
OBJ: Teacher shows examples of indigenous languages being spoken today in
order to expose students to the languages, understand they have been
preserved for thousands of years, and help them make comparisons with other
spoken languages. Students will also realize that many indigenous people in
Mesoamerica are bilingual in Spanish and their native language.
NOTE: It is not necessary to show the whole video. The idea is to give students
an idea of how the language is spoken and written.
Resources:
Nahuatl:
Conversation with Spanish subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQpd5L6-As&p=647412EFE474238B&index=4&playnext=1
Nahuatl lessons written with Spanish translations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm3kL788k3U&p=647412EFE474238B&index
=5&playnext=2
Triqui:
The making of An Inconvenient Truth translated into Triqui: (The complete video
should be shown because it is highly interesting, engaging, and charming)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbHGQceIJc
Zapoteco:
¿Cómo saludar en zapoteca? Spoken/written with Spanish written translations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qiJNFN_FvM
Curso audiovisual en zapoteco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwcVuMWUGXI&feature=related
Mixteco:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCy-Wgukyuk&NR=1
Ixcateco:
Written article: “El ixcateco: una lengua oaxaqueña en vías de extinción” from
El Jolgorio Cultural Agosto 2010 Num. 28, Pp. 26-29.
Brainstorming session: Students should spend the remainder of the hour
either working as individuals or in groups of no more than four people to create
one of the products listed in separate document: Proyectos estudiantiles. A
written proposal should be submitted to the teacher for approval and students will
have approximately one week to complete the project. No more than one entire
class period may be used for planning. This is the culminating project for the
entire unit, and is meant to be shared with the class.
PROYECTOS ESTUDIANTILES
Decide what group you belong to and when you live and where you live, i.e.
A Mixtec living near Monte Alban in the post classic period. You must have
lived before 1520! Then create one of the following products based on
your indigenous group and time period:
A. Make pre-Columbian food (must be made and explained in class or
videotaped)
B. Make pre-Columbian clothing, jewelry, statues, ceramics, headwear,
footwear, etc.
C. Make a codex of your life history
*See http://mapas.uoregon.edu/ for sample codices
D. Make a video of a scene in your life in Mesoamerica, i.e. a ballgame
Each product must be accompanied by a written (codices or art objects) or
spoken description (video or live demonstration) comparing this aspect of
Mesoamerican culture with the student’s own culture and state how this aspect of
culture lives on in the present day. Videos and live demonstrations will be
presented in class. Codices and art objects will be displayed with their
accompanying explanations and comparisons in showcases throughout the
school. The written descriptions and explanations should all be in the same
format (template provided by teacher) as to mimic a description plaque as in a
museum.
**As this unit was a collaborative effort, the use of Skype to do a conference call
between classes across the country may be used in order for classes in different
geographical areas to compare their work.
Interesting Sites / Additional Codex References recommended by Stephanie
Wood
http://peabody.yale.edu/education/pdfs/ypm_LasArtesdeMexico.pdf
http://www.famsi.org/links.htm
Search for “codex” or “manuscript” in the Virtual Mesoamerican Archive,
http://vma.uoregon.edu,
The World Digital Library has published a number of
codices,
http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2657
The Library of Congress also has several codices.
See:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/earlyamericas/online/exploration/explor
ation5.html
And see things put on line by the Newberry Library, such
as:
http://www.newberry.org/aztecs/section_1_home.html
Check out Princeton's collection of pictorial Mexican manuscripts on line,
too:
http://libweb5.princeton.edu/mssimages/index.html