CARLA
The United Nations and International Peacebuilding in Central America
Lesson 2:  Peacebuilding in El Salvador and Guatemala

Submitted by Steve Dickinson

Objectives:

Content:
Students will:

  • identify key issues separating the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Marti para la Liberation National (FMLN), and the key issues in between the government of Guatemala and the groups fighting for a change in government.
  • demonstrate understanding of the relationship between these key issues and the political and cultural history of the country.
  • demonstrate understanding about how the United Nations’ efforts addressed these issues and aided the parties to reach and sustain a cease fire and establish a democratic process of governance. 
  • demonstrate knowledge about the effectiveness of the agreements reached

Cultural:
Students will:

  • identify the different ethnic groups in El Salvador and Guatemala. 
  • demonstrate understanding of the influence of different cultural and social backgrounds on the political and economic development and structures of El Salvador and Guatemala. 
  • identify similarities and differences between these influences and comparable social and cultural influences in Costa Rica and the United States. 

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will:

  • use the present tense of the verbs “ser” and “estar” (3rd person singular and plural) to identify the cultural, social and political groups of the country under study (with appropriate descriptive vocabulary). 
  • use the past tense (3rd person singular and plural) of the verbs “ser” and “ir” to describe key political and economic issues of El Salvador  and Guatemala during the period of the focus of the study (using political, economic, social terms, the vocabulary of negotiations).
  • demonstrate understanding of the agreement of adjectives and nouns in describing the peacemaking efforts of the personnel of the United Nations, as in “personas listas para trabajar en condiciones difíciles.“
  • demonstrate correct usage of the words of comparison, such as “mas que,” “tan como,” “mejor,” “peor,” etc. in comparing conditions in El Salvador and Guatemala with those in Costa Rica and/or the United States.
  • demonstrate the ability to speak and write simple sentences and paragraphs to present a coherent succession of ideas.
  • demonstrate the ability to understand and answer questions based on the content of their report.

Language: Content Compatible
Students will:

  • use the present tense (first person, singular and plural) to express their ideas about the needs of El Salvador and Guatemala and the groups under study, and about the effectiveness of the UN agreements in meeting those needs, using the verbs pensar,  creer, . . . . 

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will:

  • apply critical thinking to their comparisons of the political, economic and social conditions of El Salvador and Guatemala with those of the United States, and to their assessments of United Nations efforts in the two countries. 
  • learn to identify and make best use of the strengths of each member of the group while working cooperatively to complete a varied list of tasks.
  • demonstrate the ability to separate disagreement about issues from respect for one another as human beings.

Time Frame:

5 40-minute periods

Materials Needed:

  • documents in Spanish and English (handouts)
  • websites

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Day 1 (Into) --  Present overview of the lesson. Outline the tasks of the next 5 days.
Students review their material from the previous week, and in whole class discussion the background setting for the efforts in Guatemala and El Salvador is clarified and any questions are addressed. 

(Through)  Working in groups of four, students begin research of their topics (handout 1, packet), three groups studying El Salvador and three studying Guatemala (based on a class size of 24 students).

Each group member chooses or is assigned a specific role:  
         1) reader,   2) note taker,   3) translator and timer,   4) idea organizer

Each group will first write a short one paragraph draft answer (three to five sentences en español) to one the three main questions (these are assessed and feedback given in visits by the teacher to the groups as they work): 

  1. What did the UN do to help bring an end to the conflict and establish a democratic government? 
  2. What did the UN do to help establish and maintain human rights and how has this work progressed in the country?
  3. What responses were there by the country and its people to the work of the UN and how did the UN assess its own efforts?

Day 2  (Through) --   While the translator/timer and idea organizer together review and revise the group's paragraph, the reader and note taker read and make general notes on the other two questions to be answered.  The four then share their new information as a whole.  The three Guatemala groups then meet together, and each group teaches the other two the results of its research and writing.  Together they then generate a list of questions and ideas for further research and assign these to individuals or pairs.  The three El Salvador groups meet together using the same process.  

Day 3 (Through)  -- Using the computer lab students research their assignments, beginning with the websites indicated, revise their answers and type, save and print their results.  Then the El Salvador group as a whole, and the Guatemala group as a whole, brainstorm ideas for their final 400 to 600 word report, and assign writing tasks for the completion of the report. 

For El Salvador as for Guatemala six students work on writing a report in Spanish, and six work on writing a separate  report in English (not translated in either direction, except for words and phrases as needed).  The teacher continues to assess and give feedback while visiting the groups.

Day 4 (Through)  --  Groups complete the writing and editing of the Spanish and English reports.

Day 5 (Through)  --  The Guatemala and El Salvador groups present their reports in Spanish to the whole class. After each report there is a general discussion about how well the three key questions are answered, and about other information of interest that has been included.  All reports are collected for grading and use in lesson 3 (which is the Beyond).  Each student then completes a take home essay of 100 to 200 words answering the question:  How well do you think the UN has performed its mission in Central America and what might be done to improve its effectiveness in working for peace?

Assessment:

teacher assessment of written reports and essay question, and teacher assessment of oral presentations.

References and Resources:

United Nations, Guatemala-MINUGUA. United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala,  http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/minugua.htm , 1997. 
And in Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/Depts/dpko/co_mission/minugua.htm

United Nations, El Salvador-ONUSAL.United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador, Background,  http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/onusal_b.htm , 1996. 
And in Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/Depts/dpko/dpko/co_mission/onusal.htm

http://www.arias.or.cr
http://www.un.org/
http://www.un.org/spanish/spatxt.htm
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/spanish/index.asp      

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

 

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota