Language Resident Name:  Katherine Pérez Gutiérrez

Class theme/topic discussed: Migration.

Goal of the class:

  • Talk about current immigration affairs (both on a personal and general level)
  • Practice the use of past tenses (preterite & preterite imperfect) 
  • Practice storytelling (1st & 3rd person)

Class’ structure

  • Attendance (2 min)
  • Warm-up: Students and I go over the talk we went to on the previous class (“Commonsense Racism and Latin American Mobility in the Time of Trump”)  and comment a bit on what the speaker said.  In small groups, they start discussing: What where some common phrases used by Trump? What group/s of people is he usually referring to when talking about migrants? Why do you think people leave their countries? Which ones are the largest groups of migrants in the US? Do you have any idea about immigration in other places, like Chile?  (5-7 min)
  • Input: 1) Students look up on their phone where do people who migrate to Chile come from. After discussing their findings, I showed them a video about a Foundation in Santiago. During the video they had to answer: When was the foundation created and by whom?Around  how many students and volunteers where participating there? What was the role of the more advanced students?

2) I also talk about how my experience working in that foundation was. (5-7 min)

  • Activity 1:  In groups, students tell each other wether or not they have had any experience related to migration, and, if so, they share it to one another. Afterwards each group share their stories with the whole class, but each student has to tell one of their classmate’s story. (10-15 min)
  • Activity 2: Aporofobia (fear and rejection towards poverty and poor people): Students look up the meaning of that word and comment on it. They have to answer: Have you seen an example of that in the U.S? Where? When? Does that sound similar to what I’ve told you about Chile? (5-7 min)
  • Acrivity 3: “Linguistic barrier”: I read a paragraph from a news article about Haitians in Chile and how language is a barrier for them as well. Students comment on that as well, comparing and contrasting U.S. situation with Chile’s one (5-7 min)
  • Activity 4: Migration explained with kitties: I play a video that explains Central American migrants situation with kitties. In groups, students answer some questions related to the video:  Why are they using cats to explain the migratory situation? Why do Central American migrants travel in caravans? What are some of the issues they face along the way? Mention 3 reasons why they leave their countries. (10-15 min)

Resources used

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

  • .The class worked really well in spite of how sensitive the topic can be. If you emphasize that they should not feel pushed to share anything they don’t want to, as long as you pay attention to how students are feeling, the class should work just fine.