This unit plan uses Latin American public art by Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco to teach Spanish comparatives and descriptions. Over 10 lessons, students will analyze the artists' murals for political and social messages, relate the historical messages to current issues, compare styles, and incorporate their learning to create their own murals representing modern social critiques. The unit emphasizes community involvement and feminist pedagogy to promote critical thinking about diverse perspectives.

1. Interdisciplinary
Unit Plan:
Comparatives and
Describing in Spanish
through Latin American
Public Art
Amy Schlett

2. Unit Level
Unit Level Questions:
To what extent does the art of Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera
display political messages and social critiques?
To what extent are the messages relevant today?
Unit Level Objectives:
Students will be able to identify the extent to which the art of Jose
Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera display political messages.
Students will be able to identify to what extent the messages are relevant
today.
Unit Level Assessment:
Students will create a mural representing a political issue or social critique
relevant to today’s society in the style of Diego Rivera or Jose Clemente
Orozco and present it using comparatives, possessive adjectives, and the
present tense.

3. Standards Addressed
Through Unit
Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain
information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an
audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship
between the products and perspectives of the culture studied.
Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive
viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its
cultures.
Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of
language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of
culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by
using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.

4. Lesson 1 Describing Murals
Pedagogical Approach: Critical Aesthetic
Lesson Level Questions: What is the meaning of what is happening in the paintings
of Diego Rivera and Clemente Orozco and what is the message the painter is trying
to convey?
Lesson Level Objectives: Students will be able to identify what is happening in the
paintings of Diego Rivera and Clemente Orozco and what the message is that the
painter is trying to convey.
Lesson Activities: Students will be presented with two different paintings by Diego
Rivera and Clemente Orozco and we will follow the critical aesthetic method in the
TL Spanish.
1. What do you see?
2. What do you think it means?
3. What do you think the message is from the author?
Lesson Assessment: Students will write down what their impressions were and hand
them in to me.
Connections to Community: We are at the very beginning of our unit and we are just
thinking about things and being introduced to concepts and ideas.
Relationships/Tensions: We will explore some relationships and tensions briefly.

5. Lesson 2 Describing Murals
Pedagogical Approach- Liberal/Progressive
Lesson Level Questions- What is happening in the paintings that we can relate
to today's society?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to use the present tense of
Spanish to describe what is relevant to today's society in the murals of Diego
Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco.
Lesson Activities- Through a powerpoint, we will look at the same works of art
and relate what their commentary was back then to what is going on today.
Lesson Assessment- Students will write a journal entry about what they notice
or see that was interesting in the paintings we talked about and how it relates to
current events/perceptions today.
Connections to Community- We will begin to identify what's going on in
paintings before we take a deeper look at relate it to community.
Relationships/Tensions- Students begin to look at how these relate to today's
society.

6. Lesson 3 Comparing Paintings
Pedagogical Approach- Liberal/Progressive
Lesson Level Questions- How can we use comparatives to compare
paintings?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to describe murals of Diego
Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco using comparisons.
Lesson Activities- Grammar will be introduced in a top down approach. I
will use the same slide show we talked about yesterday and recycle
grammatical structures that students will later analyze and learn to use.
Lesson Assessment- Students will write a comparison between the last two
pictures on the page.
Connections to Community- Students will begin to compare the paintings
on a superficial level as a precursor to understanding the deeper meanings.
Relationships/Tensions- In this lesson, we are just trying to build the
grammar foundation for the students to use comparatives.

7. Lesson 4 Missing Viewpoints
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions- What viewpoints are missing from these
paintings? How are the messages limited in a sense?
Lesson Level Objectives Students will be able to identify what viewpoints
are missing from these paintings. Students will be able to identify whether
the messages are limited.
Lesson Activities- Students will work in groups of 2 researching according
to 1 painting they chose that they like better.
Lesson Assessment- Students will present their findings to the class in a
presentational format as best as they can in Spanish.
Connections to Community- Students will be researching information from
the community (Level 1) to draw conclusions.
Relationships/Tensions This lesson delves further into the relationships and
tensions because we are talking about who is missing from this
viewpoint/depiction.

8. Lesson 5 Other Paintings
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions What are other paintings that represent political or
social commentaries from these muralists?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to identify other paintings
that represent political or social commentaries from these muralists.
Lesson Activities- Students will do research in the computer lab to find
more paintings that represent political or social commentaries from these
muralists.
Lesson Assessment- Students will present their findings to the class and
submit a summary of their results and evidence.
Connections to Community- Still in Level 1 of Community, gathering
information.
Relationships/Tensions- Students will begin to find other materials that
represent relationships and tensions by these artists. Therefore, the
students dig deeper into the commentaries of these artists and learn more
issues they thought were important.

9. Lesson 6 Relevance Today
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions- Of the messages explored, to what extent are
they relevant today?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to explain to what extent the
messages are relevant today.
Lesson Activities- Students will partner up with people who chose similar
paintings (or can work alone) in order to do this type of research.
Lesson Assessment- Students will be evaluated at the end of class by
submitting a copy of their work electronically. I will give them productive
feedback to improve their research and help them advance in their
research.
Connections to Community- Since we are doing more research, we are still
in Community Level 1, gathering information from various sources.
Relationships/Tensions- Students will be researching what messages are
relevant today in order to explore relationships and tensions in the present
day.

10. Lesson 7 Reporting Findings
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions- What did you explore in the previous lesson?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to report what they
researched in the previous lesson in order to partner up with students to
work on the final segment of the project.
Lesson Activities- Students will present their findings to the class in order
for other students to partner up with them and work on certain segments of
the mural. Students should
Lesson Assessment- Students will be assessed on the depth of which they
present their findings. Credit will be given to those who are rigorous (those
who can present their findings and explain how they came to a certain
conclusion).
Connections to Community- We are now presenting our findings in order to
move on to community level 2.
Relationships/Tensions- Students will get credit only if they reach the level
of relationships and tensions. Students who are Tier 2 will receive extra
help and support for me.

11. Lesson 8 Incorporating Critiques
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions- How will you incorporate critiques on society, or raise
awareness for political and or social issues in your mural? Begin to frame
mural.
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will organize data collected from lesson
seven to begin to design a mural that incorporates critiques on society that
raises awareness of political and/or social issues.
Lesson Activities- Students in this lesson will work together to think about ways
they will depict things in their mural. They will think about the ways Diego
Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco used images in their paintings to represent
certain things, and then will put it into images.
Lesson Assessment- Students will be informally assessed so I can guide them
in their work. They will also receive a quick formal assessment at the beginning
of the class to check to make sure they understand comparisons.
Connections to Community We are moving into Community Level 2 because we
are starting to create something that will be displayed publically.
Relationships/Tensions- We are now putting our knowledge of
relationships/tensions into action.

12. Lesson 9 Represent Through Art
Pedagogical Approach- Feminist
Lesson Level Questions- What messages might be absent from your
mural? Are there limitations? What are they?
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will be able to analyze what messages
might be absent from their mural and whether there are limitations.
Lesson Activities- Students will be working on their artwork, and will also be
thinking (using the information they learned in lesson 4) what viewpoints or
messages might be missing from their murals. They will be putting
everything together.
Lesson Assessment- Students will take 10 minutes at the end of the period
to write down what they think could be missing from their murals.
Connections to Community- This is the Community Level 2 where we are
using what we learned to give back something to the community.
Relationships/Tensions- This forces the students to think about what might
be missing, instead of thinking that what they came up is the only
answer/comment/critique that is right or "true".

13. Lesson 10 Presenting Murals
Pedagogical Approach-
Lesson Level Questions- How does your mural relates to social or political
messages? How does it relate to the mural you chose from Diego Rivera or
Jose Clemente Orozco.
Lesson Level Objectives- Students will explain how their mural relates to social
or political messages and how it relates to the mural they chose from Diego
Rivera or Jose Clemente Orozco.
Lesson Activities- Students will present their murals to the class. They must
follow certain guidelines using the comparatives that we learned through this
unit.
Lesson Assessment- Students will present their finished their political murals
and describe their mural in Spanish relative to the mural they chose from Diego
Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco.
Connections to Community- Students have made their own connections to the
works of art, and have now created their own representative murals that
express their beliefs.
Relationships/Tensions- Students should also be aware of things that they didn't
mention, or voices who were left out in this mural.

14. Rubric
Componenet of Unit Plan Points Points Earned
Unit level questions and objectives geared 2
towards thick description and community
involvement and written as “complex targets” for
the whole unit.
Lesson Plans for 10-15 school days 10
· Lesson level questions geared towards
thick description when appropriate
· Objectives, standards, learning
experiences, assessments included for every
lesson
Connection to community involvement as part of 2
the major assessments for the unit (person-to-
person interactions)
Alignment of the unit objectives with 1
assessments
Total 15