Save the Date

Latin America: Issues 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
College Station Conference Center

The focus of the first International Outreach Education K-12 workshop for 2007-2008 will be Latin America. Workshop presentations will look at current issues:

• Political populism
• Brazil and the biofuel debate
• Eco-tourism as a tool for environmental education
• El Salvador and the consequences of northern migration
• Global impact of the Panama Canal enlargement
• Agricultural research and development
• Media literacy: Representations of Latin America in the press

Check the Worldroom web site for the 2007-2008 Workshop Calendar

Immigration will be an important topic in the upcoming presidential election. If you plan to discuss immigration issues with your students, you may be interested in the following resources sent recently from Annenberg Media.

Annenberg Media: If you are not familiar with Annenberg Media, the video presentations and resources are free and available for you to use in the classroom. Just sign up at http://learner.org/redirect/august/view11.html to access free Video on Demand.

Inquiry learning in the geography classroom
If you are looking for a new method to use in your social studies or geography class, draw ideas from the 10th-grade geography lesson of California teacher Mavis Weir as she shares an inquiry based approach to teaching about issues in Latin America. http://learner.org/redirect/august/sslib8.html

The program includes a Lesson Background page offering information on "Migration Trends in Six Latin American Countries," as well as links to Video on Demand and NCSS Standards.

Interpreting Constitutional Rights
Immigration issues are not a new, but an integral part of the ongoing process of interpreting constitutional rights. Watch a lively discussion between distinguished discussants of differing perspectives in "The Constitution: That Delicate Balance"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/cons9.html Program 11, "Immigration Reform."

History offers clues as to the power of the economics forces driving immigration.
"Capital and Labor" http://learner.org/redirect/august/boa10.html
Program 17 of "A Biography of America."

"Teaching Multicultural Literature: A Workshop for the Middle Grades"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/tml3.html
Workshops 7 and 8, introduce authors, literary works, and key references related to immigrant issues.

"The Power of Place: Geography for the 21st Century"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/pop4.html
Program 2, "Boundaries and Borderlands," looks into the forces behind border crossings and migration patterns.

Articles providing background on the immigrant experience in the U.S.

"Coming to America: Immigrants at Ellis Island"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/apass5.html

"How the Other Half Lived: The Lower East Side"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/apass6.html

"Unionism and the Farm Workers Movement"
http://learner.org/redirect/august/apass7.html
These pages also include links to historical images and poetry, which can be used to create a slideshow.