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Tejano History Project Engages Fourth Grade Teachers in Curriculum Development
Through the collaborative efforts of Drs. María Fránquiz and Cinthia Salinas from the College of Education and Dr. Emilio Zamora from the College of Liberal Arts, the Tejano History Curriculum Project continues to capture the attention of the Austin community and beyond. The project seeks to promote instructional materials that meet and exceed state elementary social studies curriculum standards and provides bilingual resources to young learners, their families and educators. The project began early in the spring by engaging 4th grade bilingual teachers and students in several AISD schools. Together they generated new curricular materials! The bilingual teachers who participated were Adeli Cardenas and Erin Murdock at Galindo Elementary, Belinda Jimenez and Wally Pérez at Wooten Elementary, Noreen Rodriguez at Brentwood Elementary and Brenda Ayala Lewis at Dawson Elementary. The teachers are all alumni of the BBE Proyecto Maestría masters degree program. All attended the unveiling of the Tejano Monument on March 29, 2012 with their students. Adeli, Wally and Brenda also presented their lesson plans and the results of student research at a History Conference held at the Capitol on March 30th. The Tejano History Curriculum Project also included undergraduate bilingual education students who shared their Tejano journey box investigations with the elementary school students in May during a field trip to the City of Austin’s Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC). Photos of events, teacher lessons, student products and resources can be found at a bilingual web site. Doctoral student, Gilberto Lara, and UT staff support member, Patricia Nuñez, created the site. Adeli, Erin, Brenda and Noreen recently results of project with an enthusiastic audience attending their session at the Texas Association of Bilingual Education (TABE) held in San Antonio Oct 24-27, 2012
Although some pages are still under construction be sure to visit the Tejano History Curriculum Project website.