BDA Lesson Plan- Wilson Juncaj

Text: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/26/mexicos-president-wants-spain-

apologize-conquistadors-almost-exactly-years-later/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.582ffeec73f6

Before Reading: (15 minutes) Show students two YouTube videos that provide an overview on

what occurred in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire and have students jot down a

couple of notes as they are watching the YouTube clips. After watching these two short clips we

will have a mini class discussion where students will respond to the following questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P_euomdHOU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kWJfkqT0g

1. What was the capital of the Aztec Empire and who was the leader of the Aztec Empire?

2. What Spanish Conquistador is responsible for the fall of the Aztec Empire, when did this

event occur, and what did this mean for Spain?

3. In what ways did this event affect the Aztec people?

4. Does this event remind you of any other event in history?

5. In what ways does this event remind you of the concept of imperialism and do people still

suffer from injustice and violence even today?

During Reading: (15 minutes) Students will read the article and annotate important

information, key words/concepts, anything that is challenging for them to comprehend, any

historical event that is related to the one that they’re learning about, the message that the author

is trying to convey, their thoughts on whether the president of Mexico is just in asking for an
apology from the president of Spain and the pope, themes that exist in the text, do events similar

to this occur today, etc.

After Reading: (15 minutes) Students will be given a blank graphic organizer template. Their

task is to fill in the blank graphic organizer that they will be given with relevant information

from the text. Students will note the topic of the article, the main idea, and several supporting

details that the author mentions in the text. Students will be given fifteen minutes to work on this

assignment in class and whatever they can’t finish they will complete for homework and turn it

in the next day. On the following day we will have a class discussion where students will discuss

their findings, sum up the article in their own words, and discuss things that they annotated in the

during reading activity such as troubling words or concepts. We may also discuss Diego

Rivera’s Tenochtitlan Mural (below) if time permits.