A¡Viva La Internet!
Gail Junion-Metz -- School Library Journal, 8/1/1999
This year, use online resources to spice up Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month, September 14 to October 14, is the time to take full advantage of the Web for library activities and class lessons. Go first to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!, which is part of Education World, a premier Web index for teachers. Check out the activities in 11 different subject areas. Be sure to print out the "Hispanic Americans in History Worksheet" and don't miss "Census Facts for Hispanic Heritage Month."
LatinoLink's Hispanic Heritage site, for grades 8 to 12, is full of primary resources. Visit "50 Things to Do During Hispanic Heritage Month," a list of suggestions for families or teachers.
Hispanos, Latinos, Chicanos
To help students research Central and South American cultures, the following three sites are great options. The sites would work best with high schoolers, but could be used in middle schools with teacher assistance.
Molly Molloy, a librarian at New Mexico State University, created Andanzas al Web Latino. The site offers links to general Latin American sites and those related to Hispanic culture, economics, and politics. Unique to this site is a very complete list of related listservs and Usenet newsgroups. The Latin American Network Information Center is sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. This is a huge site, arranged very much like Yahoo!, but more focused on things Latin American than "Yahoo! en Espanol." The site for the PBS television series Chicano! offers good information about the Mexican-American Civil Rights movement and a "Mexican-American/American History Timeline." Also go to "Chicano Biographies" and "Teaching/Learning Resources," where you'll find an "Issues to Think About" section to jumpstart class discussions.
Para los Profesores y los Bibliotecarios
For teacher and librarian resources on the Americas and Hispanic culture, visit Resources for Teaching About the Americas, a project of the Latin American Institute at the University of New Mexico. The site, aimed at secondary teachers, covers topics such as pollution, rain forests, Mayan culture, and the history of chocolate. Bruce Barrs, a Spanish teacher at Lamar High School in Arlington, TX, created CultureQuest because there were no books or curriculum for the Hispanic Culture class he was asked to teach. CultureQuest is an interactive site that sends kids on a series of virtual "quests" to learn about history.
For the best children's books about Latin American and Hispanic culture, go to the recently updated Powerful Hispanic and Latin-American Images Revealed in Picture Books, created by Kay Vandergrift and Denise Agosto. Vandergrift is associate dean and Agosto is a doctoral student at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers Unversity (NJ).
The Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature is sponsored by the National Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (for more on the award, see "Up for Discussion," pp. 38-39). It honors books that offer authentic representations of Latin American and Hispanic life. The Pura BelprA" Award, given by the Association for Library Service to Children and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking, honors authors and illustrators of Hispanic heritage.
Direcciones en la Internet For previous "Surf For" links, visit SLJ Online at www.slj.com/surf-for.articles
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month!
www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson023.shtml
LatinoLink-Hispanic Heritage
www.latinolink.com/heritage/
Andanzas al Web Latino
lib.nmsu.edu/subject/bord/latino.html
Latin American Network Information Center
lanic.utexas.edu/
Resources for Teaching About the Americas
ladb.unm.edu/retanet/
Culture Quest
www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/6676/
Americas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature
www.uwm.edu/Dept/CLA/outreach_americas.html
The Pura BelprA" Award
www.ala.org/alsc/belpre.html
