Lesson 1
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What is history? What historical events do you know? 1.
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Explores short historical events. Expresses similarities and differences of historical and cultural events between Mexico and other countries. Compares historical and cultural events between Mexico and other countries.
Work with the whole group. Look at the pictures. What will this lesson be about? What things do you know about the 1950s and 1960s?
MEXICO 2.
My country and its history
ENGLAND
UNITED STATES
Work with a partner. Read the story. Share with your partner if the picture helps you understand the descriptions better and why.
Pairs
Carlos Miguel has two friends, Billy Jones from the USA and Julian Lee from England. He communicates with them by internet. “Ask your grandparents about their childhood,” he told them. Julian’s grandparents told him that when they were going to school in the 1950s, all students had to wear a uniform. They even had to wear a tie! Kids wore uniforms to school since the 1600 and 1700s. It has been a long tradition. It is still the same, but the uniforms aren’t so formal. Billy’s grandparents went to public school in the US in the 1950s and they never wore a uniform. “We didn’t even have schools in the 1700s We were a new nation. The first American public schools that taught academic subjects were opened in the 1930s and they definitely did not wear uniforms “Only kids that went to private schools wore uniforms and to this day, nobody in public schools wears them. The first minister of education José Vasconcelos started obligatory public education in Mexico but uniforms were not obligatory. In Mexico, uniforms weren’t obligatory in elementary schools until the late 1950s. “I liked them, it was much better because you didn’t ruin your clothes”, his grandpa explained. Students in Mexico still wear uniforms in public schools and most private schools.
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Reads historical tales to compare cultural aspects between Mexico and other countries.