Free Lesson Plans for Teachers

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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
Alpha Stage

Who is Felipe Calderon?
September 6, 2006

The New York Times, the Washington Post, and numerous other
newspapers around the world are reporting that Mexico's highest
electoral tribunal officially declared Felipe Calderon, the winner of the
country's presidential election. But the Washington Post article states:

Calderón's opponent, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, refused to
recognize the decision. During a fiery address before thousands of
supporters in Mexico City's downtown square, the Zocalo, he mocked
Calderón as an "illegitimate president" and pledged to create an
"alternate government" to "refound the Republic and reestablish
constitutional order" before the Dec. 1 presidential inauguration.

What does this battle for power in the U.S.'s southern neighbor mean
for the United States? What does it mean for the rest of the world?
Read the article!!

Discussion Starters

Ask students if they think it's fair to say that Andres Manuel
Lopez Obrador is wrong not to recognize Calderon's victory?
In what situations might he not be wrong?

Have your class email a class in Mexico and ask students to
share their thoughts on the presidential election in their country.
The website epals.com has a very useful tools that allows
teachers to search for classrooms around the world with
whom they can partner for collaborative learning. If you do this
type of collaboration, I'd love to hear about it.

Ask students if they think it's important to the United States
that there is a dispute over who should hold power in Mexico?
Ask them what they think it means for the rest of the world?
Ask what information students would need to know in order to
determine the effect that a power struggle in Mexico might
have on the rest of the world. (You might encourage students
to develop a list of questions that they would like answers to
before they answer these questions. Allow them to work in
groups of two or three.) Help students understand that people
don't always have all of the information they need to answer
questions effectively. Sometimes they can look this information
up, research it. At other times, people simply don't have access
to the information.

This newspaper article today provides an entre to discuss the
differences between Mexico and other nations of the world.
Encourage students to consider language, religion, common
foods, socio-economic status of citizens, type of government,
etc. You might encourage students to develop a brochure or
commercial presenting Mexico as a nation of the world.

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