CSDE Model Curricula Quick Start GuideThe African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Studies is a one credit, year-long elective in which students will consider the scope of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/ Latino contributions to U.S. history, society, economy, and culture. It utilizes Connecticut’s Social Studies Framework themes and inquiry-based approach already familiar to social studies teachers to deliver a content rich and personalized learning experience.The course is an opportunity for students to explore accomplishments, struggles, intersections, perspectives, and collaborations of African American/Black and Puerto Rican/Latino people in the U.S. Students will examine how historical movements, legislation, and wars affected the citizenship rights of these groups and how they, both separately and together, worked to build U.S. cultural and economic wealth and create more just societies in local, national, and international contexts.Coursework will provide students with tools to identify historic and contemporary tensions around race and difference; map economic and racial disparities over time; strengthen their own identity development; and address bias in their communities. This course will contribute to the critical consciousness and civic-mindedness competencies of a twenty-first century graduate, and ultimately facilitate students’ interest in pursuing further ethnic, anthropology, or human rights studies in the future.

In this unit, students will:•Explore how colonialism impacted the development of Latin America societies during a period of social, economic “transformation.”•Examine and interpret how Latin Americans and Puerto Ricans constructed and interpreted racial, ethnic, class, and gender identities as a result of historic and economic experiences of enslaved Africans in Latin America and in Puerto Rico. •Investigate the ways in which United States relations with Puerto Rico and Latin America help or hinder social and economic growth.•Examine specific role of Indigenous, Spaniards, and Africans in the formation of the Puerto Rican Nation.•Evaluate how severe economic policies impact the economic growth of Puerto Rican and Latin America currently.Compelling Question: How did power and hierarchy come together to create the social and economic structures of Puerto Rico and Latin America?Pre-Assessment: KWL about students’ current understanding of colonialism, United States’ relations with Puerto Rico, and Latin America help or hinder social and economic growth.