“Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954 in Sabaneta, in the llanos, southern Venezuela, and died March 5, 2013 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan soldier and statesman.
He was the 52nd President of Venezuela from February 2, 1999 until his death from cancer. He was previously the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its founding in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Claiming to be Bolivarian and a "socialism of the twenty-first century", he put in place a set of reforms, referred to as the "Bolivarian Revolution", and including the promulgation of a new constitution, a policy of "democracy. participatory ”, and the nationalization of key industries. "
Source: Wikipedia
This particular political figure was adored by some, hated by others. The activities proposed in this sheet will allow students, first of all, to learn about the news. Then, they will have the opportunity to deepen one of its aspects to finally share their discoveries in a large group.
Goals
At the end of the activities, the student will be able to:
- Consult various news sources online to find out about news;
- Carry out additional research to deepen the less well understood elements;
- Locate Venezuela on the world map and name some of its geographical features;
- Observe the difference in the tone of the news according to the media;
- To identify positive and negative aspects of the presidency of Hugo Chavez;
- Learn more about an element of their choice, linked to the news;
- Give formative feedback on the work of other teams.
Suggested Activities
ACTIVITY 1: What exactly is going on?
The first activity is to learn about the news by consulting current sources.
Invite students to notice the difference in tone of reporters depending on the media consulted. Can they say which articles are rather sympathetic towards Hugo Chavez, which are rather unfriendly, and which are more neutral?
Why do they think there is such a polarization in the writings?
To read :
Hugo Chavez is dead
France Media Agency. (Video report at the beginning of the article) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday in Caracas at the age of 58 from cancer diagnosed in June 2011, putting an end to 14 years of unchallenged power and leaving the population amazed and uncertainty for early elections to be expected within 30 days.
Hugo Chávez is dead: he was neither authoritarian nor populist
The new observer. Point of view of a journalist who stayed in Venezuela to try to better understand the atmosphere reigning in the country under the reign of Hugo Chávez.
Hugo Chavez, the end of a provocateur
Le Figaro. Hugo Chavez liked to cultivate his image as an uncontrollable, whimsical, unpredictable leader, as if he had entered the presidential palace of Miraflores in 1999 by chance and without preparation. The reality is quite different. He very early in his life conceived the project to lead Venezuela and never lost this goal which he finally achieved in 1999.
Maduro wants elections "immediately"
Radio-Canada. The new interim president of Venezuela, freshly sworn in on Friday evening, called on the National Electoral Council to call a presidential election "immediately".
File: Who was Hugo Chávez?
Radio-Canada. A dossier on the politician, his actions for his country, his relations abroad and the results of his time at the head of Venezuela.
Hugo Chavez, on Wikipedia
Wikipedia page containing a lot of information about the man and the country he led.
To watch:
A portrait of Hugo Chavez
Find the video report inserted about halfway through the article. He presents the reasons for the election of Chavez in 1998.
Hugo Chavez is dead
France Media Agency. (Video report at the beginning of the article) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died Tuesday in Caracas at the age of 58 from cancer diagnosed in June 2011, putting an end to 14 years of unchallenged power and leaving the population amazed and uncertainty for early elections to be expected within 30 days.
Suggestions: group viewing, reading aloud, personal or small group reading followed by a summary to the rest of the class, etc.
Following this, invite the students to demonstrate their understanding by answering the following questions. If necessary, they can carry out additional research.
- Where is Venezuela located on the world map? Which continent? What are its neighboring countries? What is its population?
- What was the political regime before Chavez's first election? And after?
- What are the country's natural resources?
- (Do not hesitate to add according to the level of the students and the subject under study these days.)
Alternatively, you could provide students with the questions to guide their readings. In this case, ask them to write down the snippets that enabled them to respond.
ACTIVITY 2: Hugo Chavez's assessment
As they read, students encounter arguments in favor of the late president, and others against. Surprisingly, these same arguments can be found on either side of the table depending on each person.
In teams, have students identify at least 3 aspects of Hugo Chavez's reign that they consider to be positive, and 3 aspects that they consider to be negative. They can list more if they want. They must ensure that they can justify their choice.
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Download the source file in Inspiration (.isf) format
Download the file in PDF format (.pdf)
At the end, have the teams take turns saying and justifying their choices.
ACTIVITY 3: Deepening
As they read, the students must have come up with many terms that are difficult to understand. Invite them to choose one and take the time to better define it, as well as everything that surrounds it (examples: nationalization, putsch, Bolivarianism, populism, authoritarianism, etc.).
On the board, each team of two people will write their choice. Ideally, each team should have a different choice. Their job will be to write a one to two page description, depending on the complexity of the topic, and post it on the class blog.
Then, each student will be invited to comment on at least one blog post from another team to provide formative feedback.