K-12 Teacher Orientation Training
LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes is offering an opportunity for educators to receive a half-day, in-depth orientation training by appointment.
Option 1 - Exhibition: Calle Principal: Main Street Los Angeles, 1920s
This exhibition provides seven vignettes and four interactive stations, which give a glimpse of Los Angeles Mexican and Mexican American run businesses in the heart of Los Angeles in the 1920s. We also provide a hands-on urban building workshop for teachers that demonstrate what their students will experience at LA Plaza.
Option 2 - Exhibition: LA Starts Here!
This exhibition chronicles over 200 years of Los Angeles history. Training includes an in-depth tour and discussion with LA Plaza educators and provides assistance with ideas on how to incorporate this exhibition into the California State Content Standards. We also provide a hands-on print making workshop for teachers that demonstrate what their students will experience at LA Plaza.
Option 3 – Edible Teaching Garden and Culinary Arts Program
Explore LA Plaza garden and orchard, which demonstrates from compost to harvest in a year round organic growing environment. This is complemented by the culinary program where teachers participate in a hands-on culinary experience that demonstrates what their students will experience.
For more information or to make a reservation please contact:
Curriculum Resources for K-12 Teachers
The Three Sisters: A Companion for K-12 Teachers
These units are the first in a series focusing on the indigenous American growing technique known as the Three Sisters (the companion planting system of corn, beans, and squash). These resources can be used as preparation for a visit to the Edible Teaching Garden and Culinary Arts Program at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes or as classroom lessons.
a) California State Standard aligned lessons
b) Interactive activities
c) Student worksheets
d) Informational teacher handouts
The educational units below represent an interdisiplinary approach to the study of corn. The lessons within these units incorporate history, science, language arts, and math, emphasizing the importance of corn in sustaining human life for millennia.
Click on your grade level for downloadable resources for your classroom. Please check regularly for updated curricula.
Exploring Identity Through the Power of Storytelling: Common Core Listening and Speaking at the Secondary Level
These activities for secondary school students provide brief information on the process of storytelling. These materials also include:
a) Prompting questions for students to use as they review stories or create stories.
b) Constructing A Story - Think Sheet, which allows students to build a summary of the story they read aloud as a group, heard someone tell, or created out of their own life experiences.
c) References for additional information.
Common Core Aligned Standards:
• Language Standard 1, 2, and 3: students relate the essential rules of standard written and spoken English that enable speakers and writers to select from among alternatives to craft written or spoken expressions.
• Language Standards 4, 5, and 6: focus on vocabulary acquisition and use.
Click below to download this resource for your classroom.
Seed Balls: A Native Garden in Microcosm
This hands-on K-12 lesson plan outlines steps for students to create their own seed balls, small balls of clay containing natural wildflower seeds. When broken upon empty spaces, the seeds contained inside will germinate and grow naturally, without the need for human care. This lesson is perfect for educators and individuals looking to beautify desolate spaces in their community.
Click below to download this resource.
California Cattle & Branding: 4th - 5th Grade Lesson
This interactive 4th - 5th grade lesson is a perfect companion for educators focusing on California history. This printmaking lesson outlines how students can design their own unique branding iron using personal symbols. Included is also a reading on the rancho period in California describing the use of branding irons during this period. Using art techniques, students will learn about California history in a fun and interactive manner.
Click below to download this resource.
The Fitness For Life program aims to promote physical fitness among youth, specifically through the incorporation of daily tracking of one’s steps with the use of pedometers. Additionally, students create walking goals in collaboration with their teachers and steadily work toward these goals. By the end of the program, students will have improved health awareness and will continue to walk as a daily health practice. This curriculum includes all the necessary materials to incorporate this program in your school.
Starting Your Own Garden
This informational handout provides tips on how to start your own garden as well as benefits to be gained from partaking in this endeavor.
Change of Season, Change of Garden
With the coming of fall, this handout provides great advice on how to change your garden to reflect the changing season and take advantage of nature's change for your garden.
Ever thought about what to do with an old pair of worn-out rainboots? Or with a container that no longer serves a purpose? In the spirit of recycling, this handout teaches you how you can use almost any container to serve as a pot for plants or a garden.
This handout provides useful tips and recommendations for refreshing tea during the hot summer and early fall months in Southern California. Also, teas have many health benefits that serve as an added bonus to staying hydrated and refreshed!
Mulching for Personal Gardens
This informational handout serves as a resource for novice gardeners to learn how to use newspaper and other materials as mulch for their gardens instead of expensive fertilizer and other mulch products from gardening stores. Recycle and save money!
Kitchen Safety Guidelines
In order to cook safely, be sure to follow the guidelines outlined in this handout. It is important to ensure proper safety precautions are kept in mind in order to enjoy the healthy recipes posted on this website!