The Spanish Civil War had a profound impact on fiction and non-fiction writers and intellectuals such as Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Langston Hughes, Martha Gellhorn, and John Dos Passos, in addition to poets such as Edwin Rolfe, James Neugass, Stephen Spender, W.H. Auden, and Genevieve Taggart. Moreover, ALBA’s primary source materials offer many opportunities for writing and discussion around general ethical questions: When do we stand up for what we believe in? What are our obligations in the face of injustice? How do we resolve competing loyalties? (See also: Why Teach the Spanish Civil War?)
Teaching the Common Core with Primary Documents
ALBA works with teachers in Social Studies, English Language Arts, and Spanish to design lesson plans based on compelling, accesible primary source documents -texts, images, audio- that will incite student interest while meeting common core state standards in reading, writing, speaking & listening and media skills.
The US and the Spanish Civil War: A Primer for Teachers and Students
See also: Powerpoint Introduction to the Spanish Civil War (40 min.)
Lesson Plans (click on the title to see the whole plan)
| Title | 1. Competing Loyalties and Difficult Decisions |
| Subject | English |
| Grade(s) | 11-12 |
| Standards | CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.5 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.6 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.1 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3 |
| Keywords | Spanish Civil War, International Brigades, non-intervention, decision-making |
| Title | 2. Utopic and dystopic visions: Differing views of social order |
| Subject | English/Language Arts/Social Studies |
| Grade(s) | 10-12 |
| Standards | CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.7 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.5 |
| Keywords | Utopia, dystopia, fascism, communism, workers’ struggles, class warfare, Spanish Civil War |
| Title | 3. Children’s Drawings of War |
| Subject | English/Language Arts/Social Studies |
| Grade(s) | 9-12 |
| Standards | CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7 |
| Keywords | Fascism, Nazism, Guernica, Geneva Convention |