Lesson: What Makes a World Heritage City? Connecting Philadelphia with Mexico, and Other Countries in Central America and the Caribbean

Source: Philadelphia World Heritage Tool Kit

Created by: Donna Sharer, School District of Philadelphia

Subjects: English as a Second Language (ESOL)

Grade Levels: 5-12

View or download this Lesson Plan.

Overview: The lessons introduce “Entering,” “Beginning,” and “Developing” ELLs to World Heritage Cities, with a focus on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and World Heritage Cities and sites in Mexico and other countries in Central America and the Caribbean.

Objectives:  Students will be able to evaluate whether or not a city meets World Heritage Site/City criteria, support a position using evidence based on World Heritage Site/City criteria, and compare or contrast two cities based on World Heritage Site/City criteria. Students will also be able to define heritage, nature/natural, culture/ cultural, criteria (criterion), define World Heritage Site/City criteria, and sequence evidence using first, second, third, and last/fourth.

The Philadelphia World Heritage Tool Kit

This lesson is one of 29 lessons (K-12, all subjects) in the Philadelphia World Heritage Tool Kit. The goal of the Tool Kit is to help educators and their students develop a transnational analysis in their classrooms by using complex themes of world heritage as a framework to understand global regions across disciplines. These themes include shared architectural, cultural, economic, environmental, political, recreational, religious, and social heritage features.  Real teachers created these lessons and based their work on “best practices” that reflect student collaboration and the broad goals of young people in ways that support care and understanding of others who may be very different in background and history.