While this article is from 2014 and some of the references are dated, it is the most student-friendly piece we have found on the push factors that lead to immigration from Central America.

Manlio Argueta's novels, Cuzcatlán and One Day of Life/Un dia en la vida can serve as textbooks on the history and culture of El Salvador. They are historical fiction which tell the story of the Salvadoran people through the lives of campesino families.

In this bilingual Spanish mini-unit developed as part of the UCI Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project, 1st grade students learn about the migrant stories of their families, their school community, and local area through the cultural practice of storytelling through oral tradition and artwork.

This discussion and lesson concentrates on the U.S./Mexico border and invites educators to consider lessons that stimulate discussion about walls through readings and art, using the tortilla as a canvas.

Kiara Aileen Machado is a contemporary artist born in Lynwood, California, who depicts and explores the construction of identity, familial lineage, intergenerational trauma, and culture in her work.

A song about Luisa Moreno.

Poem by  William Archila. Atlacatl is considered the last ruler of the city of Cuzcatlan, present-day El Salvador.

In this lesson, students learn about three different animals — all indigenous to Central America and help us understand the region’s ecosystems.

Poem by Claribel Alegría. From Fugues. (Curbstone Press, 1993)
Translated by D.J. Flakoll. PDF copy available.

Poem translated by Margaret Randall

Poem by Gioconda Belli. PDF copy available.

Poem by Oscar de Leon Palacios. PDF copy available.

Introduce to students that poetry, mythology and art perpetuate traditions and customs of a culture or ethnic group.

Poem by Carlos José Guadamuz. Translated by David Volpendesta, Volcán: Poems from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua

This poem, written by Chicano playwright Luis Valdez, is part of a larger work, Pensamiento Serpentino. The poem draws heavily from Mayan philospophy and the Maya-Quiche origin myth El Popol Vuh.

(1949–1990) Myrna Mack Chang was born in Barrio San Nicolás, Retalhuleu, in southwestern Guatemala. Her parents were ethnic Chinese. Myrna trained as a teacher, then as a social worker, then as an anthropologist. For her advocacy for the Maya community, she was labeled an “internal enemy” by the government.

(1950– ) Maria Serrano, born in El Salvador, was a young mother when she began organizing her fellow campesinos (farmers) to ask for land and rights from the corrupt Salvadoran government during the U.S.-backed civil war.

In this mini-unit developed as part of the UCI Central American Studies in K–12 Curriculum Project, students explore the personal impact that the politics of El Salvador and the United States have on both Salvadoran migrants and their children.

This interactive map lesson provides students with clues based on the history and geography of Central America so that they can find and remember the location of each country.

Poem by Otto René Castillo.