1. Questions
1. Get into groups of two.
2. Ask each other to answer the following
questions:
 Have you tried jícama with chile?
 Describe a coyote.
 Do you like spicy jalapeños?
 Have you ever been to México?

2. Recognition
 Did you recognize any of the underlined
words?
 Were any of the words in your daily
vocabulary?
 Do you know where these words come
from?
 Let’s watch a quick video.

3. Borrowed Words
 Definition: loan word, a word adopted
from another language and completely
or partially naturalized.
 We are familiar with most of the words we
discussed at the beginning of class;
jícama, coyote, jalapeños, and México.
 These words come from Nahuatl, the
language used by the Aztecs.

4. Influences
Nahualt
Modern Day
Spanish
XVI Century
Spanish

5. Who were the Aztecs?
 The Aztecs were the Native
Americans who had
political and military
control over the northern
part of Mexico in the
14th, 15th and 16th
centuries.
 They were a nomadic
culture that finally
established themselves on
several small islands in Lake
Texcoco.
 In 1325 they settled in
Tenochtitlan, a city that is
now Mexico City.

6. Aztec Empire
 The Aztec Empire dominated
Mesoamerica, area from
central Mexico down through
Central America, including
Guatemala, Belize, Honduras,
and El Salvador during the XV
and XVI centuries for almost
one hundred years.
 The Aztec empire was made
up of the native people who
were called the Nahuatl-
speakers and the Culhua-
Mexico, who had come from
the Pacific Northwest and
settled in the area.

7. The People
 The Aztecs were courageous
warriors and practical builders
who founded an empire in that
was second only to the Incas in
Peru.
 The Aztecs began their reign in
1427 after the
leader, Itzcoatl, with the
assistance of surrounding
cities, defeated the local tribes
and gained control of the
Mexican basin. Theys slowly
became more powerful and
skilled in warfare, so that other
tribes in the area wanted to
become allies with them due
to the constant conflicts
between the tribes.

8. Leadership
 With Itzacoatl's leadership, they
built temples, roads, a
causeway that linked the city
to the mainland, and they
worked on their government
and religious hierarchy.
Leadership of the nation was
passed on from brother to
brother and then to the eldest
son of the eldest brother.
Leaders were then chosen by
religious leaders and people of
political power, based on their
skills on the battlefield and their
ability to speak eloquently.

9. Encounter and Conquest
 The Spaniards arrived in Mexico in
1519. This marked the beginning of
a critical and influential time in
Mexico’s history.
 Their fervor fueled by victory, the
conquistadores lay the Aztec
empire to waste, erasing the
remnants of the culture as best they
could, scorching Tenochtitlán by
fire, leveling its majestic temples.
The rubble would make up the
foundations of a new world, the
cradle of a brand new people.
 Cortes had a singular mission:
defeat the Aztecs and take their
gold.
 The Spaniards settled in Mexico and
co-existed with the
indigenous, formerly the Aztecs.

10. Word Definition
Presentation
 Individual project
 Definition of the word.
 Use it in a sentence.
 1-2 minute presentation.
 Submit a summary of what you learned
on the same day you present.

11. Presentation
 Technology is your
friend!
 There is a list of safe
and useful websites
that will be helpful.
 Blog about it!
 You will be expected
to share one interesting
fact about what you
have learned today.
This blog will be on our
class unit website.

12. List of words
 Aguacate
 Atole
 Ayotl
 Cacao
 Cajeta
 Chapulín
 Chayote
 Chicle
 Chipotle
 Chocolate
 Comal
 Ejote
 Elote
 Guacamole
 Guajolote
 Huitzilin
 Hule
 Jitomate
 Mazatlán
 Mole
 Nanche
 Nopal
 Popote
 Pozole
 Tabasco
 Tamal
 Tecolote
 Tlacoyo
 Tlacuache
 Tlaxcala
 Xicohtli