Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

With President Obama visiting Mexico today and Mexico’s drug war on the top of the agenda, I thought a quick “The Best…” list on the crisis in Mexico would be timely and useful.

Late last year I spent a little time in my Intermediate English class on what was going on there and it resulted in a lot of multicultural exchange going on. Previously,  when leaders of the Hmong community were indicted here in Sacramento for planning a coup in Laos, non-Hmong English Language Learners in our classes were fascinated to learn about the Hmong stories.  Non-Latino ELL students were equally as interested in learning about this Mexican crisis.

Here are my picks for The Best Sites To Learn About Mexico’s Drug War (and, of course, are accessible to English Language Learners):

Mexico Under Siege is the title of a special feature from the Los Angeles Times about the ongoing drug war happening in Mexico. It’s a pretty impressive production.  It includes an interactive map that shows what is going on in the communities where a number of my student’s families had lived and, in many cases, still do so.

Here’s another interactive map — this one from The New York Times — showing The Reach of Mexico’s Drug Cartels.

MSN has an excellent interactive on Drug Trafficking in Mexico.

Mexico’s Growing Drug Violence Worries U.S. is from the Voice of America.  You can also click on a video on the same page.  The article is a transcript of the video narration.

Mexico At War is special multimedia presentation from The Washington Post.

Mexico’s Drug War is from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture.

Mexico’s Drug Wars is a series of photos from The Denver Post.

Guns Without Borders is a slideshow from The New York Times about the huge quantity of guns from the United States that are finding their way into the hands of the Mexican drug cartels.

American Guns In Juarez is a New York Times video exploring the same issue. This video has some graphic scenes.

Here’s a CBS video report on President Obama’s visit that highlights 90% of the weapons used by the drug cartels were purchased legally in the United States.

Drug War In Mexico is a series of photographs from The Sacramento Bee.

Drug, Violence In Mexican Border Town is a slideshow from CNN.

The BBC has an audio slideshow on Mexican Drug Violence.

In Juarez, The Military Tackles Murders is a slideshow from The Washington Post.

War Without Borders is an audio slideshow from The New York Times.

Mexico Under Seige is a slideshow from MSNBC.

Mexico At War is a Washington Post interactive that includes a photo gallery, map, and online video.

The Associated Press has a new interactive on the Mexican Drug Cartels.

In Mexico, the Violence Continues is a slideshow from The New York Times.

The Wall Street Journal has an interactive titled Amid Rising Violence, Mexicans Fight Back.

For students who are not from Mexico (and for those who are) here are some accessible links for them to learn some basic information about the country:

Apples 4 The Teacher has a “talking book” about Mexico.

There’s also The Mexico For Kids site.

Brainpop, Jr. has a movie about Mexico, though you need to have a paid subscription to view it.

As always, feedback is welcome.

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