José "Pepe" Mujica, former president of Uruguay, is known as the most humble president in the world. As president, he donated approximately 90 percent of his salary to charity.

In these lesson plans, students will learn about this inspiring man by reading a two page biography in Spanish (handout and projectable reading included). Then, they will dig into his life philosophy by studying a paragraph-long quote from Mujica using the literature circle model described in this blog post:

Literature circles for world languages

Both a simplified version of the quote and the authentic quote are provided so that you can use these plans with Novice/Intermediate or with Intermediate/Advanced students.

Materials are also included for students to interact with the authentic resource; an interview with José Mujica in which he says the quote that is explored in the plans.

Detailed lesson plans are included, as well as projectable versions of all readings in PDF and PPT form and discussion questions to use throughout the activity.

These lesson plans will fill 3-4 class days, depending on the level that you use them in.

Consider connecting this lesson plan series with the short film "El hombre feliz" by Axel Arnaud, as the themes explored are almost identical.

El hombre feliz