As a preface to this blog, I want to remind you that I teach high school Spanish. Today–this week–was exciting in my classroom. I want to share some pictures and activities that the students and I enjoyed. Pay close attention to all the color!
El Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) corresponds to All Saint’s Day–with a twist. This is a Mexican holiday, a true celebration of the dead. There is nothing sad about this day. The families welcome the opportunity to remember their loved ones through various activities. A fiesta for a few weeks ending with this day and November 2.
I started on Monday with a brief history with colorful slides. Believe me there were lots of questions about the colorful skulls and the decorated altars in the homes. The week continued with making papel picado which is the cutouts on tissue paper that we hung from the ceiling. Face painting consumed one class period–no princesses or witches. The students designed colorful skulls! We made paper flowers and the girls put theirs on headbands. Today we finished with a party and a movie—“Coco.”
If you ever have the opportunity to participate in this rendition of Halloween, try to grasp the idea of celebrating your loved ones.
Do you know anything about Day of the Dead?
Your class was such fun last week I see! It is wonderful that yall do so much to celebrate a very iconic holiday in Mexico. That will certainly leave an impression on the students and give them something to always remember about what they learned in Spanish class. In my class this year we did not celebrate because the kids went on a 3 day trip the days before dia de los muertos.