National Hispanic Heritage Month and Cinco de Mayo Lesson Plans and Teacher Resources:

Feliz Mes de la Herencia Hispana!

Videos | Lesson Plans | Additional Resources

Introduction:

National Hispanic Heritage Month is “the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and to celebrate Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation … cover(s) a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. … September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.” – Wikipedia

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for ‘fifth of May’) is a holiday “observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride, and to commemorate the cause of freedom and democracy during the first years of the American Civil War. In the state of Puebla, the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862… Contrary to widespread popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day…”- Wikipedia

Lessons Plans:

Hispanic Culture and History:

• This is an art lesson on Ecuadorian masapán bread dough sculpting (P-6)
• This lesson teaches finger movements for Spanish flamenco castanets (P)
• A 6-foot Mayan pyramid is created out of recycled materials in this art lesson (K-5)
• A Guatemalan worry doll helps young students to cope with school and social anxiety here (K-3)
• This well-developed “Christmas Around the World” lesson starts in Mexico (K)
• Here are some simple songs for learning about and celebrating Cinco de Mayo (K)
• In this “Hispanic Heritage” research project, students compare a Latin American country to the U.S. (2-5)
• This lesson plan is on Cesar Chavez and the difference that a single person can make (2-4)
• In this Cesar Chavez lesson, students make a paper quilt to express their knowledge (3-6)
• These are lessons on Costa Rica(3-5):
  • These are four great social studies lessons teaching about Costa Rica
  • Here is a social studies lesson on Costa Rica
  • This is another social studies lesson on Costa Rica
  • This lesson is on Costa Rican resources
  • Here’s one more social studies lesson on Costa Rica
  • Here is an art lesson on Costa Rica

   

• Here is a complete, fully-developed unit on Relief Sculpture & Glyphs in Pre-Columbia Mesoamerica(3):
  • Unit Overview and Component Links
  • Lesson 1 looks at and talks about Mesoamerica and their glyphs
  • Lesson 2 focuses on the symbolic meaning of glyphs
  • Lesson 3 covers elements of sculpture and involves designing a glyph of a jaguar
  • Lesson 4 has students carving a glyph on sandstone
  • Lesson 5 is the completion of the glyph carving
  • Unit Evaluation
  • Scanned picture of the 4″ x 3″ squares and grid

   

• Here’s a Mexican history timeline (3)
• This is a social studies lesson on Mexican literature (3)
• This lesson is on Mexico’s geography (3)
• Students will be making maps of Mexico in this lesson (4-5)
• This lesson is on Christopher Columbus and the Tainos (4-5)
• Here are five activity ideas for teaching about Spanish culture (4)
• Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the paper mache maracas crafted in this art project
• This social studies lesson is on the history of Spain (5)
• Here is a multidisciplinary lesson on Mexican food (5)
• “Folktales Around the World” begins in Mexico to explore Spanish culture and vocabulary (5)
• This lesson covers Spanish colonization of “New Spain” in respect to the slave trade (5)
• “Walls That Tell a Story” is a multidisciplinary unit that includes the City of the Sun in Peru (5) (MD)
• Visit the thirteen equatorial rainforest countries here (6)
• This is an outstanding multidisciplinary fresco art unit (7-12)
• The modern effects of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo are covered here (7)
• This lesson compares the quinceañera in Hispanic culture to other rites of passage (9-12)
• Here is a foreign policy lesson on the Cuban Missile Crisis and Bay of Pigs invasion (9-12)
• A Chicana tells her story in this cultural differences lesson set at “The House on Mango Street” (11-12)
• See other appropriate lesson in the World History, World Geography, and Rainforest sections of our Social Studies pages and on our Columbus Day page

Spanish Language Lessons:

• This fun hands-on lesson teaches students Spanish language and culture along with Baleros skills (K-12)
• Have bilingual fun here with the “The Barking Mouse” (K-5)
• Students identify causes of pollution and ways they can prevent it in this bilingual photo story (K-3)
• Young children create a family tree in this Spanish art lesson plan (K)
• “Count in Espanol” is a Spanish counting lesson (3-4)
• This one’s also on counting in Spanish (3)
• This is a lesson on translating from Spanish to English (3)
• Here’s a teacher’s guide for using foreign language songs like “La Bamba in the classroom (4-8)
• “El Supermercado” is a Spanish lesson plan that also teaches about Spanish foods and shopping (6-12)
• Here is a clear and well-developed lesson on the division of syllables in Spanish and the rules for stressing those syllables (6-12)
• Spanish verbs are taught through storytelling in this collection of ideas (6-8)
• Performing conversations here helps students review last year’s Spanish lessons (6-8)
• This is a Spanish language food pyramid (Piramide de Comida) lesson (6-8)
• This lesson involves writing autobiographies in Spanish (6)
• Spanish language students create and film a humorous mini-dialogue at a restaurant in this lesson (6)
• Asking and answering questions in Spanish is the focus of this foreign language lesson (7-12)
• In this lesson, an original “La Rima” is used to teach Spanish prepositions (7-12)
• Here’s a Spanish Bingo lesson (7-12)
• Here students can practice their foreign language vocabulary while playing baseball (7-12)
• Here students make a Spanish PowerPoint on the history, art, literature & culture of a Spanish-speaking country (7-12)
• Students ask questions about different independence movements in this Latin American version of “Stump the Teacher” (7)
• This is a Spanish Bingo idea plus a couple of different vocabulary activites (8)
• Family and “Estar” are the topics of this Spanish lesson (9-12)
• This Spanish I unit will be popular with your clothes-crazy teens (9-12)
• This final project for intermediate Spanish involves using technology to research and present a famous “Spanish Idol” (9-12)
• “Un Repaso del Imperfecto” is a Spanish II imperfect tense lesson in which students make a promo for a “Nick at Nite” show (9-12)
• Students explore popular genres of Spanish-language music in this Spanish II lesson (9-12)
• Here AP Spanish Lit students construct their own illustrated Spanish literature book (11-12)
• In this Spanish lesson, students describe objects to a store clerk (11-12)
• Also see the Foreign Language and ESL sections of our Language Arts pages

General Cultural Heritage and Diversity:

• This lesson explores “The Color of We” with paint-mixing, puppetry, and poetry (P-2)
• The “Colors of Us” are compared to food in this similar/different diversity lesson (K-2)
• Teach about different countries and cultures with this must-have compilation of creative ideas (1-8)
• “We’re Just Like Crayons” by Stephen Fite is the centerpiece for this diversity lesson (1-2)
• This Eve Bunting “Smoky Night” lesson teaches students the value of getting along with people they do not know (3-6)
• This lesson focuses on exposure to other cultures and building self-esteem (3)
• This is a set of lesson plans for an Oral History Unit(4-6):
  • This first lesson discusses how to do an interview
  • This one focuses on obtaining information through an interview
  • The last lesson addresses the interviewing of elders to learn about their life in the community

   

• This lesson is on cultural awareness and sharing traditions (4-6)
• This lesson plan is on immigration and tracing one’s lineage (4-5)
• This brief idea involves learning history from grandparents (4-5)
• Here’s an activity for developing a cultural calendar (4)
• “The People Next Door” A-Z project teaches respect for a neighboring country’s traditions and culture (5-8)
• This is a lesson plan about family and cultures (5)
• Here students research the culture, language, and traditions of their native land of origin (6)
• Clipart is used here to create a “Where is your family from” quilt square (7)
• An immigrant group’s “culture capsule” is created in this multidisciplinary lesson (7)

World Geography:

• This is a geography lesson on “finding your spot in the world” (2)
• This activity involves creating travel brochures (2-3)
• Here’s an idea for students to make flags for different countries (3)
• This is a multidisciplinary lesson on “Music Around the World” (4-5)
• Students note the differences in melody and rhythm between songs from various cultures and our own (4-5)
• Sixth graders make a foreign country photo story here (6)
• “See The World” is another good idea for studying other countries (6-10)
• Students create a travel brochure to an imaginary or actual place in this lesson (6-8)
• This is a good art-focused lesson on painting, the elements of light, countries and their continents (7-8)
• “Come to my Country” brochures are created in this geography lesson (7)

E-Pals:

• This lesson is about E-Pal communication and the other cultures that may be encountered through it (2)
• “Keypals” is a well-developed electronic foreign penpal unit (2-4)
• Here is another great international penpal idea (4-12)

Videos:

• This is a great Hispanic Heritage Month video report by a Texas State student
• This TeacherTube video celebrates the contributions made by famous Hispanic-Americans
• Here is a high school video showing how Hispanic culture is a rich ingredient in all aspects of life
• This video presents the history of three cultures and identities that formed our Hispanic heritage
• Learn the history of the word “Hispanic” here
• This video showcases the wonderful work of 3rd-5th grade students celebrating their Hispanic heritage
• These are video biographies of hispanic performers, artists, and political figures
• Here NASA profiles three young Hispanic engineers
• The Library of Congress hosts a Hispanic Heritage Month audio-video page filled with multidisciplinary webcasts of author interviews, lectures, poetry and cultural performances

Additional Resources:

• The Library of Congress and other national agencies pay tribute to generations of Hispanic Americans who have enriched our nation and society at the official National Hispanic Heritage Month site
• Teach students about Latino contributions to the arts, sciences, and humanities with the outstanding teaching resources of Smithsonian Education and the Smithsonian Latino Center
• Scholastic celebrates Hispanic history and culture with two unique curricula: Dreams and Carnival Celebrations
• PBS Parents features great lessons on our country’s hispanic heritage (K-5) and on Latino American/Chicano studies (9-12)
• Here are two great reading lists for Hispanic Heritage Month (K-12)
• This is EdHelper’s Hispanic Heritage Month printable unit (1-9)
• Here is a mini-unit on Hispanic cultures (5)
• This is a Latino civil rights discussion activity (6-12)
• Find crafts and coloring pages celebrating Latin American culture at Crayola.com
• Here are handy activity printables from the Chicago Public Library
• Look here for Hispanic Heritage Month PowerPoints
• Download the free AFT Hispanic Heritage Month poster here
• Colorín Colorado salutes the rich history of Hispanic culture with games, books, activities, and bilingual fun
• Here you will find six interactive activities for kids to celebrate Hispanic heritage
• Make names like Sotomayor and Kahlo as famous as J-LO and Shakira with these multimedia biography resources and interactive Latino trivia games
• Find information about Hispanic inventors at this site
• PBS is the go-to place for in-depth Frida Kahlo and Isabel Allende resources
• The is the California State Dept. of Ed comprehensive site on Cesar Chavez
• This timeline highlights key events in Hispanic-American history, as does this short overview of Hispanic contributions to the United States
• Here students map South America on an interactive National Geographic expedition
• If you need anything else, you’ll probably find it at the Latin American Network Information Center