Día de los Muertos Classroom Ideas

Do you celebrate holidays from Spanish-speaking countries in your classes? In my classes, I don't celebrate every single holiday (because there are a lot of them), but we do spend some time on some of the larger holidays. Day of the Dead, aka Día de los muertos is an important celebration in Mexico and other countries in Latin America that takes place in the beginning of November. There are so many different things that you can do, big and small, to celebrate this holiday. Here are some things that I've done before in my classroom to celebrate:

-- Sugar skulls (calaveras): This is a fun, hands-on activity that you can do with students (but does require some preparation and clean up). To begin the class, I show a short video about sugar skulls - here is a great one that talks about what sugar skulls represent and how to make them. Then, we make sugar skulls! It is possible to purchase the molds for actual sugar skulls. If you want to go that route, you should plan for two days to make the skulls -- one to make the skulls and allowing them to dry and harden overnight, then the second day dedicated to decorating them.

-- Altars: This is a great activity to do with smaller classes and is a great way to get to know your students. To prepare the students, we read about the different elements of altars (this one is a nice, quick article). Once we learn about what an altar is and what it is about, we as a class create an altar. Students could create an item (like papel picado or a paper flower, but I also encouraged students to bring from home one item to add to our classroom altar. Some students brought photos of their loved ones, as well as momentos and foods that their loved ones enjoyed. It was a very meaningful way to learn about my students and the people that they love. This is one activity that I had my students do early in my teaching career, and I really enjoyed it. Once my classes started getting larger and larger, this activity seemed a little too cumbersome to continue.

-- Coco: Coco is a super popular movie that you have probably heard of, but if you've never seen it ... Coco is all about Day of the Dead. students wrote each day at least five things that they learned about day of the dead and one question that they had after watching the movie. The students would then get into groups at the beginning of class each day and share what they learned the day before and ask their questions to each other. As a whole class, students would volunteer then to share something they learned. I also asked anyone who did not get their question answered from their group members to share with the whole class to see if they could get an answer.

-- 'Día de los muertos' Story: Most recently, I have created a story for students to read about Day of the Dead. This is my most favorite thing to do for Day of the Dead because there is

no prep to this activity and students are able to both practicing their reading skills as well as learn all about Day of the Dead at the same time. Depending on the level of students, this activity can take one or two days. I have done this activity with Spanish I before, and it did take two days to get through the reading, the questions and the speaking, writing and listening activities. I do this more often now with my Spanish III or Spanish IV courses, and they really enjoy learning about the day in this way. Click the below to the side to check out the story that I use.

-- 'Día de los muertos' Mini-Cuentos: I am really excited to try out this new set of mini-stories this year with my Spanish I and Spanish II students. These stories are much shorter than my

traditional stories, and they deal with a specific aspect of the holiday. One reading compares Day of the Dead to Halloween. Other stories share the importance of altars and skulls to the holiday. One final story examines what exactly is pan de muerto and how it is different from regular bread. I am excited for my students to read these stories because they will get a taste of the holiday. I'm thinking of a jigsaw with these stories, where I will have students in groups of four. Each student will read one of the four different stories, then they will share the information they learned with the rest of the group. The students can then work together to complete the practice activities. If you're interested in this set of short stories, click the link to the side!

What ideas do you like for Día de los Muertos? What things do you do in your classroom to celebrate the holiday? I'd love to hear your ideas!