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„V LessonTopic: Holiday ±³Día de los Muertos´

„V Length of Lesson: 90 minutes
„V  Standards of Learning:
V SI
 The student will exchange information orally and in writing in Spanish on a
variety of topics related to contemporary and historical events and issues

V 
Exchange personal reactions to spoken and written information related
to Spanish-speaking cultures

V SI
The student will demonstrate skills necessary to sustain extended oral and
written exchanges in Spanish

V 
Exchange ideas clearly, based on level-appropriate material

V SI
The student will analyze in Spanish how various perspectives reflect the
practices and products of Spanish-speaking cultures

V SI
The student will discuss in level-appropriate Spanish the effects of cultural
similarities and differences on social, economic, and political relationships in the
global community

V è
Examine local, regional, and national differences in the cultures of
Spanish-speaking countries and the culture(s) of the United States



 

„V The students will make predictions, using prior knowledge, and then confirm or deny
facts about the history, cultural significance, and traditions of ³Día de los Muertos´

„V The students will read critically and analyze a text in Spanish about the traditional
holiday, ³Día de los Muertos´

„V The students will demonstrate comprehension and understanding of a reading assignment
by summarizing and explaining the material to another group of students

„V The students will distinguish between the Hispanic holiday, ³Día de los Muertos´, and
other familiar holidays and traditions in a class discussion

„V Students will interpret and reflect on a quote by Octavio Paz and express their opinion on
the topic

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„V Each student should have an Spanish-English Dictionary
 „V Slideshow of photographs/images depicting ³Día de los Muertos´ celebrations
„V nticipation Guide Handout
„V Extra colorful pens for students to use to update the nticipation Guide
„V åigsaw ctivity:
V Select 4 different articles about traditional aspects of ³Día de los Muertos´ that
vary as far as reading level and complexity of grammar and vocabulary
ssign
articles based on reading and Spanish language ability

V Divide class into  sets of groups:
V Expert Groups (4 groups): (homogenous skill level) to read and discuss
article; and
V Teaching Groups (4 groups): (heterogeneous skill level) to summarize and
explain passage to other students
V (The teaching groups will be made up of at least  representative from
each of the expert groups, so that each group member will be teaching a
different article)
„V Teacher¶s list of questions for class discussion about holiday (based on statements in the
nticipation Guide)
„V Homework assignment with Octavio Paz quote and reaction prompt

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„V Introduction/ nticipatory Set: (0 minutes)
V Teacher will play slideshow in the background as students arrive to expose them
to images of ³Día de los Muertos´ celebrations and activate any prior knowledge
students may have about the holiday

V Students will independently complete the nticipation Guide handout

„V Lesson Development:
V Teacher will read out loud the statements in the nticipation Guide and have
students share responses (without the teacher giving away whether or not the
answers are correct)
The purpose of this activity is not to correct the nticipation
Guide, rather it is to have the students hear and use the new vocabulary and give
students a chance to ask questions about terms they don¶t understand
Teacher
 will introduce new vocabulary and ask fact-based questionsabout the statements
on the nticipation Guide to gauge comprehension
(0 minutes)
V Teacher will assign articles
Students will independently read their assigned
articles
The nticipation Guide handout can also serve as a reading guide during
this activity
( minutes)
V Teacher will introduce and explain the åigsaw ctivity
Students will break into
pre-determined (by the teacher) ³Expert Groups´ to discuss their assigned article
about the ³Día de los Muertos´ holiday
Students should work together and assist
one another to achieve a thorough understanding of the text
Once students feel
as if they have ³mastered´ the content in the article, students will then re-organize
into pre-determined (by the teacher) ³Teaching Groups´ to summarize and
explain the content of their article to students from other ³Expert Groups´

Teacher will visit each group to assist students in comprehending the reading
assignment, check for understanding, and be available to answer questions
While
in ³Teaching Groups,´ students can work together to review, modify and reflect
on the nticipation Guide handout they filled out earlier using a different colored
pen
Students should use the space below each statement to either correct it or
explain how they know it is accurate, based on the article they read or the
information they learned from others in the ³Teaching Group´
(40 minutes; 
minutes for ³Expert Groups´ and  minutes for ³Teaching Groups´)
„V Dlosure: ( minutes)
V Teacher will ask discussion questions to have students demonstrate what they
learned in the åigsaw ctivity about the ³Día de los Muertos´ holiday
This will
also serve as a review to make sure everyone understood the content properly

Teacher will re-play slideshow and have students take turns explaining how the
images connect to the holiday
Teacher will ask fact-based, interpretive,
analytical, and opinion-based questions (Bloom¶s Taxonomy)
This is a chance
for the students to reflect on what they learned and apply it in a new context

V Teacher will assign homework and read quote out loud to get students thinking
and interested

Ã
 „V Studentswill be askedtorespondtothefollowingquotebyMexicanwriter and Nobel
PrizeWinner, Octavio Paz: ³Para el habitante de Nueva York, Paris o Londres, la muerte
es palabra que jamás se pronuncia porque quema los labios
El mexicano, en cambio, la
frecuenta, la burla, la acaricia, duerme con ella, la festeja, es uno de sus juguetes favoritos
y su amor más permanente
Dierto, en su actitud hay quizá tanto miedo como en la de los
otros; más al menos no se esconde ni la esconde; la contempla cara a cara con paciencia,
desdén o ironía
 (Paz, Octavio
³The Day of the Dead,´ in: The Labyrinth of Solitude:
Life and Thought in Mexico
New York: Grove Press, 9, p
47-4
)

V Students should translate and understand the quote (use a Spanish-English

dictionary if necessary), relate it to what they learned about the ³Día de los
Muertos´ holiday and express their own opinion about how death is handled in
the U
S
as compared with Mexico
Students should decide if they agree or do not
agree with what Paz states in the quote and explain why
Students will be given 
days to complete the assignment



„V ormative:
V While students work independently to complete the nticipation Guide handout at
the beginning of class, the teacher can gauge the level of prior knowledge by
walking around and checking in with students

V The teacher can assess the level of comprehension while reading the nticipation
Guide statements out loud based on how students respond
This is also an
opportunity for the teacher to assess understanding of new vocabulary

V Later, when students update and correct their answers on the anticipation guide
with a different colored pen, the teacher will have another opportunity to check
for learning and make sure students are on the right track

V t the end of class, the teacher can collect the revised nticipation Guide
handouts in order to check for correctness and determine how effective the lesson
was
Based on how well the students revised incorrect predictions and updated
information on the handout, the teacher can determine what and how much review
will be needed the next day

 V During the åigsaw ctivity the teacher will have ample time to visit with each
group to check for comprehension of the passage, monitor student progress and
involvement and steer students in the right direction

V In the class discussion, the teacher will ask questions that give students achance to
demonstrate their understanding of the lesson material and apply it in a different
context

„V Summative
V The homework assignment will be a graded assignment in which the teacher can
assess student learning
Students will be asked to apply what they¶ve learned
about ³Día de los Muertos´ to Octavio Paz¶s quote and form an opinion on
whether they agree or disagree with his statement in Spanish

V Students will also be tested on this material at a later date when given a
Dhapter/Unit Test

' 
„V Mexico Delebrates Life
(00)
Day of the Dead in Mexico
Retrieved March 9, 0
from http://www
dayofthedead
com/
„V Los Indígenas no dejaron que la tradición del Día de los Muertos fuera erradicada

(00)
La oz rizona
RetrievedMarch 9, 0
fromhttp://www
lavozarizona
com/dead/historia
html
„V Día de los Muertos - ltar
(00)
La oz rizona
RetrievedMarch 9, 0
fromhttp://www
lavozarizona
com/dead/altar
html
„V Delebrations: Day of the Dead Mini-Unit
(997)
TeacherLINK
Retrieved March 9,
0 from http://teacherlink
ed
usu
edu/tlresources/units/byrnes-celebrations/day
html
„V Paz, Octavio
³The Day of the Dead,´ in: The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in
Mexico
New York: Grove Press, 9, p
47-4

 d


„V PhotoSlideshow
„V nticipation Guide Handout and nswer Key
„V 4 articles about traditional and historical aspects of ³Día de los Muertos´ for ³Expert
Groups´ to read and share in ³Teaching Groups´

„V Homework ssignment Handout and Grading Rubric