Mexican Multicultural lesson plan:

Day of the dead

By: Jiada Nucci, Diana Baziyants, Victoria
Killman, and Janeth Mora
 For our fifth grade class, we will

begin with watching a presentation

(or slideshow) on what the holiday,

Day of the Dead/Dia De Los Muertos

introduction is about. This will allow students to

first be introduced to the culture and

will focus specifically on verbal

linguistic students.
Start of the day of the dead slideshow
 Day of the Dead
Class review slide show
What is day of the dead?
Day of the dead is a Mexican holiday where people, especially families, get
together to remember those who they have lost.
When is day of the Dead?
Day of the dead is held from October 31st to November 2nd.
What is the significance?
People celebrate day of the dead to remember and commemorate the lives of
loved ones who have passed away.
Why celebrate the dead?
Families celebrate the lives of the ones they lost because they believe that by
remembering the dead they are never truly gone.
 We will practice a song that
introduces/reinforces some basic Spanish
vocabulary. This will be valuable for
musical-rhythmic students. We will have the
students play a game where there are several
different articles of clothing in front of them
and they must quickly pick up the article of

Daily Reviews clothing that is associated with the Spanish

word. Example: if the students hear “padre”
they are supposed to pick up a baseball cap that
symbolizes a dad. This will be good for our
bodily-kinesthetic learners. After the game, we
will collect homework from the day before.
Students should have brought a photo of
someone they care about that has passed away
to use for a future class activity.
Daily video
 Learning about Day of the Dead

Daily Objective and why it is important to

Mexicans and Mexican-Americans.

 Concept and Skill Development and Application:

After introducing the topic and reviewing, we will go outdoors and pick marigold flowers for our next art
project. This will be important for our naturalistic students. We then will use these flowers to create a Day of the
Dead project by creating a flower crown, which will meet the needs of our visual-spatial students. This will not only
serve as an art project, but will also explain why marigolds are important to Mexican Americans. If the students in
class do not want to wear the crown, they are encouraged to give it as a present to a parent, sibling, cousin, or friend.
We will then play a game that will help challenge our logical-mathematical students. They will see images associated
with a certain holiday and will be asked to match it up with the correct holiday name. After we complete another
game, we will bring in someone’s mom or dad, another teacher, or anyone willing to speak on their life as a
Mexican- American. Our interpersonal students will be engaged by asking questions during a Q & A. We will then
touch on the importance of the Day of the Dead by reminding students it is about people remembering those they
have lost and honor their memory. Students will use the photo they brought in earlier and write a paragraph on why
this person was important. This will meet the needs of our intrapersonal learners. Reminder: this “person” can be a
pet, family member, friend, or if a student does not wish to share any personal information then they can discuss a
character from film or literature. This will meet their homework requirements as well. The teacher is encouraged to
share their own losses. Lastly, we will end the assignment with learning about the legacy people leave when they
pass away and what kind of legacy the student want to leave one day. This will be excellent for our existential
learners.
 Guided practice will be seen throughout the day but

specifically during the intrapersonal learners activity when

they write about an important person of their past. The

teacher will be communicating back and forth with students

Guided/Independent/Group about why legacy is important to help guide their thoughts.

Practice
Independent practice will be seen when the students work

on their marigold project. Group practice will be seen

throughout the day, specifically when students are picking

their marigolds and playing games with one another.

Marigold project
 - Cempasuchil are native to Mexico
- Their vibrant color is said to represent the sun,
which in Aztec mythology guides the spirits on their
way to the underworld.
- Grow at the end of Mexico’s rainy season just in

Why are Marigolds -

time for Dia de los Muertos
By using them in Day of the Dead rituals, the strong
aroma of the flowers attracts the spirits who,are

traditional on Day of the believed to return to visit their families at this time,
helping them to find their way. In a similar way,
burning copal incense is also thought to help guide

Dead? -
the spirits.
Flowers are a symbol of the impermanence and
fragility of life and have many uses in Day of the
Dead celebrations. They are used to adorn graves
and offerings along with candles, special foods,
such as bread called pan de muerto, sugar skulls and
other items.
 The homework assignment will be

completed when the students bring in a

photo of a deceased family member,

homework which they will expand on later, when

they write a paragraph about why this

person is important.
 Students will explain why it is

important to remember the dead and

Closure why it is important to honor people’s

legacy and what kind of legacy they

want to leave behind.

 During the final/midterm/end of

the unit, we will include questions

Long-Term Memory Review
about Day of the Dead with other

materials learned in that period of time.

Mexican-American Card

Role Models
- Male: Diego luna, cesar chavez
- Female: Sandra Cisneros, AMerica Ferrera, Selena
Learning Style: Hands on
Belief SyStem: Catholic
Any objection to traditional american holidays: no
Activity the students could explain to the group: Show and tell
Cultural and/or scientific contributions: Art, Cuisine, Music, 1947 supreme court ruling segregating latinos was
unconstitutional which backed up BRown v. Board of education, Hector P. Garcia’s ideology of peace/non violence
influenced Martin Luther King Jr. ‘s work
History of the group: Delano Grape Pickers Strike Of 1965-1970, Zoot Suit Riots 1940s, Chicano renaissance
Holiday from the group: Christmas
Read aloud literature: Viva frida by yuyi morales
Literature to recommend for the student to read: “Like water for chocolate” by Laura Esquivel