Discover the Traditions of Día de los Muertos

El Dia de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead

Introducing students to new and exciting celebrations encourages curiosity and respect for cultures that they aren’t very familiar with.

 

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated every year on November 1st and 2nd in Mexico and other Latin American countries and communities. These dates correspond with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It is believed that during these two days the souls of the dead are allowed to return to the world of the living and visit their families.

As part of the festival families will come together to celebrate and remember family members and loved ones who have passed away, and although it is a time for people to reflect and remember, it’s also a celebration.

It’s a joyous occasion, filled with traditions for honouring and celebrating the lives of deceased family and friends.

Traditions of Día de los Muertos

In preparation for the arrival of their loved ones, families clean and decorate their homes and graves.

Altars are created to welcome the souls’ home and include ofrendas (offerings) such as marigolds, calaveras de azúcar (sugar skulls), candles, incense, paper or clay skeletons, papel picado (paper cuts), water, foods, and objects that represent things the person enjoyed while living.

Pan de muerto 

A special sweet bread, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), is baked in the weeks leading up to the celebration and included on the altar. The dome-shaped loaf is crowned with dough shaped bones and dusted with sugar. Smaller loaves are moulded into different shapes, like animals and skeletons.

 

Day of the Dead ‘Coco’ celebrates Mexican Culture

Coco delivers a beautiful animated tale centered around the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead. It introduces a wide audience to many of the important traditions associated with this celebration.

Coco is a vibrant and emotional film about the Mexican traditions and customs associated with El Dia de los Muertos.

How Coco pays tribute to The Day of the Dead

 

 

The Day of the Dead / El Dia de los Muertos. A bilingual celebration by Bob Barner and translated by Teresa Mlawer contains simple English rhymes translated into Spanish. Calaveras dance and play music as they accompany two children throughout their day while they celebrate the traditions of their ancestors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNHWnv3TRxA&t=8s

 

Vamos jugar! – Let’s play!

Day of the Dead – Juegos (Games)

http://www.hellokids.com/t_7397/day-of-the-dead

 

Vamos a colorear! – Lets colour!

http://es.hellokids.com/r_1465/dibujos-para-colorear/fiestas/dia-de-muertos

Buscapalabras – Find-a-word

 

How to draw a sugar skull

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h53SiATbLzE&t=10s

How to draw a Day of the Dead Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCi27TzSIws&t=4s

Español Spanish – On line learning

Hola!

Bienvenidos – Welcome to Spanish online. I hope that this blog finds everyone safe and well.

I will be posting some fun ideas and activities for online learning over the coming weeks. Today I have posted some links to some interactive language games and songs. There are lots of activities to try for a range of year levels.

Keep safe.

Regards Señora Nuñez.

 

https://www.pandatree.com/FreeLearningSpanishResources

Feliz Pascua – Happy Easter

 

Pascua (Easter), is a Spanish holiday celebrated over the course of several days in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. At the end of La Cuaresma (Lent), La Semana Santa (Holy Week) celebrations begin, these include daily processions and festivities.

During la Semana Santa, Spanish towns have street parades every day.  In the processions, people carry and follow floats, known as pasos.  On the floats, there are statues of Jesús and la Virgen María.   Los pasos are beautifully decorated with flowers, gold, silver, candles and fine fabrics.

 

A popular Easter cake is called la Mona de Pascua.    It is decorated with coloured feathers and big chocolate eggs or figurines.   Cake shops compete to see who can make the most impressive monas to place in their shop windows!

 

How is Easter celebrated in Spain?

Here are some of the most popular Holy week celebrations in Spain.

 

Spanish Easter Vocabulary

Practise your Spanish language skills: How many Spanish Easter words do you know?

 

 

 

Juegos de Pascua en español – Spanish Easter Game

Please use the link below to play the Spanish Easter game

Pascua game

 

Please enjoy dancing “El baile de conejito” – The bunny dance.

 

In Spanish, this week we have been learning our ‘colores’ (colours) . If you would like to practise your Spanish at home, why not teach a parent or friend what you have learnt in class?

 

Churros – Year 5’s

 

 

Churros are a famous Spanish treat that are popular in many countries. They are often eaten at breakfast – desayuno or as a snack – bocado. Churros are a deep fried-dough pastry that is typically served with hot chocolate.

Students spent the morning cooking our own version of ‘churros’.

We began the lesson by discussing the cultural aspects of any community besides its language, its food is a very important part of its culture. Especially, when we’re talking about Spain, with its vibrant traditions and unique style of life!

Cooking allowed students to discuss and examine the similarities and differences of foods from around the world and what they eat at home. It promoted discussions regarding certain beliefs and stereotypes and allowed for the uniqueness of diversity that makes up our class to be reflected on.

Discussions regarding diversity helped students to gain an appreciation and sensitivity towards different cultures.

It led to a reflection on the strength of food to bring people together – How it is good to enjoy, celebrate and explore foods from all cultures. Especially given the multicultural community that students in our class come from and celebrating these.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the photos we took of the students cooking







Lunar New Year – A cross-curricular approach

In 2018, the official Chinese and Vietnamese New Year celebrations will commence on the 16th Febrero, and continue through to 2 Marzo. Many festivals and events will take place throughout this time to mark the beginning of the Año del Perro, (Year of the Dog). Opening students to celebrations and traditions from around the world is a powerful way to build their cultural understanding and develop their respect for others.

Año del Perro 2018 – Year of the Dog 2018

Felicidades en el nuevo año lunar bajo el signo del perro

 

During Weeks 2 and 3, students have been examining the cultural traditions of Vietnamese and Chinese New Year with a Spanish twist.

The Receptions and Year 1’s have been investigating El Baile de el Dragon (The Dragon Dance). They discussed what they liked about the baile (dance) and their experiences at the assembly.

 

Nine Asian countries celebrate the Lunary New Year. As part of the celebrations the year 2’s had a lot of fun learning about Chinese and Vietnamese New Year. The Year 2’s really enjoyed making Dragon y Perro masks for Chinese and Vietnamese New Year.

Hola, Bienvenidos 2018

 

Señora Opazo and Señora Nuñez welcome you back to Holy Family Catholic School, 2018, for another exciting year of Español – Spanish.

We are looking forward to seeing you all this year. Please do not hesitate to visit our rooms to view the amazing learning going on!

 

 

As you know Spanish is widely spoken throughout the global community.

España Spain

In Spanish, students have been looking at Spain’s geography and culture. We discussed the most famous cities in Spain. Learning about other countries and cultures can be exciting! Students contributed lots of prior information to the discussion. This inquiry allowed for students to have a cultural awareness and appreciation of Spain.

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Classroom Instructions

During Term 2, students have been encouraged to incorporate many of the classroom requests that are used regularly in the room into Spanish.

For example: ¿Puedo ir al baño por favor? Can I go to the bathroom please?

¿Puedo ir a tomar agua por favor? Can I please have a drink?

¿Como se dice …….en español? How do you say …… in Spanish?

These key phrases allow for students to be immersed in the Spanish language.

Students have played oral language games with partners or with the class, as they revise or learn for the first time these phrases.

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