Curated OER
Metal Tooling with Colored Pencils
Take your art class back centuries to the art of metal tooling. This is an art technique also referred to as embossing, or repajado in Mexico and South America. This is a fun project to introduce a new technique and new materials. This...
Curated OER
Colored Pencil Repoussé
Artists employ a basic metalworking technique by embossing lines and textures into a soft metal. They look for examples of embossed metals in historical and contemporary examples. This fascinating process has been used by many cultures...
Curated OER
La Marcha Dance
Fourth graders are presented with a wedding song and dance of another culture. They also make a connection between the beat of a song with various dance movements.
Curated OER
Spanish Culture Lesson - Cinco de Mayo
Learners role play the characters and events which led to the holiday of Cinco de Mayo. In this Cinco de Mayo lesson, students dance the "La Raspa" dance. Learners complete a Cinco de Mayo word search.
Curated OER
Claycrete Calaveras - Dia de los Muertos
Students create skeletons to celebrate the Day of the Dead. In this visual arts instructional activity, students explore the importance of the Day of the Dead celebrations in the Mexican culture. They create skeletons and decorate them...
Curated OER
A Cultural Celebration
Learners explore the Mexican ritual of Dia de Los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. They make sugar skulls using math measurement and artistic expression and become more aware of this Mexican holiday.
Curated OER
Mexico: A Look At Its Culture and Geography
Students canvass the Mexican geography, culture, dress, language, crafts, and traditions in this unit of eight lessons. The Mexican Independance Day is compared to our own and the contributions of the Mayan, Azetec, and Spanish are...
Curated OER
Crossroads: Chicano Identity and Border Culture
Students identify and explore complex ways that the theme of "frontiers" or socio-political borders affect Chicano identity in the US and examine notions of "resistance" and "affirmation" as a fundamental ideology in Chicano life,...
Curated OER
The Eagle Has Landed: Aztecs Find a Home
Students investigate the Aztec civilization and locate it on a map. They explain the legend of the city of Tenochtitan and investigate the symbolism of the Mexican flag.
Curated OER
Aztec Millionaire
Give those kids an opportunity to show what they know about the ancient Aztec culture. This "Millionaire" style game reviews basic facts about the Aztec empire. It includes thirteen complete questions, leaving three additional questions...
Mexic-Arte Museum
Day of the Dead Educational Activity Guide
Looking for ideas to help celebrate The Day of the Dead? A 20-page packet includes a history of El Dia de los Muertos, notes on the many worldwide celebrations honoring the dead, and seven activities. A great way to bring this colorful...
National Woman's History Museum
Dolores Huerta: The Life and Work of a 20th Century Activist
Extra! Extra! High schoolers read about Dolores Huerta, the social activist who helped organize the United Farm Workers. Researchers read primary and secondary sources about Huerta's work and craft a headline, supported by three pieces...
Curated OER
Mexican "Tona" Animal Masks
Students study the Mexican legend related to masks. They select an animal with traits they can identify with and recognize in themselves. Afterward, they create a mask that will retain some human features, but take on the life of the...
Curated OER
Mexican Paper Bag Poncho
Students investigate the culture of Mexico. They are given a brief history of Cinco de Mayo and learn about the poncho as being an essential piece of clothing. Students will create their own poncho using their choice of design and colors.
Curated OER
New Movements For Social Justice: The Latino Struggle for Equal Rights
Students examine myths and stereotypes about Hispanic immigrant groups. They appreciate and share the strengths of their diversity and view films that challenge ideas about education and cultural values. They explore the Latino Rights...
Curated OER
Lucha Music
Middle schoolers listen to four styles of Mexican music, and create percussion instruments which they use to play each style. Additionally, learners create Lucha Libre masks which are also a part of the colorful culture of Mexico. These...
Curated OER
Tin Relief
Students create a sun tin relief sculpture. In this Mexican art instructional activity, students incorporate line and form into a relief sculpture that they create of the sun.
Curated OER
Papel Picado ( Mexican Cut Paper)
Fifth graders describe the characteristics of a piece of "papel picado", or Mexican cut paper, which is seen in the Dia de los Muertos festival. They predict what medium was used in the papel picado art. They explain how the scene in the...
Curated OER
Children in the Fields: The Life of the Hispanic Child Laborer During California's Agriculture Explosion
Fourth graders examine the agriculture explosion in California in the late 1800's to the early 1930's. They analyze primary source material putting themselves into the shoes of a child laborer. They also gain an understanding of...
Curated OER
Remember
Seventh graders mention any recent racism or discrimination they have seen placed on an ethnic group other than their own. After reading an autobiography, they read and write poems based on past events in the Hispanic culture. They are...
Smithsonian Institution
Borders within the United States: Indian Boarding Schools and Assimilation
Native American Nations ... sovereign entities or removable tribes? A thought-provoking lesson explores the relationship between Native American tribes and the United States, including forced assimilation and removal from their ancestral...
Curated OER
Mini Coil Pots: Ceramics Lesson
Art is a wonderful way to teach historical or cultural concepts. Here, learners view a series of coil pots that have been created throughout history by a variety of civilizations. They then create and decorate a pot of their own that...
Curated OER
The Eagle Has Landed: Aztecs Find a Home
Pupils examine the Aztec civilization in what is now Mexico. Using a map, they locate the empire and explain the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan. They explore the symbols on various Mexican flags and what they meant to the Aztec...
Curated OER
A "State of the Arts" Coin
Students study the historical figures depicted on the quarter and explore how symbols of U.S. patriotism were used in its various designs. They research symbols of Texas and choose one to draw in a design for a Texas
quarter. in...