Scenario

Task and Product

How do the holidays and celebrations of Spanish-speaking people reflect their cultural heritage?

In a group, you will research one of the holidays listed below, and plan a celebration of that holiday in which the class will participate. As you research, make sure you discover:

• when the holiday is celebrated
• history of the celebration
• how the holiday is celebrated, including food, rituals, dress, and decorations
• is the holiday celebrated in another culture and if so, compare the celebrations across cultures
• why this holiday is significant to the culture

Your group will need to plan and implement a classroom celebration of the holiday including appropriate traditions, foods, dress, and decorations. You must prepare the class before the celebration with a five minute oral presentation on the history, culture and traditions associated with the holiday.

Your teacher will assign your group one of the following holidays:

As a concluding activity, each student will write an original fiction short story about one of the holidays which they did not research. As an alternative, you may create a narrative video about the holiday. The holiday should be central to the story, and based on the information provided during the class celebration. Your teacher may require you to write it in Spanish.

Assessments

You will be graded on the following:

• Your participation in the group activity Group work scoring tool
• Your group's preparation, presentation, and celebration of the holiday Oral Presentation Scoring Tool
• Your bibliography in correct MLA format.
• Your short story Scoring tool for your short story. Short story scoring tool

Question

Essential Question: How do the holidays and celebrations of Spanish-speaking people reflect their cultural heritage?

Subsidiary questions (Add your own, too!)

• When the holiday is celebrated?
• How has the celebration changed over time?
• How is the holiday celebrated, including food, rituals, dress, and decorations?
• Is the holiday celebrated in another culture and if so, compare the celebrations across cultures?
• Why this holiday is significant to the culture?

Gather and Sort

Gather information about a country from a variety of sources.

Sort your country research findings using a graphic organizer or note cards. Be sure to avoid plagiarism.

Organize

Analyze the celebration of the holidays in the Spanish culture to determine how the celebrations reflect the traditions and societal values. Recall your questions from the earlier steps to make sure that you have provided adequate answers.

Synthesize your findings by creating your oral presentation and planning your celebration.

• What new insights have emerged about culture and its values?
• Which facts are the most reflective of the culture for the holiday researched?
• Create an authentic celebration which includes foods, decoration, dress, and activities.

Evaluate the effectiveness of your research for the task.

• Have you gathered sufficient details about the holiday and culture in order to plan your celebration and prepare your oral presentation?
• Is your research reflected in the presentation and celebration?

Conclusion

Class Presentations and Celebrations

As you listen to the presentations and participate in the celebrations, take notes on the traditions and culture reflected by the holiday.

Reflection

How do the holidays reflect the culture of the Spanish-speaking peoples studied? Write your short fiction story about one of the holidays other than the one you researched. Be sure to accurately reflect the holiday celebration and show the cultural connections. Scoring Tool for your Short Story