Dia de Los Muertos: A Door into Latino History and Culture

 

When the research is complete, students write, in Spanish, biographies of their historical figures and traditional Calaveras about their subjects’ professions. (Calaveras are satirical poems that use humor to honor a person’s life and their contributions.) Students then move on to constructing the altars.

 

In addition to demonstrating proficiency in writing in the past and present tense, 8th graders must show a clear understanding of the significance of their altars’ various elements. Details can range from the subject’s favorite foods and photographs of the person to cultural items such as candles and Papel Picado, or paper cutouts. The project challenges 8th graders to go beyond mimicking a tradition and instead, explore behaviors, values, and beliefs in Latino culture. “It’s not like just putting on a hat,” says Spanish Teacher Coleman Rose. “They have to think as if they were in that culture what they would include and why.”f

 

Spanish Teacher Sarah Hodges says her class explored the intent of making the altars to understand Latino people’s views of life and death. They then compared and contrasted the religious and traditional aspects of the celebrations and even investigated the different effects of Spanish and English colonization on the way people observe Dia de Los Muertos.

 

Studying a language opens doors for students to broaden their understanding of the world’s many peoples and cultures. This particular unit also inspired one student, Jack Bobley, to deepen his inquiry. After researching the Puerto Rican musician, Yomo Toro (1933-1912), Jack became so interested in Toro’s instrument, the Puerto Rican cuatro, that he ordered the instrument and is learning to play Toro’s Sangre Latina on it. He plans to incorporate his recording of the song into the altar he has created to honor Toro.