Cinco de Mayo celebration repeat?

Question

The other Spanish teacher at my school and I put on a little festival for the whole school, using Cinco de Mayo as our excuse for having our students research some aspect of some Latin American (or Spanish) culture and present what they learned in little "booths."

It went well, and I think it did a lot of the kids good to realize that not all Latinos are Mexicans, for one. Teachers loved bringing their classes, and they usually learned something too!

My question is, should we do it again? Don't worry, we will be using the date of the victory at Puebla again. However, our school year's divided 2.

We were thinking of doing something during Hispanic Heritage Month (9/15-10/15), but would it be overkill to do the same kind of thing? Should we do something different to meet the research, sharing, & celebration requirements? Maybe something like they do for Native American month: little known facts during announcements?

I'm open to suggestions!

No negative connotation was intended. I'm Mexican by marriage after all. It's just ignorant to group distinct cultures under one erroneous heading. It ignores the richness of the other cultures and denies the differences. My students happen to think that any Spanish speaking person is automatically Mexican is all. Other people are proud of their origins, too, and I don't think people around here (rural NC) should continue to negate other origins.

Answer 1

I think it is wonderful to learn of different people and their cultures. Yes, do it again; maybe feature different Latin/Hispanic cultures. At the church I attend; we have a mixture of a lot of different people. We had a festival and each group brought foods ,games, and activities ; as were their customs! Wow; it was nice. Never knew how some liked rice while others liked hot spicy food. It was all great.
Good Luck!

Answer 2

I will be a Spanish teacher in a few semesters. I'm not sure how you did your "booths" but I have an idea.
Each country has its own booth....examples
Cuba- music:salsa/merengue people:African influence religion:sincretismo
Puerto Rico-music:regatón/salsa/merengue...etc
Mexico-music:cumbia/duranguense/norteño people:indigenious influence, food:the REAL kind NOT Taco Bell
etc.
To make it simple, maybe focus on ONE area from each country such as food or music (would be most interesting to the students of Spanish and other students)
For your Spanish students only: focus on the different aspects of the language: in the caribe-drop the "s" at the end of word drop the "d" in the middle tú sabes=tú sabe moda=moa
in Argentina the "ll" and the "y"
in Perú "guagua" means baby and in Puerto Rico means bus

About the Cinco de Mayo: too many people think it is Mexican Independence Day-wrong!!! On 16 Sept! celebrate it! It will catch people off guard and let them know the correct date. On Cinco de Mayo make posters or something to hang around to show what it is really a holiday for. (honestly it is not a big deal that they won ONE battle of a war they lost...and I was in Mexico on 5 mayo and it was like any other day.....we didn't celebrate nor did I see anyone celebrating) if you need more ideas/help [e-mail] Buena suerte...y también me casé con un mexicano.....:)

Answer 3

it's good that you do this for your students (so that they are aware of the different cultures in their area. but the "good to realize that all Latinos are not Mexicans" crap,, what's that? sounds like Mexcians in your area are being given a bad rap. it's not good that you are "supporting" this idea of "what Mexicans are." (Instead of saying, "Well, not all Latinos are Mexican." try saying something like, "There's nothing wrong with being Mexican. You'll find this out when you do some research on this subject matter."

try studying about the war itself -cinco de mayo - (this celebration IS from Mexico after all).

for the Hispanic Heritage Month, try doing it during the
16 de septiembre holiday. let the students research what the war of independence in Mexico was about.

these holidays are Mexican traditions. if you want to celebrate whatever your cultural background is (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Spanish, etc...) then you need to do the research on the different kinds of celebrations that are observed in these countries.

You're right, Latinos are more than being thought of as one race: Mexican in this case. but there should be no reason why there is a negative connotation placed on BEING Mexican. I'm proud that my cultural background is Mexican, and I have no problem studying different cultures such as the ones I mentioned above. this is the message you should convey in your classroom. this is what I would like to do in mine.

good luck

Answer 4

I went to school in California which was once part of Mexico, therefore Cinco de Mayo had some significance. I do not know where you are. Any day is a good day for teaching, and any excuse is a good excuse for learning about other people. Just be careful that you do not tread on the cultural toes of your other students.