Cinco De Mayo Lesson Plans for Early Elementary

The study of Cinco de Mayo could be incorporated throughout an entire day or for an individual class period.

The following tips are for a day long study/celebration.

Parental helps will be needed for some activities. Prepare note ahead of time to send home to parents with your needs for this day.

Tips and Suggestions for lesson plans celebrating and learning about Cinco de Mayo.

1. Encourage children to dress in some sort of Mexican attire.

2. If your classroom has Latino students, begin the day by asking them questions about their heritage. Where are they actually from and what are some of the customs from that region.

3. Have children color or draw pictures of the Mexican flag and discuss the flag and location of Mexico. At the same time, encourage children to count in Spanish and figure out what Cinco de Mayo really means in translation.

4. Math pages could incorporate Mexican products or distances between cities. Suggestions would include vegetables and fruits grown in Mexico. Addition, subtraction or other facts could be learned by doing such as : Mexico City has xxx people and another city has xx people. Which city has more. How many more?

5.Social differences between countries could be discussed. Examples could include geographical, climate and cultural differences. What is different between lives of American children and Mexican? What is the same?

6. Take time to discuss Mexican foods and how they are incorporated in all of our daily lives.

7. Use word scrambles or other types of word puzzles about Cinco de Mayo for spelling and reading assignments.

8. Include a short party prior to the end of the day. A prior art project could have been to make a pinata and fill it. Include celebration activities that Mexicans would use to celebrate Cinco de Mayo - possibly folk dance and songs, foods and art work. Break the pinata and enjoy the treats.

The following web sites can be used to help plan your curriculum for the day.

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/cinco-de-mayo/ This site provides craft activities such as coloring pages, word puzzles and scrambles, historical information and other helps to make your day more educational and fun.

http://crafts.kaboose.com/holidays/cinco-de-mayo/index.html This site will help you to easily make Mexican shakers and maracas. Kids could utilize their projects in a quick Mexican dance.

http://www.theholidayzone.com/cinco/cinco-de-mayo-language.html This site enables you to help children envision an entire day in Mexico. How would it be like our day and how would it be different.

http://mailjust4me.com/play/cinco1.htm This site also contributes much helpful information from making maracas to historical information.

Have fun with your day!

Enjoy Cinco de Mayo inside your classroom. If you do have students from Mexico or who are familiar with the country, you might team them with others when doing projects. This would help all students to learn more about each other's cultures and daily lives.