Mexican Fiesta

A ILAP for Kindergarten - Grade 3


Our unit will connect with the different disciplines.

MATH- measuring for cooking, graphing favorite food and using money for purchasing food READING- Children's literature about Mexico or from Mexico.
SPANISH - Spanish words for food, songs sung in Spanish, Spanish/English computer program SCIENCE - nutrition, volcanoes
ART - piņata, maracas and decoration for celebration COMPUTER - Spanish program and menu design
MUSIC-  listening to Mexican music, use of maracas, and Mexican dance     GEOGRAPHY - find Mexico on the globe and talk about the climate and growing conditions 


PREPARATION FOR THE FIESTA

Background Information:

Find Mexico on the globe.
What is Mexico's climate, language, agriculture, foods?
What is a fiesta?  What foods do they eat?  What else is part of a fiesta?  Music?  Games?


Activities included in the two week Fiesta Unit

Plan menu - look through recipes and decide as a class what we would like to try.
Make grocery list - talk about amount needed and cost
Listen to Mexican music and choose some favorites for our fiesta
Learn the Mexican hat dance
Learn Mexican songs
Research Mexican games and activities and discuss which would we be able to try at our fiesta.
Plan decorations - using colors and style of Mexican parties
Make and decorate pinata, masks and maracas
Learn Spanish words for foods and  words associated with meal ( please pass, I'm hungry ,etc.)
Practice Spanish words using a commercial computer program
Plan a schedule for the fiesta day with time for food preparation, games, cleanup, etc.
Share children's stories about and from Mexico
 Children's Parade

Day of the fiesta

Decorate
Set and arrange table                                                 
Prepare foods                                                                        
Enjoy eating together
Music and dancing
Games and pinata
Clean up                                                        


Summary

Group discussion of fiesta
Graph favorite food
Individually write and/or draw memories of fiesta
Make a group board with children's writing, artwork and photos
Teacher scans children's work and photos to design a web page
 
 
 


Teacher References