Hispanic Heritage Month is the perfect time to highlight the impact different Hispanic individuals have had in our communities, country, and world. There are many engaging Hispanic Heritage Month activities we can implement with our students. Here you will find a few of those.
Video
As an introductory lesson, I usually like to incorporate a short video. I found a great video on PBS Learning Media that makes a great introduction and gives a little background.
The video is under two minutes long which makes it perfect for a short introduction.
Books
Sharing picture books about various Hispanic individuals is also a great way to share their accomplishments.
If you participate in the 180 books challenge, choosing a Hispanic Heritage themed book is a great option.
Another option is to make the books available to students. Have them read them with a partner, use them for research, or make them available for independent reading. I love to incorporate them into our Flashlight Fridays on the Fridays between September 15 and October 15.
Food
I may be biased, but Hispanic food is just SO delicious. Having a food celebration is a great way to help students get “a taste” of different cultures.
We all know that Mexican food like tacos, guacamole, and nachos are pretty amazing, but here are a couple of other easy to make foods you can bring into the classroom.
- White rice and black beans (Goya has a black bean soup that is pretty seasoned, but you can add some sofrito – grilled onion, pepper, and garlic mix – to it to make it even more delicious.)
- Egg tortilla (Lightly fry thinly sliced potatoes and diced onions. Then, remove from oil and add to beaten eggs. Next, addd a little salt to taste. Finally, cook it. It can then be cooked on the stovetop or in the oven if you use an oven friendly pan.)
Learn Some Spanish Words
I was shocked to find out that a lot of elementary schools do not offer Spanish classes when I moved out of Miami. Every elementary school I worked at had a language class (usually Spanish) as a special.
A fun Hispanic Heritage month activity for students is to find the Spanish translation to English words or phrases. Some examples of words or phrases can be:
- Hi
- My name is
- How are you?
- Bye
Another great option is to include words of objects found at school, such as:
- pencil
- paper
- book
- chair
- desk
Spanish Music
Get your students moving and grooving. Play some fun and upbeat Hispanic music. Here are a few fun songs you can play for your students.
- Bidi Bidi Bom Bom by Selena
- La Vida es Un Carnaval by Celia Cruz
- Conga by Gloria Estefan
- Waka Waka by Shakira
- Oye Como Va by Tito Puente
- La Bamba by Los Lobos
- Vivir Mi Vida by Marc Anthony
Research
Give students the opportunity to do some research. They can research a Hispanic country or a notable Hispanic individual.
Hispanic countries include:
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Spain
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
One engaging way to have students research a notable Hispanic individual is by having them use picture books. For this activity, I developed a fun Hispanic Heritage Month research resource. The pages in the resource relate to a specific book. Students use it as a guide to learn more about the person assigned to them.
I hope this list of Hispanic Heritage Month Activities gives you some new and fun ideas that you can implement in your classroom this year.
