janucá | Fun for Spanish Teachers

Using the Holidays to Connect with Students

by Carolina | Dec 16, 2024 | curriculum, curriculum ideas

The winter season in the Northern Hemisphere is a time filled with celebrations, traditions, and holidays that reflect cultural diversity. While Christmas often takes center stage, it’s important for teachers to recognize that not all students celebrate Christmas. Some may observe other holidays like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Diwali, while others may not celebrate holidays at all. As educators, fostering an inclusive classroom environment during this season is essential for make sure that every students feels valued and represented. This is also an opportunity to learn more about your students and discover meaningful ways to connect with them.

Teaching About Diverse Winter Holidays in Spanish

If you’re a Spanish teacher looking to incorporate cultural diversity into your lessons, Holidays and Celebrations in Spanish (Las Celebraciones) is the perfect resource for your classroom. This engaging teaching tool introduces students to various global celebrations while helping them build Spanish language skills.

What’s Included:

Two leveled readings
Passages suitable for upper elementary students
Comprehension activities
True or False activity
Two writing/drawing activities for students to share their own celebrations

Why It’s Important to Teach About Diverse Holidays

By highlighting a variety of holidays and traditions, we promote cultural awareness and respect in the classroom. Discussing celebrations like Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Diwali alongside Christmas allows students to see the richness of global traditions and helps them appreciate their classmates’ unique backgrounds. These lessons encourage empathy, build community, and create a classroom environment where every student feels included.

How to Use This Resource in Your Classroom

Warm-Up Activities: Start each lesson with a holiday-related question or vocabulary review to engage students.
Holiday Comparisons: Use Venn diagrams or group discussions to compare and contrast celebrations like Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.
Crafts and Storytelling: Incorporate crafts and stories about Día de Reyes or other holidays to bring traditions to life.
Student Reflections: Encourage students to share their own traditions or create a mini-project about a celebration they learned.

This resource is available on Teachers Pay Teachers

ACKNOWLEDGING MORE THAN NAVIDAD IN SPANISH CLASS

by Carolina | Dec 15, 2019 | Holidays

I teach at an Episcopal school that acknowledges and accepts religious differences and I am so grateful that the school provides space for students to share those differences. But because it is Episcopal, around this time of the year all the Christmas decorations fill the walls and the rehearsals of songs for the seasons start too. This is something that also happens in Spanish class since during the last week of December we take a moment to gather around a big Christmas tree to sing villancicos.

This year I have a new student who is Jewish, and I appreciate that when we started singing Christmas songs he shared with me that he practices a different religion. I told him that it was his choice to stay in the group or find a “safe” space in the room when he needed it. His choice has been to stay in the group. Thinking about him, I went to my school library to find some books, but all the titles were in English. I chose a simple picture book that I could still connect with Spanish. He was surprised to see the book in my classroom and even more when I taught the song “Ocho Kandelikas”.

Here are the two versions I used: