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9th, 10th Grades  Project 4 weeks

Ofrendas y Vidas: Preséntate, Honra, Celebra

Toni M
Updated
VA:Pr.6.1
VA:Pr6.1.IIIa
DA:Pr6.1.III.a
VA:Cr2.3
VA:Pr4.1
+ 5 more
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Purpose

Students use Spanish to share personal information and respectfully celebrate the life, identity, and legacy of a deceased person they admire. Through a gallery-walk launch and guidance from cultural, language, and community partners, they investigate ofrenda traditions while practicing subject pronouns, question-and-answer patterns, and ser and estar. Teams curate meaningful objects and artwork, create ofrendas with Spanish introduction cards and legacy labels, and refine oral presentations through milestone reflections, gallery feedback, and rehearsals. The project culminates in a community exhibition where students demonstrate responsible collaboration and presentation practices, then assess and reflect on their language growth, creative choices, problem-solving, and respectful remembrance.

Learning goals

Students will use Spanish subject pronouns, question-and-answer patterns, and ser and estar to introduce themselves and accurately share age, birthday, origin, identity, and family information. Students will research an admired deceased person and use respectful memorial language to describe the person’s life, identity, and legacy. Students will collaboratively curate an ofrenda with meaningful objects, artwork, Spanish introduction cards, and legacy labels that deepen viewers’ understanding of cultural remembrance. Students will use community, peer, and teacher feedback to revise their work, rehearse a clear oral presentation, demonstrate responsible exhibition leadership, and reflect on their language growth, collaboration, and problem-solving.

Standards
  • [National Core Arts Standards] VA:Pr.6.1 - Objects, artifacts, and artworks collected, preserved, or presented either by artists, museums, or other venues communicate meaning and a record of social, cultural, and political experiences resulting in the cultivating of appreciation and understanding.
  • [National Core Arts Standards] VA:Pr6.1.IIIa - Curate a collection of objects, artifacts, or artwork to impact the viewer’s understanding of social, cultural and/or political experiences.
  • [National Core Arts Standards] DA:Pr6.1.III.a - Demonstrate leadership qualities (for example commitment, dependability, responsibility, and cooperation) when preparing for performances. Model performance etiquette and performance practices during class, rehearsal and performance. Enhance performance using a broad repertoire of strategies for dynamic projection. Develop a professional portfolio (resume, head shot, etc.) that documents the rehearsal and performance process with fluency in professional dance terminology and production terminology.
  • [National Core Arts Standards] VA:Cr2.3 - People create and interact with objects, places, and design that define, shape, enhance, and empower their lives.
  • [National Core Arts Standards] VA:Pr4.1 - Artists and other presenters consider various techniques, methods, venues, and criteria when analyzing, selecting, and curating objects artifacts, and artworks for preservation and presentation
Competencies
  • Effective Communication - Students practice listening to understand, communicating with empathy, and share their learning through exhibiting, presenting and reflecting on their work.
  • Collaboration - Students co-design projects with peers, exercise shared-decision making, strengthen relational agency, resolve conflict, and assume leadership roles.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving - Students consider a variety of innovative approaches to address and understand complex questions that are authentic and important to their communities.
  • Content Expertise - Students develop key competencies, skills, and dispositions with ample opportunities to apply knowledge and engage in work that matters to them.
  • Self Directed Learning - Students use teacher and peer feedback and self-reflection to monitor and direct their own learning while building self knowledge both in and out of the classroom.

Products

Students will create a project journal, research notes, and draft Spanish texts using subject pronouns, personal information, and ser and estar. Teams will curate respectful, culturally informed ofrendas featuring selected objects, artwork, Spanish introduction cards, and legacy labels that communicate each person’s life and impact. Each student will prepare and revise a short oral presentation introducing themselves, describing the honored person, and explaining the altar’s meaning. The completed class collection will be presented to families, classmates, and community guests through a gallery walk with live Spanish introductions and legacy stories.

Launch

Students rotate through a mini-ofrenda gallery featuring photographs, artifacts, Spanish labels, and brief legacy stories, recording what each display communicates about identity and remembrance. At “Vida y Recuerdo” stations, they introduce themselves using name, age, birthday, and origin; match subject pronouns to sentence frames; and sort examples of ser and estar in context. A bilingual community guest or cultural educator shares respectful Día de los Muertos practices and invites student questions about curating meaningful objects. Students close by choosing a deceased person they may honor and responding to the essential question: How can Spanish help us share who we are while celebrating a person’s life, identity, and legacy?

Exhibition

Host a “Raíces y Recuerdos” Celebration Night for families, classmates, bilingual staff, and community partners. Guests participate in a gallery walk of student-made ofrendas featuring Spanish introduction cards, legacy labels, curated artifacts, and respectful connections to each person’s life. At each altar, students introduce themselves and the honored person in Spanish, using subject pronouns, personal information, and ser and estar in context. Conclude with a celebration circle where students and guests share appreciations and reflections on language growth, cultural understanding, and collaboration.