SEPTEMBER INCLUSIVE CELEBRATIONS
From: The Office of Educational Equity and Inclusion
2022 Theme: Unidos: Inclusivity for a Stronger Nation
Every year from September 15 to October 15, Americans celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month by appreciating the community’s history, heritage, and contributions of the ancestors of American citizens who came from Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean, and South- and Central America.
Hispanic Heritage Month originally started with one week of commemoration when it was first introduced by Congressman George E. Brown in June 1968. With the civil rights movement, the need to recognize the contributions of the Latin community gained traction in the 1960s. Awareness of the multicultural groups living in the United States was also gradually growing.
IMPORTANT CELEBRATIONS THIS MONTH
Suicide Prevention Month
September 5 — Labor Day
September 11 — National Day of Service
September 15 — Hispanic Heritage Month
September 16 — Mexican Independence Day
September 23 — American Indian Day
September 25-27 — Rosh Hashanah (Judaism)
NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE SEPTEMBER 11
Mexican Independence Day Friday, September 16
Rosh Hashanah September 25-27
What do your walls and halls say this month?
CLASSROOM RESOURCES:
Resources for K-5
Lesson Plans
Tolerance: Comparing Cultural Holidays
Students in grades K-4 compare Halloween and El Día de Los Muertos by looking at traditions, music, and visual art.
Let's Travel to Mexico!
Students in grades 1-2 learn about the language and literature of Mexico.
Journal of Time: A Historical Perspective (Esperanza Rising)
Students in grades 5-8 use photographs as inspiration to writing journal entries from the point of view of someone living during the Great Depression in California.
Hispanic Heritage Month begins today.
Students in grades 5-12 work in groups to research and present projects on Hispanic culture through PowerPoint, a webpage, a display, or an interactive tool such as the flip book or stapleless book.
Additional Lesson Plans
Smithsonian Education - Hispanic Heritage Teaching Resources
The Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access compiles classroom resources from different Smithsonian museums that focus on Latino history and culture. K-12.
Hispanic Heritage Month
Lessons, activities, interactives, and resources for grades K-12.
Activities
Bring Hispanic Heritage Month to Life: A Collection of Resources( K-8)
Interactive timelines, scavenger hunts, and other learning fun all about Hispanic Americans.
A Month of Ideas for Celebrating Hispanic Heritage (3-8)
From Aztec math to Carnival masks, these ideas are easy to put together and offer students the chance to celebrate their own heritage while appreciating the uniqueness of others.
Fact Monster - Hispanic Heritage Month Activities
Crosswords, population statistics, and more.
Colorín Colorado - Hispanic Heritage Month
Information, puzzles, biographies for English language learners. In English and Spanish.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage with Recipes full of flavor (K-5)
Printables
Famous Hispanic Americans (K-5)
Coloring pages and hero cards for sports, science, politics, and the arts.
Background Resources
Day of the Dead - El Dia de Los Muertos K-12 curriculum resources.
Library of Congress - Hispanic Heritage Month
Images, exhibits, audio, and video.
Smithsonian Latino Center Includes exhibitions, a virtual museum, Virtual Museum Bilingual Teacher Training Took Kit, and more.
National Hispanic Heritage Month Selected resources for teachers.
https://pjlibrary.org/rosh-hashanah Hispanic Heritage Booklists
Colorín Colorado’s children’s Hispanic Heritage booklists feature biography, history, cultural traditions, family stories, fun stories, and titles about growing up Latino.
Multimedia
MUSIC
- Mariachi Music Online
Free downloads and brief artist biographies. - Cuban Music
VIDEO
- History of Mexico
Find 31 videos and 18 photo galleries.
Coco (2017) (1:45) Miguel, a 12-year-old frustrated musician, visits the land of the dead to get the blessing of a famous singer, his great-great-grandfather. This movie could be used as an introduction or culminating activity in an exploration of Dia de Los Muertos and other aspects of Latino culture.