El Día de los Muertos

By Emma Adams, Communications Student Intern

El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday observed primarily on November 1st and 2nd every year in celebration of the lives of the deceased. As a part of Spanish classes at Southwood, each class is given themed projects centered around El Día de los Muertos in addition to regular class assignments leading up to the Friday of the week of the holiday, which is typically the day of class fiestas.

Each year Southwood’s Spanish students are given different creative projects that are then hung up to decorate the classroom for El Día de los Muertos, inspired by traditional crafts and elements of the Day of the Dead celebration.

Year one students create paper monarch butterflies and papeles picados, cut paper banners. 

Year two students decorate paper skulls in a group and put them together to create a mobile. They also create and decorate paper skull decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

Year three students create skeletons out of their Spanish names as well as paper tombstones for significant Hispanic figures.

Year four students paint reversed on a glass pane such that it looks the correct way around when the pane is flipped.

Students from all classes decorate skull sugar cookies with frosting, reminiscent of sugar skulls.

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, for the designated fiesta day, each class is given the opportunity to bring in themed food dishes to share with the rest of the class. No contributions are turned away, though there are some items that are required, the most important of which being pan de muerto, dead bread, which is a dense bread typically accompanied by an orange glaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The week of El Día de los Muertos is a fun yet educational experience that enriches students’ understanding of Mexican culture while giving them enjoyable activities that allow them to express their creativity.

“My favorite part of celebrating was seeing the different things people made and diverse types of food people brought in.” - Makenna (Lucía) Hunter (Year 1)

“I look forward to Spanish class every day, though fiesta day is one that I get more excited for than usual. I have enjoyed the crafts every year and the culture lessons have also deepened my learning.” - Emma (Inés) Adams (Year Four)

“My favorite part of El Día de los Muertos is how Señora makes it fun and interesting to learn about. She makes it interactive and entertaining for the class. It’s nice that we learn how they celebrate and make their food in an engaging way.” - Duke Sparks (Year 3)