October is Latin American Heritage Month in Canada, a time to renew our focus on celebrating the achievements, creativity, and history of the Latin American community. The month was proclaimed in 2018 and is celebrated across the country in various ways.
In the United States. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. It started in 1968 as a week-long celebration and was expanded in 1988 to a whole month.
How Can I Celebrate Latin American Heritage Month?
Latin American Heritage Month is celebrated in schools and with local community activities and festivals. In honour of the month, the National Film Board has also compiled a list of films about Latin American communities in Canada and abroad. Don’t forget to always preview any content before using it in your classroom.
You can also take a virtual tour of the Canadian Hispanic-Latin American Virtual Museum, which showcases the wide range of contributions from the Latin American community in science, the arts, sports, and academia. The museum offers an audiovisual series, numerous videos, and an exhibit on heritage ceremonial costumes.
There are also numerous Latin American Festivals across the country, including Latincouver in British Columbia, the Mississauga Latin Festival and Latin Sparks Festival in Ottawa and Toronto, and LatinArte in Québec.
Latin American Heritage Month in the Classroom
There are several ways to bring the Latin American Heritage Month celebrations and discussions into the classroom, with one of the best being through picture books and novels. This allows students to have some choice in which stories interest them the most.
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Picture Books:
Areli Is a Dreamer by Areli Morales
Areli tells the story of how her parents moved from Mexico to New York when she was a baby. She then joined them in New York when she was in kindergarten. In this book, she discusses her struggles with the language, her classmates, and her dreams for American life.
Cantora: Mercedes Sosa, the Voice of Latin America by Melisa Fernández Nitsche
Mercedes Sosa is a Latin American icon who used her voice in support of change, singing about struggle, truth, and the human experience. This story tells the story of her life and how she was jailed for her involvement in activism.
Mother of Sharks by Melissa Cristina Márquez, illustrated by Devin Elle Kurtz
After they meet on the beach, a crab named Jaiba takes Meli on a magical underwater adventure. Meli loves the ocean. In this dreamlike adventure, she learns about shark conservation and reveals that one day, she will become the Mother of Sharks. This book is perfect for learning how Meli paved the way for Latinas in STEM.
The Piñata That the Farm Maiden Hung by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Sebastià Serra
Incorporate Spanish words into your classroom with this bilingual story about the creation of a piñata (with help from a cat, boy, farmer, goose, sheep, and horse). Key English words are changed to Spanish.
Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez, illustrated by Jaime Kim
This is the story of a young girl who is always asked a seemingly simple question that does not have a simple answer. She turns to her abuelo for help.
Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown, illustrated by John Parra
One morning, Ana wakes to find a travelling library saddled to the backs of two burros (the Spanish word for ‘donkey’). Ana loves books, and this story teaches readers about mobile libraries that cross mountains and valleys to bring materials to people in rural Colombia.
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
Alma always wondered how she came to have such a big name: Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela thinks she has way too many names. When she asks her father, she learns all about the amazing family who inspired each name.
Chapter Books:
Falling Short by Ernesto Cisneros
Basketball player Isaac is a basketball player who wants better grades to stop his parents from fighting. Marco is a straight-A student who wants to make the basketball team to please his father. This is a story of two sixth graders who are looking to support each other.
Join the Club, Maggie Diaz by Diaz Nina Moreno, illustrated by Courtney Lovett
Maggie wants to find a hobby and joins every club she can. She wants to have a passion for something. But juggling that with friends and homework is harder than it looks.
Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs
In 1913, Petra’s mother died, and her father was dragged away by soldiers during the Revolution in Mexico. She promises him she will take care of her family and they flee north through the desert, trying to make it to the U.S. and a better life.
Latinitas: Celebrating 40 Big Dreamers by Juliet Menéndez
This book features short biographies of 40 influential Latinas from across Latin America and the United States. Some of the women featured include singer Selena Quintanilla, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and NASA’s first virtual reality engineer, Evelyn Miralles.
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
This is the story of Jaime, who is forced to flee his small town in Guatemala after his cousin is killed by a local gang. Fearing he could be next, Jaime leaves his home with his cousin Ángela, heading to live with his other brother in New Mexico.
Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera
Lupe plans to be the first female pitcher in the Major Leagues. She needs to get all A’s in her classes to meet Fu Li Hernandez, her favourite pitcher, who is Chinese/Mexinese like her.
The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez
Malú’s punk rock look violates the school’s dress code, and her mom is upset. Her dad says she just needs to remember the first rule of punk, and things will get better – you’ve just got to be yourself.
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya
Arturo’s family owns a Cuban-American restaurant in Miami. A less-than-honest developer is threatening it, but Arturo is determined to save the eatery.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
After a family tragedy, Esperanza goes from living a privileged life on her family’s Mexican ranch to fleeing to a labour camp in California. Now, she must deal with the financial struggles of the Great Depression, hard work, and a lack of acceptance.
How To Use Latin American Heritage Month Books in the Classroom
- Stations – Gather together the Latin Heritage books in your library and create stations for students to rotate through. They can then complete graphic organizers about what they have learned. They can use graphic organizers, such as an informational text organizer or non-fiction organizer.
- Read Alouds – Incorporate Latin Heritage books into your read-aloud schedule not just for October but throughout the year.
- Non-Fiction Event Study – Look at the different events covered in these books. Have students read through some picture books and then create a presentation about the real-life event(s) that inspired the novel to share with their peers.
- Biography Study – Have students select an important and/or influential person to learn about this month. They can then complete this Biography Symbolism Assignment to showcase their learning to the class.
While diversity in experiences and materials is always the goal in any classroom, celebrating specific events and heritage months provides us with a great opportunity to acknowledge and highlight the incredible contributions of various communities, such as during Latin American Heritage Month.
Videos:
Use these videos as additional resources in your classroom to help celebrate Latin American Heritage Month.
- Celebrating Latin American heritage month with bachata
- The life of Lydia Mendoza, the 1st queen of Tejano music
- The Importance of Latin American Heritage Month | TLN Connects
Other Holidays and Celebrations Resources
This Article of the Week Non-Fiction Articles Holidays Bundle contains 14 non-fiction articles and post-reading activities to assist with reading comprehension and cross-curricular learning.
Resource Includes:
- 14 High-interest non-fiction articles
- 3 Post-reading activities per article
- 12 Graphic Organizers
The bundle includes celebrations such as Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Daylight Saving Time, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools’ Day, Earth Day, Ramadan, Halloween, Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa.
Included For Every Article
- Teacher lesson plan
- Pre-reading K-W-L chart
- Non-fiction article (Regular and Modified Levels)
- 3 Post-reading activities (comprehension questions, grammar & text structure multiple choice questions, long answer writing response)
- Print & Digital Formats (Google Slides and Google Forms)
This non-fiction reading bundle will make holidays and cultural celebrations meaningful. Your students will love learning about traditions from around the world while strengthening their literacy skills.
You can find the Article of the Week Non-Fiction Articles Holidays Bundle on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
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