Our Spanish classes celebrate the Hispanic community all year long. If you are a Hispanic teacher, we carry our orgullo hispano all year round. If you are not Hispanic but chose this profession to share your love for the Spanish language and la tierra hispanohablante with your students, I am grateful for your. This blog post has been created for every Spanish teacher with mucho amor.
This post won’t focus on classroom-specific activities or lesson plans. Instead, I’ll share ways you can tirar la casa por la ventana for a school-wide Hispanic Heritage Month celebration without feeling overwhelmed. These ideas will help you create a meaningful, inclusive event that everyone can enjoy with ease, especially you, because we all know the tiniest event can take much of our time and we already have so much on our plates.
As with everything I share, some ideas may not work for your school due to policies and procedures, but my hope is that if you are looking for ideas for this Hispanic Heritage Month, you can make at least one work for you. If you do, please let me know by sharing and tagging me via Facebook, Instagram, or X.
Lessons Learned Throughout the Years
It can be so easy to allow ourselves to get overwhelmed, but that is only when we think we have to do all the work ourselves (lesson #1). I guarantee you that you are not alone in this, even if you are a department of one.
Whether you are a department of one or you have an entire department, to find more support, ask yourself the following questions:
- What other teachers in your building are inclusive in their practice?
- What events are already happening in your town that you can possibly leverage?
- Who are the students who want to lead these events?
- What potential Hispanic speakers can you invite to your class in person or virtually?
While there are many ideas being shared for Hispanic Heritage Month, SIEMPRE develop your plan by taking into account the school community and students you serve and the resources to which you have access (lesson #2).
It is always a good idea to AVOID:
- Focusing only on one Spanish-speaking country (lesson #3).
- Micromanaging and being afraid to let the students take leadership roles in organizing the events (lesson #4).
- Trying to do everything by yourself. You must divide and conquer.
- Planning for more than you have the capacity for. I have to be careful with this one all the time (lesson #5).
- Only focusing on “INFLUENTIAL” Hispanics. Influential according to who? Let’s not overlook the important contributions of the immigrant community during this time and those with deep roots in this land. Create opportunities for students to discover connections between themselves and members of your local Hispanic community while highlighting the valuable contributions that are often overlooked (lesson #6).
What Really Matters
I already mentioned it, but most of all, who are the students and teachers in your building? What Spanish-speaking countries do they represent? What and how would they like to share about their culture?
Equally important, what does your school value?
For example, my school values diversity, community involvement, and career and tech opportunities. This gives my team and students who will lead our month-long celebration a lot to work with, so we created the following pillars to help us brainstorm ideas for possible events:
- Education offers to the school beyond Spanish classes.
- Cultural Experiences that strengthen our students’ identities and school community.
- Art Integration: Our school does not offer art classes, but we have many students with strong artistic abilities.
- Community Service: We can dance and eat all day long, but an opportunity to serve the Hispanic community in some way, no matter how big or small, can create a stronger sense of purpose for students.
- Exercise! Our students spend much time on their phones, so how can we get them moving in a way that they will enjoy?
Depending on the students you serve, your pillars can change. For example, a school with a strong band that plays corridos as the ones I have seen in TikTok from Texas could have a band showcase throughout the month as part of the pillars. Perhaps, your school has many parents who are able to come to the school during school hours to do a cooking demonstration or share about their profession, country, etc., so maybe you would include parent-led events as part of your pillars.
Creating pillars provides the structure with flexibility and makes the program meaningful.
Ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month
In this section, I will share ideas we have done throughout the years. When I say “WE,” this includes my two-person department, our Spanish Honor Society and International Students Organization, plus other content area educators who are committed to diversity.
IDEA #1 – THE EASIEST OF ALL IS TO HOST A MOVIE AFTER SCHOOL
Host one or two movies after school throughout the month-long celebration. Talk to your media specialist as they would know what movies your school is allowed to stream considering copyright and fair use. For example, this year, we will be showing A Million Miles Away and Spare Parts on different weeks. These movies were in the list of our school’s educational streaming service. Once you decide which movies you want to show, have students make the posters and social media announcements to spread the word. The poster below is from several years ago when In the Heights had just been released on DVD.
IDEA #2
What About Decorating the School?
Again, I will not focus on lesson plans, but it is an excellent opportunity to allow students to select a Hispanic person about whom they will be writing.
In the past, I have used the Hispanic Heritage Month People Book Activities with 27 Hispanics by TPT Store GravoisFare.
As I mentioned earlier, I don’t like to focus on the word FAMOUS or INFLUENTIAL, so I encourage my students to bring their suggestions.
You can use your students’ finished projects to decorate the entire school.
IDEA #3
Highlight the Hispanic Population in Your State
In 2021, Spanish language educator Johanna Bridges shared her idea of how she created and use her project HISPANICS IN MAINE.
She shared her instructions on how she did it via Teachers Pay Teachers (free product) so that we can replicate this powerful project. Follow her model or tweak it, do what works for you and your students.
These also make great visuals for your school.
IDEA #4
Promote Collaboration and Bring Awareness to the Celebration at Your School with These Posters
Do one poster with each class or set up a table with the printouts and supplies during lunch or after school, and invite people to color one sheet or more.
The image below is one my students created last year, which I purchased from the TPT content creator Art with Jenny K.
This year, I want each class to create a different one, and Profe Plotts has a Hispanic Heritage Month Collaborative Poster Bundle with many different ones in her Tpt store.
IDEA #5
Host a School-Wide Door Decoration & Bulletin Board Contest
You can host this as a contest and reach out to local businesses to provide prizes or you can talk to your administration to support you with coming up with creative prizes. It is not a forced contest and you don’t have to do anything but set up the judging criteria and find a couple of judges.
You can also have your student organizations volunteer during or after school to decorate a door for a teacher. For example, in the image below, two students volunteered to decorate the door of their ELA teacher and she chose Julia Alvarez.
IDEA #6, #7, #8
Host Cultural Experiences at Your School
As a reminder, this blog post provides ideas that are not too intensive in planning and paperwork.
Here are some that focus on cultural experiences.
- #6 Host a dance lesson for whatever genre (norteña, bachata, salsa, vallenato, punta, cumbia, etc) your students are interested in. If you can get a professional to come and teach it even better. I normally do this after school and invite everyone who is interested.
- #7 Host a HHM karaoke event after school or during lunch. The only rules? The songs must either be in Spanish, sung by a Hispanic artist, or feature a collab with a Hispanic artist.
- #8 Meet after school to practice toward preparing for flash mob production. Include everyone who wants to practice during and after school, the limitations are up to your school. This is one project I am going to be working on this year as part of HHM. Here is an example of the vision done by Hightower High School in 2015, but of course we will be doing it to a different song.
IDEA #9, #10, and #11
What About Food?
Trust me, with inflation, it has become more difficult to bring food to the classroom. This is whether I purchase it or my students purchase it.
I have not done any projects asking students to bring food, either. I also don’t offer extra credit for those who can because it is not fair for those who cannot.
#9 I am currently finding sponsorships among Hispanic businesses or creating after-school activities that offer affordable small bites.
#10 In the past, we have done culinary demonstrations and samplings of recipes that are affordable and quick to make. One year, we did guacamole. Of course, not everyone likes guacamole, but everyone loves tostadas and salsa. I have also made tortilla de patata, plantains, and gallo pinto. These are affordable and quick recipes where the entire class can receive a sample.
#11 If you can find a local food truck that can offer reasonable prices to students, this is another event to be added to your HHM program. Let all teachers know that it will be of great help if they order from the food truck as most food trucks required a minimum purchase. Play music while student are waiting for their meals. At my school, this type of event can only be done after school due to school policies, so make sure to look into that prior to planning it out.
IDEA #12
Host a Gaming Tournament
Dominoes? Lotería? Ajedrez? HHM Month Trivia games? The possibilities are up to what you have available. Decide which games you will play and host a tournament during lunch or after school of one or several of these games. Snacks for prizes are always appreciated by students.
This year, we will be hosting a dominoes and lotería tournament after school. I found a modern lotería set at Costco. It is the Deluxe Lotería & Serpientes y Escaleras 2-pack for $12.99, but you will only find it at that price at the physical store. It costs a lot more online and via Amazon. The quality is unbelievable and a Mexican toy company makes it! Read more about it here. If I found it at my nearest Costco in Pooler, Georgia, I am sure you can find it at a Costco near you.
IDEA #13
Make Space for Guest Speakers
Guest speakers are already part of our lessons during the school year, but if we host an event with a speaker during HHM, we would like to open it to the entire school. It does not mean all students will attend the event, but they are all welcome.
In the past, we have hosted:
- Former students who have shared about the continuation of their Spanish studies.
- Community members who wish to share their stories.
- Non-profit organizations.
- Local businesses such as banks, colleges, etc.
- Authors
While having people in person is always more impactful, hosting virtual events also has so much value.
My class was honored to have Diego Ojeda as a guest speaker and author, and he talked to us about his book Nostalgia migrante.
IDEA #14
Community Service Experiences They Will Never Forget
Educators often share that they live in areas that do not offer many opportunities to engage their students in community service for the Hispanic community. If that happens to be the case, I suggest that you invite your students to brainstorm ways in which you can collectively create your own opportunities based on interests.
For example, this year, we will be raising funds to donate books for a local Dual Language Immersion classroom, and my students will be going on a field trip to deliver and read some of these books. You can do the same even if there are not DLI schools around. However, you can have your book selection feature Hispanic authors. There are many wonderful children’s books out there.
Two personal favorites of mine are A veces en inglés, a veces en español by Spanish teacher, Josefina Cabello better known as Mrs. Cabello in Instagram.
Another personal favorite of mine is Dreamers by Yuyi Morales. I cannot emphasize enough how much I love this book.
You can see just how beautiful it is in the video below read by the author.
Other ideas for community services activities are:
- Host a food drive and donate to your nearest organization that serves the Hispanic community.
- Coat drive for migrant workers near you.
- Host a fundraiser to support revitalizing indigenous languages through The Language Conservancy.
- You can pretty much host any fundraiser and donate to a cause selected by your students for a Spanish speaking country or a nearby organization that serves the Hispanic community.
IDEA #15, #16, and #17
Art Integration
There are many ways in which you can integrate art. To gather ideas for different budgets, visit Pinterest and type Hispanic Heritage Month.
Some that have been successful and not so expensive or messy have been #15 repujado and #16 azulejos.
Depending on your school’s budget, you could host a #17 paint-on-canvas event if you can find a volunteer instructor or host a cross-curricular after-school event with an art teacher.
Regardless of what type of craft you want to host, the azulejo workshop YouTube video by Dutchess Community College provides a great example.
IDEA #18
Poetry Slam
Create space for your students to create poetry in Spanish or Spanglish. Make this event open to the entire school if possible.
Last year, I collaborated with our ELA teacher, who came back with an amazing idea from a conference she had attended in the summer that involved poems that welcomed language varieties.
We first instructed students to select their favorite color and to associate that color to a feeling. Then, we asked them to write a short poem about themselves.
These are some of the poems they created. Yes, some errors are made in the writing process, which is okay.
We also purchased cookies and light refreshments and went outdoors to encourage them to share what they had written. It was a very joyful experience to all who participated.
IDEA #19 & #20
Get Them Moving!
This year, our students came up with the idea #18 to host a soccer tournament, and they are beyond excited about it. The entire event will be organized by students with suggestions from their coaches.
Another idea to integrate the movement that we have done in the past is to host a Zumba class. Zumba instructors usually charge no more than two figures, and if your community has different places that offer these, you can reach out to an instructor and set that up for your school.
BONUS IDEA #21
Short & Brief Student Organized HHM Program
I know that putting together programs can be daunting, but it does not have to be when you have the right team of motivated students.
Last year, I had students come to me to plead that I supported one of their cultural programs, and I am so glad that I did because they taught me so much. I did not have to do much, but I ensured they had the support and guidance they needed when they asked for it. They had a mission and it turned out to be a beautiful program.
The program included:
- A Kahoot trivia game with prizes
- Three dance performances
- A two-minute multimedia history presentation
- Three poems
- A stellar closing performance
Students made the entire program and that made it super simple for me. I learned that programs don’t have to be labor intensive.
I am not telling you to go and tell your students you want a program, but you can pitch it as an idea, provided that they organize and lead it.
Try One Idea or More
There are so many more wonderful ideas out there, and I know not all of these may work for your school, but I hope this blog post provides some guidance as to what can be done with your school to promote a school-wide educational and joyful HHM environment.