Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15- October 15. Read more about why it starts on September 15th and enjoy these helpful resources from the National Museum of the American Latino here . As always, heritage months should only be reminders or extra opportunities to celebrate and recognize a community, because students should see themselves in their learning and what they learn should reflect the diversity of our world every single day.
When introducing Hispanic Heritage Month, start by asking or clarifying who is Hispanic? Ask students what they know about the term and what questions they have. Start by looking at a world map, but emphasize that there are many Hispanic Americans as well. If you aren’t sure about distinctions and terminology or just want a refresher before answering lots of students’ questions, these two articles might help:
The Difference Between Hispanic and Latino
Latino and Hispanic identities aren’t the same. They’re also not racial groups.
Students might have misconceptions about who is or is not Hispanic or have overly broad or stereotyped ideas about Hispanic people. Counteract this by learning about Hispanic people through books, video clips, music, and anything else you want to share with your students. We listed some new books we are excited about below, but there are so many wonderful picture book biographies available. You can use video read alouds or get books from the library.
We would often have a sign in question or morning activity that showcased a photograph or a clip introducing someone and would later share other resources like a book or Newsela article (although it looks like they have changed their access/pricing structure , so you need a subscription to search their database). Some ideas for people to learn about are or . I won’t start listing picture book biographies because then I might never stop, but there are so many great ones out there! Here is a list from the School Library Journal to get you started.
This book list shares some new books for Hispanic Heritage Month 2023: Recent Kids Books | The Seattle Public Library , and some other books I am excited about are below. Thanks to Imagination Soup and Book Riot for recommending some of these books. Remember to try to show a diversity of Hispanic voices and stories when choosing what books to share with your class.
Picture books:
Our Roof Is Blue by Sara E. Echenique and Ashley Vargas
Benita and the Night Creatures by Mariana Llanos
River of Mariposas by Mirelle Ortega
Remembering by Xelena González and Adriana M. Garcia
Middle grade:
Totally Psychic by Brigid Martin
For adults:
Neruda on the Park by Cleyvis Natera
Woman Without Shame: Poems by Sandra Cisneros (this one is not as new as the other books listed, but I couldn’t resist adding it as I have been a HUGE Sandra Cisneros fan since I was a child).
Happy reading!
Originally published at http://teachpluralism.squarespace.com on September 14, 2023.
