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DIA
DE LOS MUERTOS Webquest |
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DIA
DE LOS MUERTOS Webquest |
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Introduction / Task / Resources / Process / Evaluation / Conclusion / Return to Spanish Home Page
You are an exchange student in Oaxaca, Mexico for the semester. It is the first day of November and today is a very historic holiday for the Mexican people, El Dia de los Muertos.This is your first time in Mexico and is your chance to learn as much about the Mexican culture as you can. Today is El Dia de los Muertos, but what does that mean? You decide to speak to three " amigos de escuela" in the community to acquire more information.
You will create a scrapbook to save all of your Mexico memories. Within this scrapbook you will have "photos" as well as written captions in order to answer the following questions.
What is Dia de los Muertos?
Where and why is it celebrated?
What is the history of Dia de los Muertos?
What preparations are made by the families for this holiday?
What are the similarities and differences with Halloween?
To answer these questions, speak with your Mexican classmates, gather information, and take "photos" of what you see. When you return "home", you will put all of the information and "photos" into a scrapbook. This scrapbook will represent all of your memories to be shared with your family and friends back in the United States.
Each group will consist of three people. Each person is required to speak with one Mexican classmate. Choose from the three classmates below and research their area of expertise. Then the whole group will collaborate to create one memorable scrapbook.
1. Hugo Historia-- history buff: knows everything about the history of both Dia de los Muertos and Halloween.
2. Veronica Vocabulario--down with the vocab:knows all of the key terms can explain them in detail, with relation to the holiday (calvera, ofrenda, pan de los muertos, copalli, careta, vela, calaverada, cempazuchitl, Dia de Disfrutos, copal)
3. Tomas Tradiciones--a family man:shares his family traditions and preparations and explains in detail the process and the purpose of an ofrenda
The following websites will be useful in your search.
| Day of the Dead http://www.dayofthedead.com |
| Day of the Dead http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/ |
| Day of the Dead http://www.usc.edu/isd/locations/ssh/boeckmann/Dead/index.html |
| How do Mexicans celebrate? http://www.public.iastate.edu/~rjsalvad/scmfaq/muertos.html |
| Day of the Dead http://www.mythinglinks.org/DayOfDead.html |
| Day of the Dead http://www.holidays.net/halloween/muertos.htm |
Your scrapbook will be evaluated on creativity, content and how well your group worked together. The purpose of this project is to learn more about the Mexican culture and their unique traditions for celebrating holidays. There will be one grade for the group. This grade is based on your final project as a group, your scrapbook. Creativity is worth 40%, content (answering all questions given above) 40% and group cooperation 20%.
Cultural enrichment is a large part of studying a foreign language. For centuries, all cultures have had their unique rituals which have been passed down year after year. Everywhere, these rituals are fundamental elements of cultural roots and the characteristics which make them unique.
I hope you have enjoyed your experience as an exchange student in Mexico and have learned something new about El Dia de los Muertos. Have fun sharing your scrapbook with friends and family en Los Estados Unidos.
11/07/03
