Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, commemorates the defeat of the French by the Mexican Army in 1862. It’s a national holiday in Mexico, and is celebrated by Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the United States.
Finding high-interest materials for students to read, and activating prior knowledge, are both good instructional strategies, so in that spirit I offer another “The Best…” list.
All of these sites are accessible to English Language Learners.
Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Teaching & Learning About Cinco de Mayo:
The Orange County Register has a good interactive graphic about the day.
EL Civics has a good Cinco de Mayo Lesson designed for English Language Learners..
The History Channel has a Cinco de Mayo feature.
Here’s a video presentation of a Cinco de Mayo Celebration by the San Jose Mercury News.
This is a simple historical explanation by Social Studies for Kids.
How Stuff Works has a presentation on How Cinco de Mayo Works.
Glencoe has an online slideshow on the day’s history.
Here are some images and descriptions of food for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.
For students who are not from Mexico (and for those who are) here are some accessible links for them to learn some basic information about the country:
Apples 4 The Teacher has a “talking book” about Mexico.
Here’s an interactive timeline of Mexico’s History. It’s from PBS.
Mr. Nussbaum has two good interactives for learning about Mexico.
Brainpop, Jr. has a movie about Mexico, though you need to have a paid subscription to view it.
MSNBC has a short article on President Obama’s celebration of the holiday.
A Brief History of Cinco de Mayo is a TIME Magazine slideshow.
Read Write Think has a number of good resources, including lesson plans, related to the holiday.
The Detroit News has a slideshow about a local Cinco de Mayo Parade.
Nation’s Capital Celebrates Cinco de Mayo is a video from ABC News.
ESL Holiday Lessons has a lesson for English Language Learners about the holiday.
The U.S. Census Bureau has a fact sheet on the day.
The Modesto Bee has a video of a local celebration.
Why Do We Celebrate Cinco de Mayo is a CNN video.
President Obama Celebrates Cinco de Mayo is a video of the celebration at the White House.
Cinco De Mayo History: 7 Must-Know Facts About The Annual Celebration is a slideshow from The Huffington Post.
Cinco de Mayo goes hip is a slideshow from The Orange County Register.
I’d certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.
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April 22, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Hi Larry, I hope that all of the educators that use this holiday to discuss Mexican culture are aware that it is a holiday celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico. And as such, should be discussed with this in mind.
My husband’s great grandfather was General Colombres, one of the generals who fought in and helped win this battle. And, I lived in Mexico City for more than a decade and travelled to Puebla often to visit my husband’s relatives that live there. None of his relatives, nor anyone I know of that lives in Mexico thinks 5 de mayo is an important Mexican holiday. Moreover, my husband’s theory is that Corona and Frito-Lay have conspired to create another holiday in the U.S. in order to sell their products.
Just saying….