Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with These Engaging Read-Alouds and Lesson Ideas

Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride that takes place on May 5th every year. It commemorates the Mexican army's victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862.

 To celebrate Cinco de Mayo in your classroom, you can incorporate read-alouds that introduce your students to the history and traditions behind the holiday. 

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Here are some great Cinco de Mayo read-alouds and lesson ideas to go with each book.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo by Sandi Hill 

This book provides a more in-depth look at the traditions and customs associated with Cinco de Mayo.

Reading: Have students read the book independently and then come together in small groups to discuss what they learned and any questions they have.

Math: Create a bar graph showing the number of Cinco de Mayo celebrations that take place in different parts of the world. Have students compare and contrast the data.

Writing: Have students write a Cinco de Mayo recipe, including the ingredients and steps needed to make a traditional Mexican dish.

Social Studies: Discuss the cultural significance of Cinco de Mayo and the ways it is celebrated in different parts of the world.

Just a Minute! A Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Morales

With its lively illustrations and captivating read-aloud text, this authentic trickster tale pays homage to the vibrant traditions of Mexican culture while also serving as an excellent introduction to counting in Spanish.

Reading: Have students practice counting in Spanish as they read the book aloud.

Math: Create a number line with the numbers 1-10 in Spanish. Have students use the number line to practice counting in Spanish.

Writing: Have students write a short story or fable using a trickster character from Mexican folklore.

Science: Discuss the animals that are featured in the book, including the lizard and the crow. Have students research these animals and create a presentation about their habitat, diet, and behaviors.

Social Studies: Discuss the history and culture of Mexico and the ways it has influenced the United States. Have students research Mexican-American leaders and their contributions to society.

Cinco de Mayo by Emma Carlson Berne

This book is part of the Holidays in Rhythm and Rhyme series, which celebrates holidays through poetry and music. Cinco de Mayo is a great way to introduce the holiday's history to young readers. The book includes colorful illustrations and rhythmic poetry that will captivate children's attention.

Reading: Have students read the book together in class, taking turns reading each stanza. Then, have them discuss what they learned about the holiday.

Writing: Have the children write a poem or story about a fictional character who played a role in the Battle of Puebla.

Science: Research and discuss the different types of plants and animals found in Mexico, and how they differ from those found in other parts of the world. What adaptations help them to survive?

Social Studies: Learn about Mexican culture, including traditional clothing, food, music, and dance.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo - Celebramos Cinco de Mayo: A Bilingual Book for Kids in English and Spanish" by Marisa Boan

This bilingual book is perfect for children who are learning English and Spanish. It includes colorful illustrations and simple language that will engage young readers.

Reading: Have the children read the book together, alternating between English and Spanish. Then, have them discuss what they learned about the holiday.

Math: Use the book to teach children about the different types of food and drinks that are commonly served during Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Have students create a menu and calculate the total cost of the items. They could also write word problems that can be solved using their menu.

Writing: Have students write a letter in Spanish to a pen pal in Mexico, describing how they celebrate Cinco de Mayo in their own community.

Science: Learn about the geography of Mexico and the different regions of the country. Discuss the different types of plants and animals found in each region.

Social Studies: Learn about the different holidays and celebrations that are unique to Mexico, including Dia de los Muertos, Las Posadas, and Cinco de Mayo.

What is Cinco de Mayo - Social Studies for Kids, Cinco de Mayo for Kids, Mexican Traditions, Cinco de Mayo Traditions, Mexican Holidays, Mexican Studies ... Culture (What Holiday is That? Series) by KeriAnne N. Jelinek.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of Cinco de Mayo and its cultural significance. It includes colorful illustrations and engaging text that will capture children's imaginations.

Math: Use the book to teach students about the different types of Mexican currency. Have the students convert the amounts into their own currency and discuss the differences.

Writing: Have the children write a persuasive essay arguing why Cinco de Mayo should be celebrated as a national holiday in their own country

 

Incorporating read-alouds into your Cinco de Mayo celebrations is a great way to introduce your students to the history and traditions of this important holiday. By incorporating math, writing, science, and social studies activities, you can help your students gain a deeper understanding of Mexican culture and the significance of Cinco de Mayo.

 

Halloween Read Alouds

My students LOVE Halloween and I LOVE reading aloud to them, so here are a few of my favorite Halloween read alouds that are perfect for upper elementary students!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.  

The Ugly Pumpkin

This is a Halloween/Thanksgiving twist on the classic fairy tale The Ugly Duckling. The Ugly Pumpkin waits all season long for someone to take him home for Halloween, but no one will. He doesn't look like the other pumpkins, so he sets off in search for a place where he will fit in.  Sure enough, he finds exactly where he belongs - BUT, it's not at all what he expected!

Teaching Ideas:

Themes: Loving yourself, fitting in

Grammar: 

Adjectives - this book is filled with great adjectives for your students to find including: ugly, bright, crispy, late, cruel, overrun, odd, and happy.

Adverbs - your students can find a plethora of adverbs including: plainly, early, when, alone, awhile, then, and finally.

Verbs - See if you can challenge your students to write some sentences using the verbs in the story: waiting, picked, looking, getting, tricked, laughed, rolled, and happened.

Writing: This book is an adaptation of a fairy tale, see if your students can write their own adaptation of The Ugly Ducking or the fairy tale of their choice.

Pumpkin Jack

If you are a Kindle Unlimited Member, you can get the Kindle version of this book for FREE here!

Tim carves a pumpkin that is fierce and funny.  A pumpkin like that deserves a name, and so he gives him one - Jack. Tim loves Jack so much that he keeps him "Long after the best trick-or-treat candy was eaten".  He keeps Jack until it begins to rot and Mom tells Tim to throw it out.  He takes it into the garden instead, and that is where the magic begins! He watches it throughout the year as it undergoes many changes until becoming his Jack'O'Lantern again. 

Teaching Ideas:

Themes: Loyalty, friendship

Grammar: 

Adjectives - fierce, first, funny, perfect, good, best, warm, magic, different, wrinkled, silly, bright, orange, brown, colder, flatter, cold, heavy, faded, crumpled, distant, thin, warm, hot, green, hidden, tired, new, tattered, pale, limp, wet, withered, unripe, bright, and generous.

Figurative Language - There are many examples of figurative language throughout the book:

"...the brown ghosts of last summer's plants"

"Flowers opened on the plant each morning, yellow stars that twisted shut forever in the afternoon."

"...searching for green pumpkins like hidden treasures."

"... the pumpkin plant seemed tired."

"The frozen plants seemed changed to pale blue glass."

Science: This book has a great science tie-in with the life cycle of a pumpkin.

Bone Soup

This fun little tale is a Halloween adaptation of the classic Stone Soup. Finnigin is infamous for his ravenous appetite.  Every where he goes he carries his eating stool, his eating spoon, and of course his gigantic eating mouth.  

When he happens upon a new town, all of the creatures there have been warned about his ravenous hunger, and they lock up all of their food.  Finnigin stirs up some delicious Bone Soup and tricks them all into sharing with him.

Teaching Ideas:

Themes: sharing

Vocabulary:  There are so many great vocabulary words in this book including: wits, ravenous, barren, impending, plague, locusts, panic, spare, cauldron, ceremoniously, splintered, ghoul, delicacy, stammered, fetched, stash, wistful, and longingly.

Punctuation: Many of the sentences include commas and quotation marks.  You might give students samples of these sentences without the punctuation and ask them to correct them.  You could also ask them to find the sentences and generate some punctuation rules for them.

Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

If you are a Kindle Unlimited Member, you can get the Kindle version of this book for FREE here!

This book of poems is filled with monster size problems!  Frankenstein's cupboards are bare. The Creature from the Black Lagoon doesn't wait an hour before swimming and goes into the bog too soon.  The Phantom of the Opera has a song stuck in his head.  The witches have watchers. And, don't even get started on Dracula's hygiene issues!

If your students are fans of Shel Silverstein poetry, they will love these ones!

Teaching Ideas:

Writing: Have your students write their own Halloween poems.

Figurative Language - Can your students find the figurative language throuout the book?

Onomatopoeia

" Cack cack-a-doodle-a DOOOOOOOOO!"

Alliteration

" Fancy folk avoid his feet"

"the personality of plaid"

At the Old Haunted House

If you are a Kindle Unlimited Member, you can get the Kindle version of this book for FREE here!

The rhyming text of this book makes it so fun to read!  At the old haunted house there are all kinds of creatures: a big ma monster and her wee monsters two, a scrawny black cat and her wee kittens three, a green pa goblin and his wee goblins four, and even more!

Writing: Have you

Teaching Ideas:

Writing: This would make such a great mentor text for writing all sorts of things.  Have your students use the same model to write a story book, or to teach about a non-fiction topic.

What are your favorite Halloween Books to Read Aloud?  Share with us in the comments!

Must Read Mentor Text - How To Build Your Own Country

I am linking up with Collaboration Cuties for Must Read Mentor Texts.  This week we are focusing on Social Studies.

We have been reading How To Build Your Own Country.

The students have been loving to read how countries are formed as we are "creating" our own countries.  Some "countries" in my class include: Manland, Frozenia, and Shapetopia.  I will share our projects when we finish them up after Spring Break.  For now here are a few of the pages.

The book is written in small chunks that can be used individually for class read alouds, in small groups, or independently.  It has been one of the most engaging non-fiction texts I have found!

Learning About Gorillas And Text Structures

Any idea what we will be learning about soon?  I am going to be reading The One And Only Ivan as a read aloud soon, and I wanted to incorporate some non-fiction resources as well to help them understand the book better.



We started by taking a survey.

As of right now it looks like most of them think that animals should not be kept in zoos.  I will be having them read various articles that represent both views along with the books above.  I will repeat the survey when we are done to see if any of their opinions changed.  We will also work on debate skills.

After our survey, we watched the video below.

 Then we came up with questions about the things we wanted to learn about gorillas during our unit.

It's funny because a lot of the questions they had were also ideas I had planned into the unit - :)

Afterwards, I gave each table one of the books above, and they made posters using what they had learned from the book.

We were learning about cause and effect in an earlier mini-lesson, so they went with that!

And... finally I wanted to share the anchor chart I made for different text structures:

Do you ever incorporate non-fiction resources with your fiction read alouds?

Learning About Point of View

Have you ever had one of those impromptu lessons that really ends up working better than what you had originally planned? That happened to me this week when we started our unit on point of view and opinion.  I had originally planned to introduce the topic using Dear Mrs. LaRue, but I accidently left my copy of the book sitting on my counter at home!  Panic mode hit, and I began scouring books throughout my classroom.  Somehow I stumbled upon the book No David - and inspiration hit!





We worked together to complete this last minute thrown together chart focusing on David's point of view and his mother's point of view.

It worked amazingly as an introductory lesson, because there are very few words in the book, and we were able to complete the chart.  I loved the ideas that the kiddos came up with for both sides.  We completed the chart above together then I had the students complete their own chart for the part where David is playing baseball in the house.  Here are a few examples of their work:

A few of them had a hard time with writing in the first person, and what they were thinking, but we were able to talk about it and their revisions showed they understood.

What ways do you teach about point of view? Have you ever had to resort to a new plan?

Two Bad Pilgrims Freebie

If you head over to We Give Books, you can read this fun story from award-winning author Kathryn Lasky and illustrator John Manders that reveals the lives of America's first troublemakers - as well as tons of fascinating Pilgrim facts-with kid-friendly humor.  It would make a great listening center or a whole group activity on a Smartboard.

Favorite Back To School Reads

Week one is in the bag!  Today I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to share my favorite back to school books and a giveaway!

If you link up your favorite books, you can win $50 from the Clever School Teacher. Here's what you need to do:

1. Link up your favorite back to school books with Blog Hoppin'. 

2. Link up your blog post, not just URL

3. Display the graphic above in your post.

 

So without further ado, here are a few of the books I read to my third graders last week:

 

We all have jitters about the first day of school (even us teachers) and this is a great book to talk about just that!

 Reading about Mean Jean the Recess Queen is a great way to begin a chat about recess rules and expectations.

The Wednesday Surprise is a great book to talk about the importance of reading.  A few of my third graders said they read it last year, but they were surprised by the ending, so I wonder if they really understood it last year.

What are some of your favorites?