Bilingual Programs Chapter
By Priscilla Suárez and Vanessa Sáenz
Program for Families
Día De Los Recuerdos / Day of Remembrance & Celebrating Our Dearly Departed
A Tribute to Día de los Muertos
- Program Description
- Books to Share
- Bulletin Board
- Nametag
- Displays
- Decorations
- Refreshments
- Fingerplays
- Action Rhymes
- Rhymes and Poetry
- Audio Recordings
- Trabalenguas / Tongue Twisters
- Crafts
- Video/DVDs/Films
- Professional Resources
- Program Materials
Program Description
Día de los Muertos is an ancient holiday, typically celebrated by people of Latino heritage living in the Americas on November 2nd. In recent years, this holiday has become popular, and museums, libraries, and community centers often host programs to celebrate remembrance and family. Although Día de los Muertos is now celebrated on November 2nd, originally it fell during the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, generally August on the Gregorian calendar.
The concept behind Día de los Muertos is that the festivities honor and remember the dearly departed, whether they are family or friends. Indigenous peoples of Mexico, Central America, and South America believed that on this special day the spirits of their loved ones would make the journey home. For their homecoming, families would set out altars and visit the gravesites, setting out a picnic and dedicating the music their loved ones enjoyed most to be played by the mariachis that parade around the cemetery. Despite popular belief, this is not a morbid holiday, but rather one of joy and celebrations honoring the dearly departed.
The goal of this Día de los Recuerdos program is to pay homage to Dia de los Muertos, which is celebrated in November. Dia de los Recuerdos is a reminder that we should remember and honor the memory of our relatives and friends every day of the year.
Books to Share
Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book by Jeanette Winter.
Chumba La Cachumba by Carlos Cotte.
Clatter Bash! A Day of the Dead Celebration by Richard Keep.
El Día de los Muertos: The Day of the Dead by Mary Wade Dodson.
I Love Saturdays y Domingos by Alma Flor Ada.
In My Family / En Mi Familia by Carmen Lomas Garza.
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Morales.
Just in Case by Yuyi Morales.
My Tata’s Guitar / La Guitarra de mi Tata by Ethriam Cash Brammer.
Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola.
Perfect Season for Dreaming by Benjamín Alire Sáenz.
Bulletin Board
Día de los Recuerdos
Cover the bulletin board with a bright colored paper (yellow, orange, or pink). Add the heading “Día de los Recuerdos / Day of Remembrance” in multicolored letters. Create flowers using a die cut and a variety of bright colored paper. Use the flowers to create a border around the bulletin board. Make copies of the ‘I remember’ pattern using the pattern provided at the end of this program. Distribute the copies to families to decorate, fill out, and post up on the bulletin board. Alternately, families can provide a photograph of their family member to display.
Nametag
This is Me Picture Frame
Make a nametag using the pattern provided in this program. Allow the children to draw a self-portrait inside their picture frame nametag, adding their name to the border.
Find the ‘this is me’ picture frame pattern at the end of this program.
Displays
Altar
Setting up an altar is a great visual for the families attending your program. Create a remembrance display by selecting a deceased author, artist, or community member to whom the altar will be dedicated. (Hans Christian Andersen, the author of The Ugly Duckling, will be used as an example.) Gather materials that can be used to describe that person, along with things he or she would have enjoyed in life. (For example, gather books written by Andersen, pictures of him, a map of his birth country, Denmark, a pen and notebook, and rubber ducks.) Drape a small or medium-sized table with a colorful tablecloth. Set out all the gathered materials, placing a photograph of the subject in the center of the altar. Add an unlit candle and flowers to give the altar a warm touch.
Decorations
Decorate the library with papel picado and paper flowers. Use bright colors to give the papel picado an especially festive look. Papel picado is the Mexican art of cutting paper into elaborate designs. The paper is then attached to string or yarn to create a banner. Papel picado can be purchased but it is also easy to make your own. See Zoom, http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/papelpicado.html, for instructions. Paper flowers can also be purchased or made and attached with tape to bookshelves, counters, and other areas of the library or attached to long pipe cleaner stems and arranged in vases. Instructions are included in many craft books and web sites, including Enchanted Learning, http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/flowers/tissueflower/.
Refreshments
Chocolate Frío y Tortillas con Mantequilla
Use a microwave oven to warm flour tortillas purchased from a local grocery store or Mexican bakery. Spread with a thin layer of butter, margarine, or peanut butter. Roll up the tortilla, buttered side in. Serve with cups of cool chocolate milk.
Fingerplays
Canción para Tu Memoria
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Estos son mis deditos. (menee dedos de mano derecha)
Esta es mi guitarra. (extienda brazo izquierdo)
Las cuerdas yo rasgueo, (finja rasgueo)
Para tocar una canción.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
De usted yo me recuerdo,
A usted le tocaré,
Una melodía que me recuerda
Cada día de usted.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
Las cuerdas yo rasgueo (finja rasgueo)
Para tocar una canción.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (finja rasgueo lentamente)
Ti rri ti rri. (finja rasgueo rápidamente)
Song for Your Memory
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
These are my fingers. (wiggle right hand fingers)
This is my guitar. (extend left arm)
The chords I strum, (pretend strum)
To play a song.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
Of you I remember,
To you I shall play,
A melody that reminds me
Of you, everyday.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
The chords I strum (pretend strum)
To play a song.
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
Ta rrum ta rrum. (pretend strum slowly)
Ti rri ti rri. (pretend strum fast)
Action Rhymes
Un Abrazo para Usted
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Aquí está mi muñeca. (tuerza muñeca de aquí para allá)
Aquí está mi mano. (ondee mano)
Es así como yo los muevo (sacuda la mano)
para saludarte con un apretón de manos.
Aquí está mi corazón. (señale al corazón)
Aquí están mis brazos. (extienda brazos)
Es así como yo los doblo (doble brazos)
Para darte un abrazo.
A Hug for You
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Here is my wrist. (twist wrist back and forth)
Here is my hand. (wave hand)
This is how I move them (pretend hand shake)
To shake your hand.
Here is my heart. (point to heart)
Here are my arms. (extend arms)
This is how I fold them (hug yourself)
To give you a hug.
Tortillitas
(Tradicional.)
Tortillitas, tortillitas,
Tortillitas para mamá;
Tortillitas para papá.
Las quemaditas para mamá;
Las bonitas para papá.
Tortillitas, tortillitas,
Tortillitas para papá;
Tortillitas para mamá.
Tortillitas de salvado
Para papá cuando está enojado;
Tortillitas de manteca
Para mamá que está contenta.
Tortillitas
(Traditional. Translated by Vanessa Sáenz and Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Tortillitas, tortillitas
Tortillitas for mama;
Tortillitas for daddy.
The burnt ones for mama;
The pretty ones for daddy.
Tortillitas, tortillitas
Tortillitas for daddy;
Tortillitas for mama;
Tortillitas made of bran
For daddy when he is mad;
Tortillitas with lots of butter
For mama when she is glad.
Rhymes and Poetry
Día de Recuerdos
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Recordarte, recordarte
lo hago cada día.
Te quiero, te quiero
lo hago cada día.
Las nubes del cielo, esos caminos polvorientos
no son suficiente
para hacerme olvidar
de recordarte, recordarte
porque te quiero, te quiero
toda la vida.
Day of Remembrance
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Remember you, remember you
I do every day.
I love you, I love you
I do every day.
The sky’s clouds, those dusty roads
are not enough
to make me forget
To remember you, to remember you
because I love you, I love you
I do every day.
Audio Recordings
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” on Motown for Kids by Various Artists.
“Baila Esta Cumbia”on Ones by Selena Quintanilla.
“Beat of My Heart” on Most Wanted by Hillary Duff.
“Bidi Bidi Bom Bom”on Ones by Selena Quintanilla.
“Cielito Lindo” on Toda Una Vida: 30 Exitos by José Feliciano.
“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” on Motown for Kids by Various Artists.
“We Are Family” on We Are Family by Sisters Sledge.
Trabalenguas / Tongue Twisters
Recordando a Raziel
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Reymundo Reyeserollo y Raquella Reyesan
recuerdan a Raziel Ramizan
y se ponen de acuerdo
rezar por mas recuerdos.
Prefieren recordar, no olvidar.
Remembering Raziel
(By Priscilla C. Suárez.)
Reymundo Reyeserollo and Raquella Reyesan
remember Raziel Ramizan
and they agree
to pray for more memories.
They prefer to remember, not forget.
Crafts
Candle Craft Stick Bookmark
Materials
- Multicolored wooden jumbo craft sticks
- Craft glue
- Candle flame template
- Tag board
- Orange, red, and yellow crayons
- Scissors
Directions
Provide each child with a flame template, provided in this program. Use the crayons to color the inner layer in red, the middle layer in orange, and the outer layer in yellow. Cut out the flame and use craft glue to adhere it to a jumbo craft stick. Allow to dry thoroughly before using.
Find the candle craft stick bookmark pattern at the end of this program.
Craft Stick Picture Frame
Materials
- Jumbo craft sticks
- Craft glue
- Multicolored tissue paper
- Ribbon or yarn
- Cardstock paper
Directions
In advance, cut the tissue paper into 3” squares, enough to provide approximately 30 pieces per child. Cut the cardstock into 3.5” squares. Cut yarn or ribbon into 6” pieces. Glue the edges of four craft sticks together to form a square, with the edges layered on over the other to create a frame that forms a square that is 3” by 3”. Apply a line of glue along each of the four craft sticks. Crinkle pieces of tissue paper and place them on top of craft sticks. (Note that for younger children the tissue paper can be “pre-crinkled” so that the glue does not dry out before the paper is placed on it. Alternately, put glue on each section as it is covered.) Let the frame dry for a couple of minutes. When the glue is dry, turn the frame over. Make a little loop with the ribbon or yarn and glue onto the mid section of one of the craft sticks to make a hanger. Glue the cardstock paper to the back of the picture frame, making sure to leave the top or one side unglued so that a picture can slide into the frame.
Papel Picado
Papel picado is a traditional craft prepared for Día de los Muertos and other festivities. Appropriate holiday scenes are cut into tissue paper, which are then used to create banners for decoration. Instructions for preparing papel picado can be found at Zoom, http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/papelpicado.html.
Video/DVDs/Films
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. (12 minutes)
Professional Resources
Authors in the Kitchen: Recipes, Stories & More by Sharon & Deborah McElmeel.
Tortillas and Lullabies / Tortillas y Cancioncitas by Lynn Reiser.
Tortillitas para mamá and Other Nursery Rhymes: Spanish and English selected by Margot C. Griego and Laurel H. Kimball.
Colorín Colorado
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators
The Washington Educational Television Association (WETA) provides a bilingual web site offering advice and activities for families, including reading tips, webcasts, and booklists.
Día de los Muertos / Day of the Dead
http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/
This web site, maintained by The Arizona Republic newspaper, offers a free toolkit, with information on the history of Day of the Dead, as well as ideas on creating altars, crafts, and food.
National Latino Children’s Institute
http://www.nlci.org/common/index2.htm
The National Latino Children’s Institute offers programs that focus on empowering Latino communities for the full and healthy development of young Latinos in a culturally relevant environment. Resources include activities and printable coloring sheets.
Program Materials
A Tribute to Día de los Muertos – I Remember Pattern
Printer Friendly PDF Version (29 KB)
A Tribute to Día de los Muertos – This is Me Picture Frame Nametag Pattern
Printer Friendly PDF Version (13 KB)
A Tribute to Día de los Muertos – Candle Craft Stick Bookmark Pattern
Printer Friendly PDF Version (11 KB)
