La Navidad Mexicana Celebration
This week, our fifth-grade post Immersion students and their Spanish Immersion Program buddies in Jardín de Infancia (Kindergarten) celebrated La Navidad Mexicana and holiday traditions with a Tamalada (the community making of tamales).
Kindergarten teachers Sra. Damaris Torres, Sra. Melika Matlack helped with four different stations of celebrations:
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Reading of Qué Montón de Tamales and discussion about Carmen Garza Lopez' 'Tamalada' illustration (seen right). The students discussed what this community cooking of tamales means to the Mexican/ Mexican-American community.
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Making of tamales with their buddies. Fifth-graders helped their Kindergarten buddies spread masa (corn dough) and fill it with vegetarian or chicken fillings. They also sampled warm steamed tamales and wrote their own 'recipes.'
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Learning about Mexican Chocolate Caliente and how cacao is harvested, toasted and ground to make this delicious drink. The students then sang the "Bate-Bate-Chocolate" song (seen below) as they whipped their Mexican hot chocolate nice and frothy with their molinillo (chocolate whisk or stirrer).
4. Commemorating time together with a Feliz Navidad Photo Booth. The students will share out these photos with families soon.
We hope you all have a lovely communal celebration time together over the winter break, with songs, warm and spicy food, cooking and celebrating the season!
¡Felices Fiestas!