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Nombre ______________________________________________________ Clase _____ Da de los Muertos I am constantly looking for activities that will build on our higher

level thinking skills. Application of knowledge and synthesis of new ideas are two things that I strongly believe in. Therefore, we are going to do an in-depth study of the holiday Da de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) as it is practiced in Mexico. I believe that this will be an excellent way to practice what we have been learning in our Spanish textbooks as well as a chance to hone research and writing skills. For Da de los Muertos, the people of Mexico gather in cemeteries for ceremonies honoring their deceased loved ones. They also build ofrendas (altars) to their deceased relatives or to famous people. For this project, we are going to create ofrendas to a deceased person and then do two short write-ups about that person. You must pick a deceased person who is famous. I am not going to allow ofrendas to relatives or friends. This is an academic assignment, and I do not want to create any bad feelings. Good examples for this assignment are Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Christopher Columbus, Queen Victoria, Clara Barton, Rosa Parks, etc. Part One: You will write a paragraph in Spanish using Ser and AR verbs to describe that persons characteristics and perhaps a bit of what they did in their lives. The vocabulary words found in your textbook will be more than sufficient for this short write-up. It will be at least five sentences, completely in Spanish, describing that person. Part Two: You will write a (minimum) one page research paper (double spaced, size 12 font, normal margins, etc) about that person in English based upon the research results that you will have found during class. This must be typed unless you do not have a computer at home, in which case writing is fine. If you do not have a printer (or it malfunctions), then you can email me your final work. Part Three: You will build an altar to that person using the parts of a traditional ofrenda in Mexico. Id like these to be in shoeboxes but any type of box will be fine. I will give a more detailed sheet explaining this later because this is the final step. The research and writing are our primary focus in this assignment. The final paper and ofrenda will be due on Thursday, November 1st. The Spanish write-up will be due the week before on Thursday, October 25th. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about this assignment, please talk to me or email me.

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