National Hispanic Heritage Month

Here are some resources for honoring Hispanic* Heritage Month in classroom and school communities. These resources were chosen to support educators as they frame their teaching in historically responsive and accurate ways.

Thank you for continuing to uplift and center the identities of our students.

-Molly and Stacie

Oakland Schools Social Studies Team

*This primer on terminology is helpful: "Latino, Hispanic, Latinx, Chicano: The History Behind the Terms The effort to coin a term to describe a wildly diverse group of Americans has long stirred controversy."

Oakland Schools is not responsible for any content that is linked to external sites. While OS will periodically review these resources, links should be reviewed for use and approved through your district prior to distribution within your district and/or community.

Important Note: At Oakland Schools, we pride ourselves on providing evidence-based professional learning, technical assistance, and educational resources that our county’s educators rely on to support every student, every day. Thousands of educators from across Oakland county and beyond use Oakland Schools produced resources to support deep, authentic student learning. We are honored to have the trust of Oakland county educators to provide educational resources designed by our consultants using content from trusted sources.

As lifelong learners, we acknowledge that we just cannot know everything, but we constantly strive to learn and grow. Here are some resources with ideas that have shaped our thinking and might be helpful to you as well.

• Why We Need To Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day, Not Columbus Day, During Hispanic Heritage Month from ACLU, Florida
• Tips and Resources for Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month from Edutopia

These resources are meant to support teaching in historically responsive and accurate ways. However, they are simply starting points in your exploration of teaching resources that work best in your school communities and classrooms. Please email us with any great resources you discover this Fall (there are so many out there!).

Click the image to access the official federal government site honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month which features events, images, and teacher resources.

Click the image for access to virtual exhibits, educational resources, and stories of Latino achievement at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino.

Click the link to explore the NPS's historic sites highlighting Hispanic and Latino history and culture.

Launched in 2017 in partnership with museums and organizations across the U.S., the Google Arts & Culture online collection is organized into the categories of film, sports, dance, music, tradition, and style. The site also highlights specific aspects of the Hispanic and Latinx experience, such as an online exhibit of queer Latinx culture and an oral history project on Hispanic and Latinx life during World War II. Click the image to access.

Check out PBS Learning Media's resources to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in Your Classroom:

• Learn about author and poet Julia Alvarez.
• Listen to the story of Elena Zelayeta, who brought Mexican food to the American masses.
• Engage in a lesson about Frida Kahlo.
• Peruse the full collection of stories of Latino Americans.
• Meet the Latino leaders who contributed to the National Parks.
• Teach about Simon Bolivar with primary sources.
• Learn about culture and storytelling in dance.
• Find out how to make a classic Puerto Rican dish cooked with sofrito.

For 3-8 students, learn about Louisiana's Hidden History: Spanish Louisiana in the American Revolution.

For 6-12 students, check out American Historia: The Untold Story of Latinos collection.

Google Arts & Culture partnered with the Detroit Institute of Arts to help people learn more about Diego Rivera's Detroit Industry Murals. Click on the image above to access it. You could pair it with thinking routines like Visual Thinking Strategies, See, Think, Wonder, or any of the routines from the National Portrait Gallery's "Teaching Critical Thinking Through Art."

• Hispanic Heritage Month Fun Facts & Activity Ideas from the US Census Bureau
• Use this YouTube video from Sesame Street to talk about different countries where Spanish is spoken. Let your bilingual kids show off some words and phrases in a language other than English.
• This Sesame Street video from PBS LearningMedia showcases some percussion instruments used in South America.
• Incorporate children's literature
• My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Qintero read-aloud
• Lesson Plan Template for My Papi Has a Motorcycle (K-3)
• Introduction to Turning Pages by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and a read aloud of Turning Pages
• Comparing Cultural Holidays: What comparisons can you draw from the artistic and cultural traditions of Halloween and the Day of the Dead? from The Kennedy Center

• Watch a video of Coquí Quest from PBS Learning Media

• Learn about Mexico City from PBS Learning Media

Special thanks to Oakland Schools consultants Christy Osborne, Ashelin Currie, and Suzanne Toohey for designing these K-12 choice board activities.

Click the image above to access resources from the Office of English Language Acquisition to support the educational success of Hispanic English learners (ELs).

• Hispanic Heritage Month Fun Facts & Activity Ideas from the US Census Bureau
• "Five Teacher Resources for Hispanic American Heritage Month" from Facing History & Ourselves
• "Latinx Authors and Books for Hispanic Heritage Month and Beyond" from Facing History & Ourselves
• “Hispanic Heritage Month” from the National Archives

• Includes a webinar and resources about Sylvia Mendez, a photo gallery of influential Hispanic Americans, and an exhibit about the power of sports that features Ruben Mendoza.

• Highlight some great YA books for your students to read

Special thanks to Oakland Schools consultants Christy Osborne, Ashelin Currie, and Suzanne Toohey for designing these 6-12 choice board activities.

Oakland Schools is not responsible for any content that is linked to external sites. While OS will periodically review these resources, links should be reviewed for use and approved through your district prior to distribution within your district and/or community.

• Stacie Woodward, Stacie.Woodward@oakland.k12.mi.us
• Molly Gale, Molly.Gale@oakland.k12.mi.us

Oakland Schools is not responsible for any content that is linked to external sites. While OS will periodically review these resources, links should be reviewed for use and approved through your district prior to distribution within your district and/or community.