In just a little over a week, many people will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo, and so I thought it was only fitting that this week's Fresh Look Fridays post highlighted some interactive activities appropriate for such a celebration. Let me tell ya, it was a lot harder to find some quality online interactive activities than I thought it was going to be. Note to self - create awesome interactive activities for next year's Cinco de Mayo! [Just a little FYI - "cinco de mayo online" google searches actually turns up a surprising number of online gambling sites with cinco de mayo slot machine-type games. Who knew?]
Despite needing to do a bit of digging, check out the following list if you are planning on incorporating some of the festivities into your classroom.
1. Cinco de Mayo for kids page. Not super interactive in itself, but it does have a few ideas of things you can do in your classroom. There's also a link to Scholastic's online pinata game which infuses spanish words with a matching game.
2. History.com. Again, not super interactive per se, but lots of resources designed for upper elementary to high school age. There are quite a few good videos on this site, if nothing else.
3. Daria music -- Lots of music ideas complete with online versions of the songs for many different holidays. My only problem with this site is that it incorrectly lists Cinco de Mayo as being the day that "Mexico declared its independence from Spain." The songs are cute, though!
4. SMART Exchange. There are a few select Cinco de Mayo SMART Notebook activities available for download. Click here to see the entire list. There are also lots of activities around learning about Mexico (which would do in a pinch!)...check out that search list here. A sample Notebook file is shown below.
5. Kidzplace. If all else fails, use this site to have students choose a Mexican themed online jigsaw puzzle to solve on the SMART Board. Use it as a fun station activity as a bit of a break from the normal routine.
Have fun!
Vanessa
