Why are you interested in incorporating Day of the Dead into your curriculum?

...I have a large Latin American population.

...critical thinking and involvement I get from my students.

It is part of my culture and most of my students.

...it's inspirational/historical/cultural part of my students' past.

...good cultural exemplar.

History, meaning/context

To understand meaning and symbolism behind the artifacts

Multicultural traditions of Latin America

That death is a part of life. That one's history is important. That celebrating life and death is a fine thing.

Rememberance of past family members

honor, homage, deep reflective thinking, skill and acuity in their work

I can't really answer for my students...For me images are central to instruction--artwork and processes...

Seeing actual artifacts

Visual Aides/They learn better by "seeing"

Books and internet

Puzzles, wordsearches, coloring sheets. Although students often put on the guise that they don't want to think, they flat out refuse to do busy work!

Videos because students can easily zone out while watching.

Written / Great reluctance to read

Vocabulary

I love using online activities and research with my students--they typically find this very engaging.

I don't really use online resources as much as I should.

Frustrating but sometimes useful

Very frustrating. Half the time the internet is down.

Use often

Indispensable

I love web-quests and online activities. Perhaps printable worksheets might help. Generally I have to create something so that they remember they are accountable for info. Even though I'm teaching high school, a lot of students don't know how to take notes--they need prompts!

Images

Better images to enlarge to show or print

Student level work. Work students could browse on their own.

A show of student artists' past works. A list of websites to use and books to buy.

Often art websites are blocked due to nudity. Sometimes it is hard to get a lab...we have lots of tech labs but only 1 for teachers who aren't tech teachers.

Lack of access to computers

Inappropriate sites

Consistency

One computer in class

Nudity

What type of online information or materials would be most helpful to you? (i.e.: history, images, vocabulary, web quests, interactive sites, student/teacher comments/images of work, lesson plans--TEKS based, lesson seeds, lesson sharing)

Images are awesome! I like web-quests, but need some variety in roles...or all my students will copy from the few students who actually did the work. I like interactive things that reinforce things like the elements and principles of design or explain symbolism. Often however, there is just a lot of meaningless clicking to be called interactive. I like to hear about lessons that explore interdisciplinary connections. I also love to hear about meaningful ways to approach production versus replicating a study of artwork. Vocabulary has become more important to me since I have had to give finals--but limited vocabulary because for me it would be part of another media experience. TEKS are helpful, but I know how to tweak them to fit my lesson plans...How about an interactive map that reinforces geography that can show/discuss different ways in different regions...

history, images, vocabulary, interactive sites, student/teacher images of work, lesson seeds

lesson plans, images that can be enlarged (full screen), interactive sites

I would like to see a site that would be easy for students to browse themselves (elementary).

Spanish Version Coming Soon!

Click Dia de los Muertos for Spanish Version

Translated by:

Lawndale Art Center

University of Houston

Art Education

Laboratory for Innovative Technology in Education