An electronic version and a printable version are now available!
Engage your students in a rich, culturally relevant lesson centered around la tamalada, a cherished tradition in many Mexican and Mexican-American communities. This ready-to-use lesson strengthens interpretive and presentational communication skills while building cultural awareness through multimedia sources, close reading, text analysis, and a reflective writing and speaking task.
Whether you teach Spanish as a world language or to heritage learners, this scaffolded and culturally rich lesson will help your students build vocabulary, synthesize information, and meaningfully connect tradition to contemporary life. Perfect for mid to high Spanish Level 2+ students!
How This Resource Helps Teachers:
✔️ Ready-to-go printable and digital versions
✔️ Includes audio, video, and authentic cultural content
✔️ Supports multiple modes: listening, reading, writing, speaking
✔️ Sentence starters and organizers included for differentiation
✔️ Great for thematic units on food, family, holidays, or cultural practices
Lesson Sequence:
1. Pre-Reading & Prediction Activity (Listening + Writing + Speaking)
2. Reading the Text: “La tamalada” (Listening + Reading Comprehension)
3. Text Comprehension Check
4. Artwork Interpretation
5. Synthesis and Cultural Reflection6. Speaking/Presentation Practice
What You’ll Get:
Step-by-step teacher instructions
Links to video sources
Printable & digital student worksheets
Reading text with embedded vocabulary support
Comprehension & analysis questions
Vocabulary + summarization strategies
Graphic organizer (print + digital)
Final writing + speaking performance task
Optional sentence starters and scaffolds
Perfect For:
Units on cultural traditions, family, or holidays
Spanish Heritage or World Language courses
Interdisciplinary projects with art or social studies
Sub plans, distance learning, or no-prep lessons