Día de los Muertos – Shoebox Altar Project

Objective(s): • To culturally immerse ourselves in a tradition from a Spanish speaking country. • To think critically about Spanish speaking celebrations and their value to culture. • To orally express ourselves in Spanish and be able to describe another person. • To create a creative, artistic, and thoughtful piece of work through hard work and effort.

Final Product:

• A Día de los Muertos miniature altar modeled by the altares made in Mexico during November 1st and 2nd of every year. These altares should be traditional with a personalized twist!

Altar Requirements Altar Examples

Every altar should follow all the requirements of a traditional Mexican altar – remember, it has to

be authentic, but personalize it!

1. Papel Picado 2. Vela 3. Cempazuchitl 4. Calaveras de Azúcar 5. Pan de Muerto 6. A photograph of the deceased 7. Something to drink 8. Something to eat 9. Ofrendas (items of particular interest to

the deceased) ***None of these items have to be real – feel free to think outside the box and make a cup of water out of Play-Doh, or make cempazuchitl flowers out of paper, etc. Get creative! Extra Items (Challenge yourself!)

1. Arch in the back 2. A path leading up to the shoebox altar

(should be attached to the altar) 3. Calacas

Use your shoebox in any way you’d like. Remember your altar has to have at least two levels (in any way you want).

Final Draft Due Date: Thursday October 30th, 2014 Final Draft Grade: 30/30 points (20 altar, 10 oral presentation)

Project Timeline

October 16th, 2014 Assembling the structure of the altar.

October 17th to 23rd, 2014 Begin covering, decorating, and creating altar.

October 24th, 2014 Critique Gallery Walk

October 24th to 29th, 2014 Continue working on finalizing altar.

October 30th, 2014 Final Altar due.

November 3rd, 2014 Oral Presentations

Grading Scale

3 Points 6 Points 10 Points

Altar - Authenticity

Altar is missing three or more elements of an

authentic Mexican altar and is displayed poorly.

Altar is missing two or fewer elements of an

authentic Mexican altar and is displayed properly.

Altar has all of the elements of an authentic

Mexican altar and they are all displayed properly.

Altar – Creativity & Effort

Altar has one or two colors, has the bare minimum for each

requirement, shows very little effort, and looks like it was put together at the

last minute.

Altar has few colors, has one or two ofrendas,

shows minimum effort, and is slightly messy.

Altar is colorful, has many different types of ofrendas,

shows clear effort that goes above and beyond,

and is clean, colorful, and creative.

Oral Presentation

A presentation following the script that lacks focus,

energy, and/or a flow. There are many pauses and

uses English words.

A presentation following the script that lacks focus, energy, or a flow. There

are few pauses or English words.

A presentation following the script that is focused,

energetic, and flows. There are few pauses and no

English words.