A Mexican Christmas Folktale Unit Study
December 11th, 2008
Have you read any folktales in your homeschool lately? I Have a great one for you to read this Advent and some activities to go along with the book.
The Miracle of the First Poinsettia: A Mexican Christmas Story by Joanne Oppenheim is beautifully illustrated book that retells the Mexican folktale about a girl, Juanita, who has nothing to offer to baby Jesus at church on La Noche Buena, Christmas Eve. Her father lost his job, and her family doesn’t even have enough money to have a feast during Las Posadas. Her family goes to the midnight mass that night, and Juanita lingers outside. What happens to her next is a miracle!
Activities:
- Read other retellings of this same folktale. Compare the different versions.
- Learn about las posadas, the re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a room at an inn.
- Learn a Christmas song in Spanish. This one is “Arre Borriquito”. Here are the lyrics, too.
- Create a map of Mexico.
- Make a poinsettia craft. Here is another poinsettia craft.
- Grow your own poinsettia plant.
Have fun with this gorgeous book!
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2 Responses to “A Mexican Christmas Folktale Unit Study”
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Wonderful tales for the Christmas Season. Our family celebrates traditions in both English and Spanish so I am constantly looking for more picture books in Spanish to add to the bookshelf.
I hope you don’t mind that I just linked this blog to my website.
I hope that you enjoy these books, Evelyn! Thanks for your comment and the link.