Did you know more people in the United States celebrate Cinco de Mayo (May 5) than in Mexico? The holiday honors the Mexican military victory over French forces during the May 5, 1862 Battle of Puebla. Primarily celebrated in the Puebla area, it's only a minor holiday in Mexico.
Thanks to Chicano (people of Mexican descent born in the United States) efforts in the 1960s to raise awareness of the holiday, it became a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage. To honor the Mexican heritage of those living in South Carolina, SCETV Education would like to highlight some of our resources for Spanish education and announce the launch of a series of interactives and activities to aid in teaching Spanish.
Hispanic Heritage Collection
This Collection on KnowItAll.org is a convenient place to find all of the content related to Hispanic Heritage and Spanish Language - and it's all just one click away! Some of the series you will find in the Collection include the following - and many more:
Foreign Language Scholastic Series – Spanish
A collection of 30 Scholastic “classics” animated and reproduced in Spanish for grades 1-5. These classic stories are great for early Spanish learners or younger students who speak Spanish as their primary language.
La Ropa Sucia
La Ropa Sucia is a fotonovela (comic strip conveying a social message through pictures and text) produced by SCETV designed to target both Hispanic and non-Hispanic teenagers. The title, which means “Dirty Laundry,” is based on the Hispanic adage, “La ropa sucia se lava en casa” (“Dirty laundry is washed at home” or “Don’t air your dirty laundry”).
Foreign Language: Spanish
Produced by the SC Department of Education with SCETV, this series was designed to meet the needs of schools that would like to offer foreign languages but have no language teacher. It serves as an introductory-level course in Spanish.
NEW - Interactive Games and Activities for Teaching Spanish
In addition to the above resources, SCETV Education is launching a series of interactive games and activities on KnowItAll.org for teaching Spanish! The first is a conjugation activity where students are asked to fill in the blank by dragging the proper verb conjugations into their correct place on the conjugation chart. You can find the interactive here, https://www.knowitall.org/interactive/spanish-verb-conjugation. The second is a set of flashcards to help review the Spanish alphabet. You can find the cards here, https://www.knowitall.org/document/spanish-alphabet-flashcards. This is only the start of our Spanish education assets, so keep an eye out on KnowItAll.org for more! Also, please let us know what kind of additional activities you’d like to see by emailing us at etveducation@scetv.org.
Spanish Translations Collection
This growing list of KnowItAll resources contains Spanish descriptions and captions. Currently, we have over 150 KnowItAll resources. We are adding more resources all the time so please check back to see what new resources have been updated.
Cinco de Mayo, or the Fifth of May, is a holiday that started in celebration of the Mexican Army’s victory over France during the Franco-Mexican War. In the United State, the holiday celebrates the culture and heritage of the Mexican people. This collection contains videos, a lesson plan, photos, and descriptions.
