In Mrs. Cortes’s Spanish class, sixth graders learned about Christmas in Latin America and Spain, and how people celebrate Christmas traditions, and useful vocabulary in Spanish. Christmas is a big event in the Spanish-speaking world. Each Latin American country has its unique Christmas food, Christmas dinner, and Christmas tradition. 

The Three Kings Day or Día de Reyes, is an important festivity that starts the day before January 5, the Eve of Día de los Reyes Magos. During this night, there is a parade (Cagalbata). After the parade, kids go home with their families. They go outside to grab grass and write a letter to the Three Kings. They put the grass and the letter in an empty shoe box and put the box under the bed. The day of January 6 is nearly as important in Spanish culture as Christmas, especially for children. It is the day that kids receive gifts. Sixth graders celebrated this unique tradition with Sra. Cortes.

The 7th grade Social Studies classes culminated their map skills unit by creating their very own theme park map. Students were encouraged to use the knowledge they gained during the unit by using tools to construct the map, create unique symbols and put in the elements of a good map, allowing the reader to access and understand the information being presented.