Mariachi is Mexican music that borrows from French, African and native American cultures. It is one of the few remaining examples of Mexican folk music and students studying Hispanic heritage month can learn about the different instruments that make up a Mariachi band, such as the violin, vihuela, which is an indigenous instrument similar to an ukelele, and trumpet. Younger students will craft rubber band guitars, while older students will study the lyrics and rhythms of the music.
After classroom lessons about Latin American art and artists, students can work on their own tinfoil self-portraits similar to the Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo. Students can lay tin foil over a piece of cardboard approximately 12-by-18 inches. Looking in the mirror, students can paint self-portraits, or pictures of how they see themselves, using non-toxic tempura paints. Parts of the tin foil should be left showing so it looks like a Latin retablos painting, which were art work made by Latin American indigenous people from wood and tin.
Students can study the different rhythm patterns of different kinds of Hispanic music. You can play music from Brazil, Cuba, and Venezuela and teach students about the influence of African culture on Spanish music. Bongos, congas, triangles, sticks and spoons can be brought into the classroom for drumming sessions while listening to music recordings. Students can perform ostinato rhythms, which change slightly during a performance and rhythmic layering, when more than one rhythmic pattern is used in a song.
To learn more about the Spanish language, students can work on visual dictionaries. Common phrases, such as "how are you?" and words, such as "hello," can be translated into Spanish and students will draw pictures that accompany the Spanish language. Using index cards and markers, students can draw on one side with the Spanish word and place the English translation on the other side. Students can then pair off and teach each other Spanish.