Overview:  This WebQuest concentrates on the holiday Cinco de Mayo and encourages students to explore the rich cultural roots connected to today's current celebrations.

Major Curriculum Area:  Social Studies

Interrelated Curriculum Areas:  Art, Language Arts, Music

New Mexico Content Standards and Benchmarks: 

Social Studies

1.  Students will use knowledge and cultural understanding to explain how the world’s people cope with ever-changing conditions, examine issues from multiple perspectives, and respond to individual and cultural diversity.

  • Recognize that the world is made up of many people, and their histories have similarities and differences from the student’s own. 
3.  Students will know, understand and apply the language, tools, and skills of
social studies.
  • Develop an understanding of social studies vocabulary and concepts. 
  • Gather information from diverse sources by reading, listening,  observing, and questioning for social studies concepts.  
4.  Students will know and understand the ways in which human beings view
themselves and others over time.
  • Recognize that people may describe the same event or situation in different ways. 
  •  Describe how past events, people and places are recounted in stories, pictures and historical accounts. 
  • Use various sources such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, petroglyphs, and oral histories to understand the past. 
5.  Students will know and understand relationships and patterns in history in
order to understand the past and present and to prepare for the future.
  • Use facts and concepts drawn from history, as well as elements of historical inquiry, to make informed decisions on personal and group issues. 
  • Identify the people, events, places, and ideas that created the history and prehistory of the United States and the Americas. 
11.  Students will know and understand the diverse, dynamic, and ever-changing nature of culture.
  • Demonstrate how languages, stories, folktales, music, media, food, and other artistic creations and performances serve as expressions of culture, and influence the behavior of people. 
  • Explore how people and their physical environments interact. Demonstrate an appreciation for and respect of diverse cultures. 
14.  Students will know and understand the impact of science and technology on societies.
  • Use art, music, language, technology, and other cultural elements to connect with individuals and societies. 
  • Explore issues of human rights. 
Targeted Grade Level:  Primary grades 2-3

Length of Lesson:  Approximately 2-3 weeks

Materials Needed:

  • Cinco de Mayo by Janet Riehecky 
  • Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo by Dianne M. McMillian 
  • Viva Mexico! by Argentina Palacious 
  • Word Processing Software (ClarisWorks or Microsoft Works) 
  • HyperStudio (Roger Wagner Publishing, Inc.) 
  • KidPix Studio (Broderbund, Inc.) 

Prior Knowledge:  Students should have a "working knowledge" 
of the following:

  • Basic Word Processing Skills 
  • HyperStudio Software 
  • KidPix Software 
Cinco de Mayo Webquest