'Tis the Season for TAMALES!

     Being a teacher is one of the greatest jobs ever! 

This week I had the greatest opportunity to share my family Christmas tradition with two second grade classrooms. I shared with my students how my family gets together every Christmas and make tamales for our Christmas Eve dinner tradition. We read the wonderful written and illustrated book "Growing up with Tamales" by Gwendolyn Zepeda and illustrated by April Ward. This wonderful story not only shares with students the ingredients needed for tamales, but also reflects how in our culture the chore assigned to you, in the making of tamales, is based on your age!
Our students loved the story! Students were able to create a graphic organizer comparing and contrasting their life to the main character's life!

Now, the highlight of the day was making the tamales after reading the story. I brought all the ingredients to prepare the tamales in the classroom! Students watched me prepare the masa...but a Hispanic student in the classroom modeled for the class how to prepare it and wrap it!
Each and every student made and ate their own tamale....I think out of two classes only 5 students did not want to eat it :)

I think the best part of this experience was giving our Hispanic students the opportunity to share a little bit of their culture, food, and language with the rest of the class! They felt really special! 

Preparing the Masa

Karen showing students how to make a tamale

Students making their own tamale

Students enjoying their own tamale

The most amazing book to teach about tamale making!