3 Steps to Making an Amazing Semana Santa Presentation
(And get a freebie too!)How to bring authentic culture into the classroom
My obsession with southern Spain
One of my favorite holiday seasons is the month of April in Sevilla, Spain. I know. Super specific. I studied there during college and was privileged to experience the magic of Sevilla during April. The whole month is one long celebration, beginning with Semana Santa, a religious celebration commemorating the Passion of Christ, and ending with La Feria de abril, a large festival filled with gorgeous costumes.
Semana Santa (image from Pixabay)
Feria de abril (image from https://www.visitasevilla.es/)
I like to take the time every year to teach, even if it’s just a tidbit, about the April celebrations-especially Semana Santa. There’s such an inexplicable majesty and beauty in the tradition, despite the KKK look-alike garb (great talking point with students by the way, who are usually shocked by the images of the hooded men). This year, due to Spring Break and #COVID19, my lesson is coming a bit late, but late is better than never!
How to make a kick-butt culture presentation
Although I’m discussing Semana Santa specifically, the principles of a great culture presentation are universal. First, what is your goal? My goal is always to broaden my students’ horizons and to take them on a mental/virtual field trip without leaving the classroom. That’s why I often position my culture presentations as “field trips.”
A presentation can be divided into three simple parts:
- Background knowledge: keep this brief. Students often want to jump right into their “field trip.” Stick to the most salient and intriguing information that you think your students will find interesting.
- YOUR personal connection: What is your connection with the topic? Do you have pictures of you at the cultural event? Do you have a personal anecdote related to the subject? Your connection makes it real for the students.
- Current images/videos: This is crucial. Students need to connect to the cultural practice as something that is happening now, not something of the distant past or only in a textbook. Pick short videos, Google Map trips, and realia to showcase your topic to your students.
And of course, this goes without saying, the styling of your presentation is important! Use engaging Powerpoint/Google Slide templates. I personally LOVE SlidesGo. More to come on this later! 😉
Now to the main event
Interested in seeing how I plugged this all together? Want to see a killer template? Curious about how I embedded Pear Deck into my presentation? Head to my TpT store and download my entire Semana Santa presentation! Free on the house! Customizable so you can use it in your classes!
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