Looking for a Spanish culture calendar that goes beyond the usual holidays and textbook examples? ✨
My free September download of The Afro-Latino Classroom Calendar is live! It spotlights key dates, biographies, and cultural moments that uplift Afro-Latino voices—with links embedded to get you started in the classroom! This calendar of activities is perfect to integrate into your warm-ups, bell-ringers, or project ideas. In this post we’ll look at why celebrating Afro-Latinidad all year matters, how to use the calendar efficiently, and where to download the complete academic-year version.
1. Why Center Afro-Latino Voices All Year Long?
Teachers often ask, “How do I celebrate Afro-Latino culture outside of Black History Month?” The short answer: by normalizing it. A first step can be by using a living, month-by-month calendar of events, celebrations, and birthdays in order to shift Afro-Latino contributions from isolated “special topics” to the everyday fabric of our curriculum.
a. Moving Past Tokenism
When students encounter Afro-Latino role models only once a year (i.e., Black History Month), we reinforce the notion that their stories are exceptions. Embedding Afro-Latino figures and events across the academic year challenges that tokenism and affirms the diversity already present within and outside of our classrooms.
b. Disrupting Curricular Hegemony
Consider the AP Spanish Literature and Culture exam: 38 canonical readings, nearly half written by male Spaniards, and only three by Afro-Latino authors. Such an imbalance implicitly teaches students which voices “matter” in the Spanish-speaking world. By curating our own cultural calendar—one that highlights voices such as Victoria Santa Cruz, Elizabeth Acevedo, Candelario Obeso, and many more—we model critical scholarship and equitable representation.
c. Expanding Students’ Cultural Schema
Research in intercultural competence shows that consistent, varied exposure to underrepresented perspectives deepens empathy and dismantles monolithic views of Latinidad. A calendar-based approach invites routine reflection: “Who shaped today’s date in history, and why haven’t I heard about them before?”—a powerful gateway to richer classroom discussions on race, identity, and language.
2. How to Use the Afro-Latino Classroom Calendar (Even When Time Is Tight)
Flexibility is built in: you can deploy a single spotlight or weave an entire lesson sequence. Below are three teacher-tested formats.
| Time Available | High-Impact Strategy | Sample Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | Bell Ringer / Warm-Up | Display today’s featured figure on your slide; ask students to infer their impact using prior vocabulary, then reveal key facts. |
| 15–20 minutes | Station Rotation | One station analyzes a short bio; another maps the geographical diaspora; a third listens to a song by an Afro-Latino artist. |
| Full period | Mini-Project | Students create an Instagram-style post (in Spanish) for a lesser-known date on the calendar, citing sources and adding visuals. |
🎥 I’ll walk you through setting up a warm-up slide that recycles target structures, saving prep time while boosting intercultural awareness.
Because the calendar entries are editable (Google Slides), you can align them with whatever grammar or thematic unit you’re teaching—preterite vs. imperfect with historical events, identity adjectives with self-descriptions, or subjunctive triggers inside quotes.
3. Beyond the Dates: Layering Multimedia & Critical Questions
While the calendar provides the scaffold, meaningful learning emerges when we layer in multimodal resources:
- Music playlists that trace Afro-Caribbean rhythms into salsa, reggaetón, and bachata.
- Short documentaries or TikTok explainers (with safe-share links) to visualize lived experiences.
- Higher-order prompts like “How does colorism intersect with language prestige in this artist’s biography?”
Consider ways that you can pair the calendar with authentic media, ensuring students move from passive recognition to critical engagement.
4. Ready to Dive Deeper?
Download the free September preview below and peek inside every clickable tile. If you love the structure, the full academic year calendar—complete with 100+ dates, vetted links, and editable templates—is waiting for you in the upgraded Afro-Latino Mini-Course. Your freebie even contains an exclusive coupon code for 10 % off the course.
Conclusion: Start Normalizing Afro-Latinidad Today
Our students deserve a Spanish curriculum that mirrors the mosaic of identities they’ll encounter beyond the classroom. A calendar may seem simple, but its cumulative effect is profound: daily reminders that Afro-Latino heritage is woven through literature, science, activism, and pop culture—not confined to a single month.
👉 Download your September preview calendar now, integrate a warm-up tomorrow, and watch conversations unfold. Then join the mini-course for the complete academic-year guide and ready-to-go mini-lessons. Together, let’s build classrooms where every facet of Latinidad is visible, valued, and celebrated—365 days a year.
(P.S. Don’t forget to tag @theculturalclassroom on Instagram when you use the calendar—I love resharing teacher wins!)
