I’m going to be honest: I have a very basic bucket list.
Learn more. Spend time with family & friends. Sleep. Repeat.
But there’s one dream that has lived rent-free in my heart for years:
One day, I want to celebrate the entire Navidad season in Puerto Rico. 🌴✨
Not just a weekend trip. Not just a quick stop on a cruise.
I mean being there long enough to feel the rhythm of the season—from las parrandas to the asaltos, from the music and food to the way community shows up for each other.
Puerto Rico boasts one of the longest Christmas seasons in the world. As a Spanish teacher and a Puerto Rican-at-heart ❤️, that combination of culture, faith, music, food, and pure joy is my love language.
What I wouldn’t give to join an actual parranda—to be woken up in the middle of the night by friends and neighbors singing, laughing, and inviting everyone into this rolling, musical celebration.
But…I’m not there yet.
So while I wait for my dream Navidad in Puerto Rico to manifest, I do the next best thing:
I bring Puerto Rico into my classroom. 👩🏽🏫💃🏽
Below are three ways I do it (with ready-to-go resources if you want to try them too!).
1. I Created Resources That Let Students “Travel” to Puerto Rico From Their Seats
If I can’t hop on a plane, my students can at least hop into a Google Slides.
Over time, I’ve built out a set of Puerto Rico–focused resources that walk students through:
- the length and uniqueness of the Puerto Rican Christmas season
- important traditions, celebrations, and foods
- key vocabulary tied to music, family, and faith
- geography + cultural context so it’s not just “holiday fun,” but cultural learning
One of my favorites is my “Navidad en Puerto Rico Activity | Christmas Webquest for Spanish Class | NO PREP.” It’s set up to feel like a mini cultural journey: students “travel” through different parts of the season, interact with questions, watch short videos, and reflect—without me having to reinvent the wheel every year.
I designed these resources because I wanted:
- zero-prep options when I’m exhausted but still want rich culture
- student-paced or teacher-paced flexibility (sub day? chaos day? covered.)
- activities that highlight Puerto Rico as a real place with living, breathing traditions—not just a map label
🇵🇷 If you want to bring Puerto Rico into your classroom too, you can find my Puerto Rico Navidad resources here:
CLICK ➡️ bit.ly/tptculturalclassroom (search “Puerto Rico” or “Navidad en Puerto Rico” once you’re inside).
2. We Do Our Own “Asalto” With Holiday Songs (Instruments Included 🎶)
Every year, my students learn at least one holiday song in Spanish, and then…we take our show on the road.
We practice for a few days:
- pronunciation
- rhythm and confidence
- what the lyrics actually mean (so it’s not just karaoke Spanish)
Then, on the day of our mini asalto, we line up with:
- güiros
- tambores
- maracas
- and so much more
We “surprise” a nearby Spanish classroom, sing our song, make some joyful noise, and most of the time the teacher we visit gives us a little candy treat in return. It’s honestly one of the happiest moments of the year—students feel proud, loud, and connected to something bigger than just a grade.
To keep this doable (especially in the chaos of December), I use my “Mi Burrito Sabanero/El Burrito de Belén: Song Cloze.” It includes:
- Google Slides drag-and-drop activity
- Answer Key
- Teacher Tips
- Bonus Activities!
So even if you don’t have a full class set of instruments, you can still capture that spirit of an asalto: showing up, sharing music, and spreading joy.
You can grab the “Mi Burrito Sabanero/El Burrito de Belén: Song Cloze“ resource inside my shop:
CLICK ➡️ 🔗 bit.ly/tptculturalclassroom (search burrito sabanero).
3. We Talk About How Different Parts of Latin America Celebrate Navidad
One of the biggest things I try to push back against in my classroom is this idea that “Hispanics” are one big, blended, identical group.
Spoiler alert for our students:
They’re not. At all.
Yes, I’m obsessed with the Puerto Rican Christmas season.
But I also remind students constantly that Latino cultures are diverse, and that diversity shows up especially in how people celebrate holidays.
That’s why I expanded my Christmas-season resources to focus on:
- 🇲🇽 Mexico – traditions like las posadas, piñatas, and regional variations
- 🇨🇴 Colombia – think Día de las Velitas, music, food, and how community celebration looks there
In class, this might look like:
- comparing one tradition from Puerto Rico with one from Mexico and one from Colombia
- asking students: “Which one would you want to experience and why?”
- talking about why it’s harmful to assume that “all Spanish-speaking countries celebrate the same way”
And of course, I eventually build those conversations into structured activities, webquests, and lessons so other teachers don’t have to start from scratch.
If you’re curious about bringing Mexico and Colombia into your winter plans too, you’ll find those Navidad resources in the same place:
CLICK ➡️ 🔗 bit.ly/tptculturalclassroom (search “Navidad México” or “Navidad Colombia”).
Why This Matters (Beyond December)
At the end of the day, my desire to spend Navidad in Puerto Rico is about more than just checking off a travel goal.
It’s about:
- honoring the place that has shaped so much of my cultural lens and joy
- showing students that Spanish isn’t just a subject—it’s a doorway
- teaching, over and over again, that Hispanic and Latino communities are not a monolith
Every time I bring Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, or any other country into the classroom in a real, human, specific way, I’m asking students to see:
- different histories
- different traditions
- different struggles and joys
…and to hold them all with curiosity and respect.
One day, I’ll be in Puerto Rico for Christmas—singing in a real parranda, eating all the pasteles, soaking in the warmth of it all.
Until then, I’ll keep doing what I can from my classroom: turning December into an invitation for my students to see the Spanish-speaking world as vibrant, varied, and very much alive.
And if you want to bring that same energy into your room, you already know where to start:
CLICK ➡️ 🔗 bit.ly/tptculturalclassroom
We might not be in Puerto Rico (yet)…but our classrooms can still sing like it. 🎶✨
