INTEGRATED

LESSON PLAN
By: Maura Intagliata

L E SS O N T I T L E , B I G I D E A ,
AND GRADE LEVEL
Lesson Title: The Day of the Students
Big Idea: Identifying other cultures ethnic
background/traditions and personal narratives
through artwork
Grade Level: 5th grade

L E S S O N O V E RV I E W / S U M M A RY

This lesson will incorporate social studies, visual arts, and language arts. To begin,
students will walk into a classroom decorated for the Day of the Dead and learn about
identifying the ethnic tradition of Mexico by reading, The Day of the Dead. El Dia De
Los Muertos by Bob Barner. Students will be introduced to the ideas of skulls and what
they represent based upon the book they just read. Students will then learn about the
artist, Jose Guadalupe Posada and how he influenced symbols and artwork now used
for the Day of the Dead. Then, students will have the opportunity to listen to a
community member who celebrates the Day of Dead where they will work on their
picture depicting what their Day of the Dead celebration would look like. To integrate
visual arts, students will create a sugar skull clay model that they will decorate to go
along with their picture of their families Day of the Dead celebration. Lastly, students
will write a narrative piece describing their picture and skull and why they chose to
create what they created. To wrap up the lesson, students will have a Day of the Dead
celebration and will show case their artwork to the whole school.

KEY CONCEPTS
Visual Art:
Students will know how to take ethnic backgrounds of different
cultures and interpret it to depict a scene
Students will know how to manipulate model clay to form a
sugar skull with details

Literacy:
Student will know how to write a descriptive well organized one
page paper describing their personal life with correct
grammatical format

Social Studies:
Students will be able to identify the ethnic background of
people who celebrate the Day of the Dead and be able to
describe details about what celebrations are like for people who
celebrate the Day of the Dead

ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS
Who celebrates the Day of the Dead and when is it
celebrated?
What do Day of the Dead celebrations look like?
What are some components of a well-written
narrative paragraph?
How does using modeling clay help bring artwork
to life?

LESSON OBJECTIVES
Visual Art: The students will be able to manipulate modeling clay into
sugar skulls and will be able to depict Day of the Dead celebrations
using an array of supplies to bring their artwork to life.
2. Literacy: The students will be able to write a well-organized one
page narrative piece using descriptive details, paying attention to the
event sequences, and using correct 5th grade grammatical format.
3. Social Studies: The students will be able to identify
characteristics of the Day of the Dead while also being able to identify
the culture surrounding the Day of the Dead celebrations.

C O N T E N T A R E A I N T E G R AT E D
Visual Art (Inspiration Artist: Jose Guadalupe Posada)
Day of the Dead celebrations: Jose Guadalupe Posadas work, sugar
skulls, what makes a sugar skull, components for Day of the Dead
celebration

Literacy
Personal narratives: narratives about students Day of the Dead
celebration, key components that make up personal narratives,
similarities between the students Day of the Dead celebrations and
the Mexican culture celebrations

Social Studies
Book reading and guest speaker: introduce Day of the Dead by
reading The Day of the Dead by Bob Barner, guest speaker come in
and talk about their own Day of the Dead celebration, identify key
components of the culture, identify key aspects of the day

ANTICIPATORY SET
To get the attention of my students, I plan on doing two things. First, I plan

on decorating my classroom three days before the Day of the Dead so that my
students can be put into the spirit of the day. I also plan on reading the book,
The Day of the Dead by Bob Barner, for two very important reasons. The first is
so my students can start to learn and understand the Day of the Dead and
start to formulate their own idea of what their celebration would look like. The
second reason is so that my students have knowledge and can relate what they
learned in the book to the guest speaker I am bringing in. I hope by decorating
the classroom and reading the book prior to the guest speaker, students will be
able to ask informative questions and finalize their own ideas of their Day of
the Dead celebrations.

S U M M AT I V E A S S E S S M E N T
The summative assessment for this lesson will happen at the end
when students are presenting their studio project to other peers
and school staff. The teacher will come around with a rubric, that
the student will receive prior to beginning this lesson plan, and fill
it out as the student is presenting their studio project. The teacher
will be grading on personal narrative, how well the student
presents their ideas and thoughts, and if the student encompasses
the Day of the Dead within their art studio. Student grades will
reflect if they meet all the criteria on the rubric.

EXAMPLE PIECE

RESOURCES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy5UlfNtUII
Interactive reading of the Day of the Dead by Bob
Barner

https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-cala
veras-of-jose-guadalupe-posada/

Website on Jose Guadalupe Posadas work

Barner, Bob. (2011). The Day of the Dead. Madison

Avenue, New York: Scholastic.
The book I will be reading to the kids