La ofrenda virtual (Novice)

El día de los muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a holiday primarily celebrated in Mexico, but also in other parts of Central and South America, and even in some areas of the US. One of the main traditions of this holiday is to create an altar for those who have passed away. Typically the altar includes items like candles, cempasúchiles (or marigolds), photos of the deceased, calaveras (or decorated skulls), and traditional foods like el pan de muerto. This year, in honor of the holiday, students designed their own virtual ofrendas (or offerings) to commemorate a person or animal that was special to them. The virtual ofrendas include images of the items traditionally found on the altar as well as items of special importance to the deceased. Students also wrote a brief paragraph about the person or animal in Spanish, using the key phrases they had been practicing, such as how to say their name, where they are from, their birthday, and a few adjectives to describe them.

R’monii says: “I liked this project because we had some independence; we got to be creative and use photos we thought would look best.”

Marvin says: “I liked this assignment because we got to be creative; I like art so arranging photos was really fun!”