Introduction
On November 1 - 2 we celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, (Day of the Dead). This celebration is a Mexican tradition and we will learn about many of the ways it is celebrated and how it is both similar and different to Halloween and All Souls and All Saints Days. After completing this webquest, you will increase your knowledge and understanding of these fall celebrations. Before starting this quest, complete your Know, Wonder, Learn chart by writing what you already know about these holidays, what you wonder about these holidays. We will complete the learn column after the quest.
Task
Let's start our quest by learning about the history of the fall traditions that we are studying. First stop will be Halloween. Write the information you learn after visiting each site on your K-W-L chart. Use the back if necessary.
Halloween/All Saints Day/All Souls Day
Our current Halloween celebration was first celebrated as a pagan Celtic festival known as Samhain. Click here to read a short paragraph on this festival. https://www.history.com/articles/samhain. Answer questions 1-4 from information on this site.
The Celts lives approximately 3,000 years ago in current day Ireland, northern France, and the United Kingdom. Click here to find out how and when Samhain transitioned into a more religious based experience https://www.magiscenter.com/blog/what-is-all-saints-day Answer questions 5-9 from information on this site.
Approximately 200 years after All Saints Day was formalized, All Souls Day is added as another day of observance. Click this link to discover more about this day of observance https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/all-souls-day Include the date on which this is still celebrated and 1-2 ways it is observed. Answer questions 5-9 from information on this site.
Click this link to discover how our current day Halloween celebration came to be. https://www.ypl.org/posts/origins-halloween Answer questions 10-14 from information on this site.
Click this link https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins to learn why we carve pumpkins (Jack-o-lanterns) for Halloween. Summarize what you discover this tradition on your K-W-L chart.
Click this link https://www.history.com/articles/halloween-trick-or-treating-origins to discover the origin of trick-or-treating. Answer question 14. from information on this site.
El Dia de los Muertos
Click this link to discover the significance of El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). https://www.history.com/articles/day-of-the-dead Answer questions 15-16 from information on this site.
Click this link to discover the significance of las ofrendas/altars. https://libguides.denison.edu/c.php?g=1421218&p=10536543 Answer questions 17-19 from information on this site.
Click this link https://www.rutgers.edu/news/what-meaning-behind-day-dead-symbolism to learn about the symbolism. Summarize what you read about regarding Pan de Muerto and Las Calaveras.
You have completed the webquest. Your K-W-L chart should be complete. Prior to the quest, you completed what you "Knew" about these celebrations. You also completed what you "Wondered" about. After completing the question, you "Learn" section should be complete. Take a moment and compare the four traditions. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are the different? Be ready to discuss as a class.