Día de los Muertos: Las Cajas de Ofrenda (Altar Boxes)
Objective:
You will create a Mexican-style-adapted-for-where-we-live altar (in a box) to honor a deceased friend, relative, or celebrity for Day of the Dead.
Materials:
- a box (size depends on what you put in it)
- decorations for your box
- items (or pictures of the items) that your honored person liked
- (optional) food for the fiesta on Nov. 2 (NOT extra credit)
- **EXTRA CREDIT** Pan de los Muertos on Nov. 2
Links:
- History
- Crafts (Extra Credit)
- Food (This is 2 pages. Make sure you click "Continued" at the bottom of the first page.
- Pan de Muerto (Bread of the Dead) Recipe (Extra Credit)
- Photos
- Guided Tour of the Altar
- Glossary of Terms
Procedure:
- Read the pages in the Links section.
- Ask questions to make sure you truly understand what the holiday is all about. Remember: It is not the same as Halloween, even though it's celebrated at the same time.
- Choose someone that is special to you that has passed away. This can be a family member, friend, or a celebrity.
- THINK about the Mexican tradition of building altars in the home to honor deceased family members.
- THINK about what kinds of items they use to decorate their altars. Then THINK about what kinds of similar items you can use to honor your special person. Keep in mind that you don't have the same resources available, so you can't just copy the Mexican tradition.
- THINK about the kinds of foods and beverages the Mexican people place on their altars. Then THINK about the kinds of foods and beverages that you will use to honor your special person. THINK about all their favorites. Once again, you can't just copy the Mexican tradition. Chances are, your grandma's favorites weren't tequila and tamales.
- Find an empty box. The size of the box depends on what you are choosing to put in it. You can choose to use pictures of items (from a magazine, etc.) or actual items (or a combination of both).
- Decorate your box. Make sure that there is a picture of your special person on the box. You can decorate with flowers and unlit candles, like the Mexican people do, or you can use more personal decorations. (For example, if you choose Dale Earnhardt, you can decorate the box like his car.
- Fill your box. You will add foods and non-alcoholic beverages, and any other items you feel that your special person would like to "enjoy" on their trip to your Caja de Ofrenda. (movies, music, books, favorite team stuff, etc.)
- Present your box. On Friday, November 2, we will have a Día de los Muertos fiesta. You can bring Mexican foods (including Pan de los Muertos, Bread of the Dead). We'll eat and talk about the boxes.
- NOTE: If you feel that presenting your box to the class will be too emotional, see me to make arrangements to present privately. (You will not have this option if you choose a celebrity, and please don't do this because you don't like to speak in front of the class.)
- **EXTRA CREDIT**: On the second to last page in your packet, there is a recipe for Pan de los Muertos (Bread of the Dead). Make sure you tell your parents in advance that you are going to make it. Make sure you have all of the ingredients. (Anise seed is a licorice-flavored seed, located in the spice aisle in the supermarket.) Also, it is a yeast bread, so it takes a couple of hours to make. Read the directions carefully with your parents before you start. The bread will be due on November 2, along with the rest of the project, so plan ahead.
| Grading: | Amazing | Pretty Good | Just Alright | Not-So-Good | Big, Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 pts. total | 40 | 36 | 32 | 28 | 0 |
| Outside of Box | Completely decorated, looks nice, ties Mexican tradition to your honoree's likes. | Completely decorated, needs color or other improvements, ties Mexican tradition to your honoree's likes. | Sparsely decorated, needs work, ties Mexican tradition to your honoree's likes. | Sparsely decorated, needs work. Little attempt to tie Mexican tradition to your honoree's likes. | Not decorated |
| Box items: | Includes 10 or more items (or pictures of items) which tie the Mexican tradition to your honoree. | Includes 7 to 9 items which tie the Mexican tradition to your honoree. | Includes 5 to 6 items which tie the Mexican tradition to your honoree. | Less than 5 items. Little attempt to tie Mexican tradition to your honoree. | Box is empty. |
| Presentation: | Loud, clear, easy to understand | Needs to be a bit louder and clearer in order to be understood. | Needs to be a lot louder and clearer to be understood. Some "space-fillers" (um, ah, you know, like, etc.). | Difficult to understand. "Space-fillers" are distracting. | No presentation. |
| Presentation Content: | Box decorations and contents and how they relate to your honoree completely explained (in a short amount of time). | Box decorations and contents and how they relate to your honoree explained with prompting. | Box decorations and contents and how they relate to your honoree not completely explained. | Very little explanation of box or honoree or no tie between box and honoree. | No presentation |
| Following Directions: | Project is on time and all other directions are followed. | Project is one day late and all other directions are followed. | Project is two days late, and all other directions are followed. | Project is three days late, and other directions are not followed. | Project is more than 3 days late. (If project is more than 5 days late, you will receive a 0 for the entire project!!) |