Lesson Plan

• How is religious syncretism present in modern times?
• What is the importance of religious symbolism?
• How can exploration of a particular tradition elucidate common themes in a culture?

• Color pencils, scissors, and pencils to draw alfombra designs for students who would like to design their alfombras manually

Warm Up – As students watch the Seen By Me: Religions in Latin America video, they will list 4-6 images that they think show religious symbols.

• Activity: information gathering — students will be put in small groups of 4-5 students.
  • Group 1 will read Pew Research’s “Religion in Latin America: Widespread Change in a Historically Catholic Region.” In their small group, they will share 4-5 lessons learned and write a 2-3 sentence description of the current state of religion in Latin America and share with the whole class.
  • Group 2 will read NBC News “A Mayan and Catholic Easter Tradition? Yes, in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala.” In their small group, they will share 4-5 lessons learned and choose an image to show the whole class to define and describe religious syncretism.
  • Group 3 will read “Preservation of Indigenous Spirituality Through Syncretism.” In their small group, they will share 4-5 lessons learned and create a 2-3 sentence explanation of why syncretism is a response to colonial power.
• Activity: video
  • Students will watch “Preserving Culture: Guatemala’s inspiring alfombra tradition” from Antigua Cultural
• Activity: alfombra making
  • After exploring more about what the tradition of alfombras, students will be tasked with designing their own for the school. As a class, they must decide what symbols, colors, and design to use.

Reflective essay: what was the experience of picking symbols important to your class like? If you had to design your own alfombra for your city/home/family/neighborhood/community what would it look like?

Maximo Alfaro Rivera, a first-year Spanish teacher from Chimbote, Peru. Currently, he teaches at Academy for College and Career Exploration.