Week 7 (10-13 to 10-17-08)
Hispanic Heritage
Monday, October 19, 2009
No School
Tuesday & Wednesday (10-20 and 10-21-09)
Activity 1
On the line next to each name, write the letter of the statement that describes
that person.
Famous Hispanic Americans
1) ____ Gloria Estefan
a) Band leader and actor, was on TV in I Love
Lucy
2) ____Jose Canseco
b) Baseball player with Pittsburgh Pirates 19551972
3)____ Desi Arnaz
c) Singer from Miami
4) ____Geraldo Rivera
d) Baseball player with the Oakland A's
5) ____Roberto Clemente
e) Talk show host and reporter
6) ____Henry Cisneros
f) Former Hispanic Treasurer of the United
States
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Answer key: 1 c, 2 d, 3 a, 4 e, 5 b, 6 f
Activity 2
Graphing. Have students use the following information from the U.S.
Bureau of the Census to create a bar graph, a picture graph, or a circle
graph showing the country of origin of U.S. Hispanics. The information
below shows how many of every 100 Hispanic Americans list each of
seven different countries as the nation from which their ancestors came.
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Cuba
Nations in Central and
South America
Other Hispanic Nations
67 out of 100
9 out of 100
4 out of 100
14 out of 100
6 out of 100
Answer Key:
100
80
Mexico
60
Puerto Rico
Cuba
40
20
Central & South America
Other Hispanic Nations
0
2
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Cuba
Central & South
America
Other Hispanic
Nations
Activity 3
Please read and discuss the following article. Have your students
draw a chart to record the name of the place and its origin. If you
have a map in your room, have your students find these places. If
you don’t have a map in your room, please find a map on the Internet
or download Google Earth.
Spanish Place Names
Hispanic heritage from coast to coast
by Holly Hartman
The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore
what is now the United States, and the first to found a
permanent settlement here (St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565).
From Alaska's Madre de Dios Island to Mexico, Maine, the
United States is dotted with Spanish place names. Here are
a few.
Alcatraz Island (California): from "álcatraces," pelican. A
sizable pelican population once lived on this rocky island in
the San Francisco Bay.
Alcatraz Island, now part of the Golden Gate
Boca Raton (Florida): from "boca de ratónes," a Spanish
National Recreation Area, draws over a million
term applied to nearby inlets. It translates as "mouth of the
visitors each year
mouse" (not "rat," which is "rata") and may refer to the
jagged rocks at these inlets. It has also been suggested that "ratónes" was a term used for the
pirates who might hide in such a place.
California: The state was named for a mythical land described in a popular Spanish novel from
around 1500, Las sergas de Esplandián (The exploits of Esplandián) by Garcia Ordóñez de
Montalvo.
Cape Canaveral (Florida): from "cañaveral," canebrake. The promontory NASA made famous
takes its name from the thickets of cane that grow in sandy areas.
Colorado: "reddish." The state is named for the reddish color of mud found in the Colorado
River.
El Paso (Texas): "passage." The border city of El Paso lies at a small gap between the Rockies
and the Juarez Mountains of Mexico. This narrow passage has made the city a hub for both
north-south and east-west travel.
Florida: "Flowery." Some say that Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon named the land for the
Spanish term for Easter, Pascua de Florida (Flowery Feast), because he first saw the land during
the Easter season. Others believe he named it for the area's lush flowers.
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Las Cruces (New Mexico): "crosses." The city is named for the burial ground of some 40
travelers who were killed by Apaches in 1830.
Las Vegas (Nevada): "meadows." Before casinos and neon lights defined Las Vegas, the area
was noteworthy as a desert oasis with artesian springs.
Los Angeles (California): "angels." In 1781 Spanish settlers founded El Pueblo de Nuestra
Señora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels
of Porciúncula). It became known as La Ciudad de los Angeles (City of Angels), and then just as
Los Angeles.
Montana: from "montaña," mountain. Representative James M. Ashley of Ohio suggested using
the Spanish word in honor of the territory's mountainous western part.
Nevada: "snow-covered." The mountains in this western state are often capped with snow.
San Francisco (California): "Saint Francis" (of Assisi).
The city by the bay was once a Mexican village named
Yerba Buena (Good Grass). In 1846, during the Mexican
War, Commodore John Sloat captured and renamed the
settlement for its San Francisco de Asís mission (better
known as Mission Dolores), which was founded in 1776.
Adobe buildings in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sangre de Cristo Mountains (Colorado and New
Mexico): "blood of Christ." This mountain range was
named for the red glow cast on it by the setting sun.
Santa Fe (New Mexico): "holy faith." Spanish settlers founded this oldest U.S. capital nearly
400 years ago, as La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís (The Royal City of the
Holy Faith of Saint Francis).
Source:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/spanishnames.html Retrieved October 13, 2006
Thursday (10-22-09)
Activity 4
Can you match the country with the information about it?
____ Argentina
____ Cuba
1. Not one of the 50 states, but its residents are U.S.
citizens.
2. Its capital, which has the same name as the
country, is the largest city in the world.
____ Brazil
3. Called “Crossroads of the World” because it is the
location of the canal between the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
____ Mexico
4. It is the largest island in the Caribbean.
____ Panama
5. Portuguese, not Spanish, is its official language.
____ Puerto Rico
6. Gauchos are the cowboys of the Pampa, a huge
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grassland located mostly in this country.
Answer key:
Argentina 6, Cuba 4, Brazil 5, Mexico 2, Panama 3, Puerto
Rico 1
Activity 5
THE STORY BEHIND THE NAME
Can you match the country with the meaning of its name?
___ Argentina
1. Native villages built on stilts in lake
Maracaibo reminded Spanish explores of
Venice, Italy (which has canals instead of
streets), so they named the area “Little
Venice.”
___ Bolivia
2. This country was named for a Venezuelan
general who helped it and some countries
win freedom from Spain.
___ Colombia
3. This country was named for “Jesus the
Savior”, and its capital translates as “Holy
Savior.”
___ Puerto Rico
4. Part of this country is bordered by the Rio
de la Plata (“River of Silver”). Its name
comes from the Latin word for silver,
argentum.
___ Ecuador
5. “Rich Port” first meant the city of San Juan
but is now the name of the whole island.
___ El Salvador
6. The Equator runs through this South
American country.
___ Honduras
7. This country—which Christopher Columbus
never reached—was named in his honor.
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___ Venezuela
8. A Spanish explorer named this part of
Central America “depths” because of the
deep ocean off its coast.
Answer key:
Argentina 4, Bolivia 2, Colombia 7, Puerto Rico 5, Ecuador
6, El Salvador 3, Honduras 8, Venezuela 1
Friday
(October 23, 2009)
• Directions:
Have the students write a
paragraph on ANY American Hispanic
entertainer, athlete or politician figure they
consider to be a positive influence in their
lives (5-7 minutes). Once they are finished
have them share the person they have
selected with the class.
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