In 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon Johnson to proclaim a week in September as National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a month long celebration (Sept. 15-Oct. 15). During this month, America celebrates the culture and traditions of US residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively. -- US Census Bureau

-  HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH 2008  -

United: Our Families, Our Community, Our Nation

Unidos: Nuestras Familias,
Nuestra Comunidad, Nuestra Nación

Hispanic Heritage Overview . . .
prepared by the Houston ISD Multilingual Programs Department is available by clicking here.

Hispanic Heritage Month Poster
Click on the image to the left to download a copy of the HISD 2008 Hispanic Heritage Month poster sized for printing on 8.5 x 11-inch paper.

National Hispanic Heritage Month Presidential Proclamation for 2008
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080912-14.html  (English)
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/09/20080912-14.es.html  (Spanish)

The Library of Congress' National Hispanic Heritage Month pages provide a combined collection of resources from The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum that showcase the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched the United States.
www.loc.gov/topics/hispanicheritage/

The Smithsonian Institution's Center for Education has published Hispanic Heritage Teaching Resources, a rich set of thematically arranged teaching resources from across the Smithsonian.  The resources have been selected for their relevance to classroom curriculum and national education standards.
www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/resource_library/hispanic_resources.html

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage is Gale's Hispanic Heritage Month free resource site. Gale has assembled a collection of activities and information to complement classroom topics. Within this site, teachers and students can: read biographies of significant Hispanic individuals; take a Hispanic culture quiz; follow a timeline of events that helped shape the Hispanic culture; explore Hispanic holidays, musical genres and other topics with information culled from Gale resources; and visit other pertinent sites and find suggestions for further readings.
www.galegroup.com/free_resources/chh/

Education World's Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! site offers activities that will help teachers focus attention on the contributions of people of Hispanic heritage to the history of the United States. The site links to lesson plans, biographies, and a collection of additional online resources.
www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson023.shtml

Scholastic's Celebrate Hispanic Heritage lists links to Hispanic History in the Americas, Meet Famous Latinos, Latinos in History, My Heritage, and Piñata Concentration Game.  The site also includes a comprehensive teacher's guide and "Research Starter" with complete lesson guides, resources, web links, and correlations to national standards and other disciplines.
teacher.scholastic.com/activities/hispanic/

The National Park Service’s Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month page features the National Register of Historic Places to promote awareness of and appreciation for Hispanic culture. The site includes links to related publications and other resources.  As part of the celebration, the site highlights various publications, properties listed in the National Register, and National Parks that deal directly with the ingenuity, creativity, cultural, and political experiences of Hispanic Americans.
www.cr.nps.gov/nr/feature/hispanic/ (in English)
www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/spanishbrochure/index.htm  (in Spanish)

The Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC), affiliated with the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at the University of Texas at Austin, has compiled editorially reviewed directories of over 12,000 unique URL's. One of the largest guides for Latin American content on the Internet, LANIC facilitates access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America. Its target audience includes people living in Latin America, as well as those around the world who have an interest in this region. While many of its resources are designed to facilitate research and academic endeavors, its site has also become an important gateway to Latin America for primary and secondary school teachers and students looking for information about this important region.
lanic.utexas.edu/index.html

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Minority Links: Facts on the Hispanic or Latino Population site presents a collection of demographic information related to Hispanics in the United States generated by the U.S. Census. Data cover population, income and poverty, education, immigration, and other key information.    www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/NEWhispML1.html

Hispanic Heritage Month statistics from the Bureau of the Census' Facts for Features site; in English:
www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/012245.html




Photo: U.S. Census Bureau.

DISCLAIMER: This page contains various links to other websites and online resources available through government, nonprofit, and commercial entities. The links are provided solely for informational purposes and the convenience of the user. Clicking on a link here will take you outside the HISD Connect site. The posting of a link here does not signify the Houston Independent School District's endorsement of a site, nor is HISD responsible for any content posted on linked sites or the policies associated with those sites.

www.hisdsocialstudies.org
HOUSTON ISD SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM SITE