In my high school Spanish classes, I incorporate cultural topics into the language instruction. My students and I bring in photos or mementos of loved ones we’ve lost and build an ofrenda (the altar of the dead) together as part of our unit on the Mexican celebration El Dia de los Muertos. I want students to understand the whole culture — I want them to understand that people are much more than just a language.

—Dianne-marie Cotto,
Spanish teacher at World Journalism Preparatory in Flushing, Queens

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