This framework and approach from the UCI Central American Studies in K–12 Curriculum Project has ideas and strategies for teaching Central American Studies in K–12.

The Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP), on behalf of the Américas Award, produced a curriculum guide to accompany the book.

Learn how to make early reading and writing culturally relevant to migrant children from Central America and the Dominican Republic using this guide.

In this book, a young boy helps his mother prepare a soup the whole family will enjoy using ingredients from Mother Earth. Onions are “yellow as the dawn,” beans are like stars spread out on the “sky of the table” and the water in the pot is “as deep as a little lake.”

Abigail K. Dillingham, M.Ed., an art teacher in Alexandria City Public Schools, has developed a weaving lesson to accompany the book Rainbow Weaver.

The Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs (CLASP), on behalf of the Américas Award, produced an extensive teaching guide to accompany the book written by Katrina Dillon in 2015.

A 45-page free, downloadable bilingual book for children about the experiences of a 12-year-old boy in San Francisco who immigrated to the United States when he was 10.

Poem by José Coronel Urtecho

Resources to learn about about festivities in Central America, as well as regional ghost and monster stories.

Poem by Adrián Ramírez Flores. PDF copy available.

Poem by Marilena López. PDF copy available.

In this dual immersion Spanish mini-unit developed as part of the UCI Central American Studies in K-12 Curriculum Project, 4th grade students explore the Garifuna and their history of forced migration and displacement.

Rediscovering America/Redescubriendo América is a bilingual collection of short stories, essays, poetry, folktales, and songs for K-12 on conquest and resistance from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Poem by Oscar de León Palacios. PDF copy available.

Poem by Claudia Lars. PDF copy available.

Here are short bios of various Central American leaders. Written for elementary school and up, they can be used during morning announcements.  

Poem by Roque Dalton. PDF copy available.

This teaching activity is from the article and lesson, Crossing Borders Through Art by Lynda Tredway.

Poem by Roberto Sosa. PDF copy available.

Poem by Clementina Suárez. PDF copy available.