Hispanic Heritage Month begins today.

A time for celebrating the culture, art, and achievements of Hispanic people, September 15-October 15 has been designated as Hispanic Heritage Month. September 15 also marks the independence days of five Hispanic countries-Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico achieved independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.

Begin by brainstorming with students all the various aspects of culture, in this case, Hispanic culture. Remind students that culture is not just race and ethnicity but extends to dance, music, art, architecture, education, family dynamics, film, religion, politics, literature, food, holidays, and much more.

Once students have compiled a list of potential topics to research, organize the list into some general categories and have students identify resources they could use to learn more about Hispanic culture in their category. Encourage students to think about people in their communities or families who might have personal knowledge of the topics they're researching.

Have students work in groups to research their topics and present the information they find to the class through PowerPoint, a webpage, a display, or an interactive tool such as the Flip Book or Stapleless Book. More tips are available for the Flip Book and to learn more about making a Stapleless Book, watch the video on how to fold a Stapleless Book.

• Pura Belpré Medal Winners
  

  This is the webpage for current winners of the American Library Association's Pura Belpré Award. Established in 1996, it is presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. Links to past winners and additional information are available as well.

• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage
  

  Choose among links to information on Hispanic history, famous Latinos, and Latinos in history on this Scholastic website. The site features a Flash interactive, the Piñata Concentration game, which is entirely in Spanish.

• Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month-National Register of Historic Places, NPS
  

  This collection of resources from the National Register of Historic Places includes links to publications, featured properties, and history in the parks, including a series of lesson plans that use places listed in the Register.