Semana Santa in Guatemala – Brillant Alfombras de Aserrín

This cultural unit explores the vibrant and beautiful tradition of the saw dust carpets or alfombras de aserrín that are created during Semana Santa celebrations in Guatemala. Learn more about the history, symbolism and how to make your own saw dust carpets in this mini lesson. 

Excerpt from text in lesson:

La celebración de la Semana Santa en Antigua, Guatemala, es uno de los eventos más importantes y hermosos de América Latina ya que envuelve la ciudad de color, fe y devoción, además de atraer miles de turistas de todo el mundo que van hasta la ciudad para ser testigos de las procesiones, la belleza de las alfombras y, sobre todo, la fe cristiana.

Alfombras de aserrín
Las alfombras de aserrín multicolor son una forma de agradecimiento o súplica a las imágenes de la procesión.  Durante las procesiones, las alfombras hechas a mano cubren las calles de Antigua. Tanto
los vecinos como los turistas que llegan Antigua participan en la elaboración de las alfombras, las cuales son dedicadas al santo que venera cada cofradía.

ACTIVITIES IN THIS MINI-LESSON

Our team of Spanish teachers has created this cultural insight all about the alfombras de aserrín. This 1 day lesson includes a brief and informative reading, a step-by-step activity for your students to make their own alfombra, along with a vocabulary list of unique words used to talk about the alfombras and Semana Santa in Guatemala.

• A Teacher’s Guide to easily teach about the alfombras de aserrín in 1 day
• Informative Text about Semana Santa en Guatemala This cultural article explores one of the most colorful and unique Semana Santa traditions in Central America. This texts will get your students engaged in discussion! This reading is geared for the high school Spanish student at the intermediate level.
• Discussion Questions
• High Frequency Vocabulary List
• Step by step instructions to make your own Alfombra
• Resources page that includes videos, articles and images of this unique tradition

IN THIS CULTURAL LESSON YOUR STUDENTS WILL

• ¡APRENDER! Learn about the origin, history and alfombras during Semana Santa in Guatemala. Through a brief article, videos, step-by-step instructions to make your own alfombra, students will gain perspectives and glimpses into this tradition. Students will also learn new high frequency vocabulary centered around the alfombras and have the opportunity to recreate them in or out of class.
• ¡LEER! Read a text about this tradition that incorporates high frequency vocabulary and grammar concepts you can tie into your regular Spanish curriculum.
• ¡CONVERSAR! Discuss this tradition with other students in class.
• ¡APLICARLO! Create an alfombra in your class with these step-by-step instructions