Cinco de Mayo Comprehension Worksheet & Reading Passage Activity

If your students are already asking you about chips and salsa or having a fiesta in class, you know it’s time to start thinking about your Cinco de Mayo lesson! In the United States, the fifth of May is treated like a big celebration of Mexican culture, but there are some common misconceptions about the significance of Cinco de Mayo in Mexican history. Let’s take a closer look at a Cinco de Mayo comprehension worksheet & reading passage activity!

What is Cinco de Mayo?

For a quick refresher, Cinco de Mayo is a holiday that commemorates the Battle of Puebla which took place in Mexico in 1862. During the battle, the Mexican soldiers won against the French soldiers. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of that victory of the Mexican army against the much larger French forces and the French empire under the leadership of general Ignacio Zaragoza. Today, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in the United States as a way to honor Mexican heritage and Mexican culture. You’ll often see the Mexican flag hung up, and festive celebration & parades taking place.

Cultural Significance

A common misconception is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. It’s not! (That’s September 16th). May 5th might be a popular holiday, but it’s really more about cultural appreciation than it is an important Mexican holiday in most of the country of Mexico. The state of Puebla still celebrates and recognizes this important event in their history, but otherwise, most people would say it’s a bigger celebration in the U.S. than it is in Mexico!

With that in mind, why would you add the holiday of Cinco de Mayo to your lesson plans? It’s a great way to address that common misconception, teach some of the rich history of Mexico, culture, and have some fun while doing it!

Cinco de Mayo Comprehension Worksheet Activity

Let’s take a look at this short informational text and comprehension questions you can use with your students! The digital and printable activities include:

• Reading Passage in Spanish, with footnotes
• Reading Passage in English
• Comprehension questions in English
• Comprehension questions in Spanish
• Printable worksheet 
• Digital version for use with Google Drive account (Google Slides)
• ​Answer keys

The informational passage is brief, but provides clear information for your students. Students can read it in Spanish, or in English, depending on their reading levels and your goals for the lesson. You can use the reading passage as a close reading activity, or you can have them dive right into the comprehension questions! 

Here are a few ideas for you on how you can use it for close reading:

1. Have students mark the main idea
2. Have students mark any section they don’t understand
3. Have students mark anything they knew before reading
4. Have students mark something that was new information for them
5. Have students write or a question they have after reading

I love hearing what questions they have after they get through the reading. It’s great to expand the learning experience and encourage critical thinking instead of just zipping through the reading passage. For the close reading activity, you can have students mark each section with a different color crayon, or marker. You could also use symbols like the ones shared below from the Comprehensible Classroom:

After completing the close reading activity, students can complete the Cinco de Mayo comprehension worksheet. This is set up like a graphic organizer rather than a list of questions, but it’s great for independent work time and doesn’t look like your standard printable worksheet. It’s great for middle school and high school students!

​Cinco de Mayo Bundle

If you’re looking for more ideas for your Cinco de Mayo celebration, check out this bundle with tons of resources! It’s perfect for using with multiple classes, or you can use the stations all at once for a fun activity day with your Spanish classes.

Grab this printable and digital set of stations to use with your classes while teaching Cinco de Mayo!

More Cinco de Mayo Unit Activities

• Cinco de Mayo Reading Comprehension Worksheets
• Cinco de Mayo Word Search & More
• History of Cinco de Mayo Stations
• Cinco de Mayo Virtual Field Trip
• Cinco de Mayo Short Story Lesson Plan
• Digital Cinco de Mayo Activities

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