1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Ja'Dell Davis is a Los Angeles native who currently lives in New York City. She works in the Youth Services Department at the Educational Alliance as the Assistant Director for Higher Education Initiatives, where she specifically oversees college prep programming for high school seniors, and academic enrichment programming for middle school students. Ja’Dell previously taught high school in Philadelphia public schools, and implemented college access programming at Chester High School in Chester, Pennsylvania. Ja’Dell received her B.A. from Swarthmore College with a special major in History and Educational Studies, and a minor in Black Studies. She completed her M.S.Ed in Secondary School Education at the University of Pennsylvania. This fall, she will begin her doctoral studies in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition to her work in the education field, Ja’Dell is a dancer, musician, avid people watcher, and Scrabble enthusiast.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading Informational Text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.1Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.2Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.3Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes).

2. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?
© Florian Kopp/Alamy
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?
Built in the 16th century, the cloister of the Convento de San Gabriel is still home to a dozen or more Franciscan monks. A wall separates the complex from the rest of the city of Cholula in Puebla, Mexico. Within those walls are the numerous ornate buildings that once housed a larger population of Franciscan clerics who founded the monastery in 1529 with a goal of evangelizing to the indigenous population.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?1
Map Search
Where is Puebla, Mexico located? 2
Thinking
Have you celebrated this holiday before? From what you know, what is this holiday celebrating? 3
Web Search
What is the significance of the holiday of Cinco de Mayo? 4
What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo? 5
When is Mexican Independence Day?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?1
Map Search
Where is Puebla, Mexico located? 2
Thinking
Have you celebrated this holiday before? From what you know, what is this holiday celebrating? 3
Web Search
What is the significance of the holiday of Cinco de Mayo? 4
What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo? 5
When is Mexican Independence Day?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?1
Map Search
Where is Puebla, Mexico located?
Using the “maps” link on the Bing search page, and the search term “Puebla, Mexico”, the location is here: (

8. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?2
Thinking
Have you celebrated this holiday before? From what you know, what is this holiday celebrating?
Students may offer prior knowledge of this holiday and their participation in celebratory events. Students may reveal their assumption that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day, which is good to gauge so that the true significance of Cinco de Mayo can be reinforced through this lesson

9. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?3
Web Search
What is the significance of the holiday of Cinco de Mayo?
(Possible queries: “Cinco de mayo” “what is Cinco de mayo”)
An about.com article ( provides the following summary:
Literally "the Fifth of May," Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican Holiday celebrating the Battle of Puebla, which took place on May 5, In 1861, France sent a massive army to invade Mexico, as they wanted to collect on some war debts. The French army was much larger, better trained and equipped than the Mexicans struggling to defend the road to Mexico City. It rolled through Mexico until it reached Puebla, where the Mexicans made a valiant stand, and, against all logic, won a huge victory. It was short-lived, as the French army regrouped and continued; eventually taking Mexico City, but the euphoria of an unlikely victory against overwhelming odds is remembered every May fifth.

10. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?4
Thinking
What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?
Based on the previous search, students may be able to conclude that Pueblo is significant to Cinco de Mayo because it is the site of the Battle of Pueblo, which the holiday of Cinco de Mayo commemorates

11. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?5
Web Search
When is Mexican Independence Day?
(Possible queries: “Mexican independence day”)
Provided on the main search results page from Bing is the date of Mexican Independence Day, September 16, 1810.

12. What is the significance of the state of Puebla in the celebration of Cinco de Mayo?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.