This unit was created and first taught by the author in the children's demonstration class that was part of the 1995 Teacher Educator Partnership Institute sponsored by the National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center (NFLRC) at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. The mission of the NFLRC is to improve student learning of foreign languages in kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12). To this end, the NFLRC provides professional support for foreign language educators through ongoing research projects, publications, and professional development summer institutes. The author chose "Fiestas de Yucatan" (Yucatan celebrations) as the thematic center for the unit. She felt that this theme would be an especially appropriate one for preschool and early elementary school students because of their interest in and enthusiasm for celebrations in their own community. Two appendixes present: (1) Learning through Dialogue Journal Writing: A Cultural Thematic Unit; and (2) Student Journal Questions Selected for Analysis. (Contains 3 figures.)