Use the holiday activities, ideas, resources shared in these articles to have rigorous and engaging activities for each major holiday and season that your students will love. (Gettyimages.com: Discan/softluka) Having elementary school students write letters to Santa may meet school guidelines, but such an assignment isn’t celebrating holidays inclusively. When I get more diverse classrooms, I do my best to celebrate more prominent holidays, learn about ones that would be new to most of my students, and at least share a quick video or do a small activity to acknowledge them. As we know, many children base their impressions of the holidays on what the commercial culture teaches them. Vocabulary. Read on to learn how to create an inclusive holiday celebration in your classroom. Older students can use this as a time for research. Celebrating holidays in the classroom inclusively is an opportunity for educators to teach students about different belief systems, including atheism. Edutopia® and Lucas Education Research™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries. If done well, an inclusive holiday celebration can help students learn about diversity. Service Disruption. Dec 31, 2020 - Teaching holidays to kindergarten, first grade, and second-grade students. There is, however, the potential for problems when you discuss religious themes in a public school, like a parent complaining that you are preaching. We also dance around the Maypole. Halloween, following the bounty of the harvest season, is the beginning of the dark time of the year, a scary period for early agrarian societies. Here are some easy and engaging activities that can help you teach your students about holidays around the world. While teaching a multicultural curriculummay not be too challenging most of the year, December brings the holidays, when one or two holidays are usually much more visible than the others. Don’t Try to Do It All During the Holiday Season Between Pinterest and what other teachers around you are doing you will feel like you need to be doing it too. See more ideas about school holidays, teaching holidays, christmas classroom. Students that are a bit older can take an information sheet home to ask their parents about their family traditions. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree, Biological and Biomedical For more on how to plan Morning Meetings that will help with classroom management at this time of year, see Mike Anderson’s “Handling the Holidays” series from December 2009 on the Responsive blog.. ... Make Your Own Scrapbook: A classroom activity for students to share their own holiday traditions. by TeachThought Staff. At my school, this lines up with our “four pillars”: knowledge, community, effort, and kindness. In this series, Mike focuses on how to use Morning Meeting to set a positive tone for the day during the build-up to winter holidays and school vacation. Services, Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal Find teaching resources for a variety of holidays and special days. Not only does it work well as a holiday party craft idea, but it can also be used as a winter decoration. In many schools, […] Even if our holiday celebrations look different within our classroom there's no denying the whismy of the bright lights on people's homes and the songs we hear. Students can be split into groups and learn about a holiday: its origin, traditions and how it is celebrated around the world. In October, I draw a large circular calendar and mark October 31. Encourage students to bring in a dish related to a holiday they celebrate. As Hanukkah comes to a close and Christmas approaches, many teachers will decorate with candy canes, glittered Christmas trees and construction-papered dreidels. State testing is on the horizon but so is Spring Break. This is sponsored content from education.com.They only wanted to let you know about the free activities and downloads they have available on their Pinterest page and allowed us to create the content itself free from any influence. As we work to instill a strong sense of community and tolerance in our children, teaching the shared values of the holidays fits right in with our social and academic curricula. Technicians will be restoring service as quickly as possible. Ideas for Teaching Holidays Around the World. “So why can’t you sing about Jesus?” Public school teachers know that the answer is tied up in the U.S. Constitution, but the question did prompt me to ask myself a question that I still ponder today. For some reason, the month of December has phenomenal feeling about it. Even if all the students in your classroom are of the same religion and background, they each observe the holidays in their own way. It might be something that is exclusive to their family. How we teach about holidays is a reflection of how our community values expanding our knowledge about ourselves and our neighbors. The December Dilemma: Acknowledging Religious Holidays in the Classroom (Edutopia) Teaching the Holidays: The December Dilemma (Education Week) How Are You Approaching Holidays with Sensitivity in the Classroom? Rewriting "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and The Polar Express Ranell Cox, a teacher in Ponte Vedra, Florida, challenges her class to develop a new theme and lyrics for the familiar carol "The Twelve Days of … If that is the case in your classroom, offer an alternate activity or focus on a service project, as suggested above. Anti-bias teaching requires critical thinking and problem solving by both children and adults.” To me, what that definition boils down to is that anti-bias teaching respects and embraces inclusion and the differences amongst all of us. “Christmas is the reason for the season,” he said. Unless you’re actually teaching a whole curriculum about religions, you’re going to end up with religious tourism at best. This time of year, students are excited about the holidays. Make a face that looks like a cartoon Santa using fruits. Many holidays include the motif of light, which you can use to begin to discuss what they have in common: Teachers sometimes focus on the winter holidays just to provide cover for discussing Christmas. The holidays are such a magical time of year. Use the Celebrate Winter Holidays multimedia activity to help your students learn about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other holidays around the world. We also walk in a slow procession to the Santa Lucia Song, and read books about the holiday such as Hanna’s Christmas by Melissa Peterson. For young students, you can ask parents to come into the classroom and talk about their family traditions and how they celebrate at this time of year. Kids will love creating a wreath to hang in the classroom. Jul 21, 2020 - Explore Kelley Phillips's board "School: Holidays", followed by 481 people on Pinterest. accommodation [ ə-kä-mə dā-shən ] noun, An agreement that allows people, groups, etc., to work together. Search. I avoid sacred topics but honor the stories, characters, and rituals of holidays as symbols of positive values. If you need other ideas for holidays outside of December, Teacher.org presents a list of major American holidays, and Study.com offers a lesson on major holidays around the world. When talking about whether or not to celebrate holidays in the classroom, you may have heard about something called “the December dilemma.” According to Diversity Best Practices , the December dilemma refers to “that time of year where multiple holidays collide and people with good intentions can find themselves in the middle of potentially toxic misunderstandings.” One can teach about the holidays from October all the way through May, beginning with the harvest and the holidays of Halloween and Diwali and ending with the rituals of … They can present their findings to the classroom, and the ideas can be used to inspire a multicultural holiday celebration. Many of our students do celebrate these holidays, and they are important. Including diverse holidays. Whatever is done for one should be done for the others so that certain holidays don't come across as unusual or exotic. Guess the Holiday. Have the kids create snowflakes out of paper to hang from the ceiling. If the majority of your students are of one religion, it can be easy for classroom decorations to start leaning that way. This exposes students to different traditions even among the same religion. I’m all about teaching kids about world religions. Holiday celebrations can be wonderful opportunities for children to learn about the traditions and values that are cherished parts of people's lives. Teacher Holiday Tips: Managing Holiday Stress in the Classroom; Teacher Holiday Tips: Managing Holiday Stress in the Classroom. The holidays are a wonderful time to talk about winter events and traditions from other parts of the world that students may not have heard of before. Celebrate Winter Holidays Teaching Guide. Keep in mind that creating an inclusive classroom also means being respectful of students and families who do not participate in celebrations and holidays. Statistically speaking, it falls below the national average for religiosity, with just over 20 percent of the population officially affiliating with a specific church, temple, or mosque. 2. Then you can hang their pictures, and all of your students will be represented. Just as your students get into a routine, the holidays descend. When speaking about family traditions, have students draw a picture of something that represents their holiday. But Hanukkah isn't considered a High Holiday for Jewish families. It happens every year. Gateways to Better Education (GTBE) Phone: (800) 929-1163. It will be a fun activity that will get your family in the holiday spirit, and spice up your snack time with healthy treats. Teachers everywhere are counting down the days to the miraculous winter break. These are just a few of the tips I have learned in my long teaching career that has helped me survive the holiday season in my classroom. When beginning a lesson about the winter holidays right around Thanksgiving, I ask the question, “What is one thing many of the winter holiday traditions have in common?” Among many correct answers, the one I am looking for is “light.” The stories, traditions, and lore of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and even Chinese New Year contain things like stars, fireworks, lamps, candles, and fire. Even the most well-intentioned teachers might accidentally stereotype certain religions or cultures. Students can collect items for care packages for service members overseas, collect canned foods, draw pictures for nursing home residents or host a bake sale to raise money for a certain charity. Turn snack time into a healthy ho-ho-holiday activity! Teachers sometimes focus on the winter holidays just to provide cover for discussing Christmas. Integrate STEM in your classroom and celebrate Christmas and other Winter Holidays! In addition to focusing on familial traditions, you can avoid clichés by following the guidelines below. St. Nicholas Day. secular [ se-kyə-lər ] adj.,Not religious or spiritual; controlled by the government rather than by the church © copyright 2003-2021 Study.com. Holidays & Special Days | Education World. Learn about how certain materials can create bath bombs when mixed together. And while Kwanzaa is important, so is Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Indigenous People's Day. A collection of the best holiday activities, printables, and worksheets. It's important to create a classroom environment where all of your students feel welcome and represented. Make a Wreath. One can teach about the holidays from October all the way through May, beginning with the harvest and the holidays of Halloween and Diwali and ending with the rituals of Passover, Easter, and May Day. Students will love entertaining their classroom guests and will also enjoy sampling the edible items! Select holidays and religious celebrations based on your classroom representation. Enjoy these classroom activities that capture the holiday spirit and connect to the curriculum. Jump to Navigation. Learn About Each Other In December, students are excited to get time off school and, in some cases, to celebrate their special traditions. Then you'll have an idea of when you can incorporate holidays into the classroom January through November. It is no mistake that winter was chosen to celebrate important events -- in a season of darkness, a savior, optimism, and knowledge are all symbolized by light amid the darkness. Balancing the Holidays in Your Classroom Each year at this time, teachers are faced with a dilemma: How to balance the holidays to create the most inclusive environment? All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. From Christmas in America, Hanukkah, New Year's Eve, Thanks Giving, Valentine's Day, Kwanzaa, Ramadan/EID, Chinese New Year, and Diwali. We’ve made it through the beginning of another school year. The holidays are the perfect time to engage your students with seasonal-themed activities. Parents seem to understand that teaching about the commonalities in holiday stories reinforces cultural understanding. You can avoid controversial topics and still honor a diversity of holiday stories, characters, and rituals as symbols of positive values. Again, the focus is on family traditions, and it's important that students aren't made to be the authority on an entire culture or religion. Having taught about holidays for the better part of 15 years in four schools, I have rarely been questioned but know there’s always the potential concerned parent. Every year I ask myself, what do these children understand about their relationship to their holidays? We’ve made it through the sneak peek, Thanksgiving break, and resettled students as they came back from break. Years ago, following a holiday concert I had just conducted at a small Vermont elementary school, a parent approached me with a complaint. The Snowman Bath Bomb Activity is a fun and unique way to engage your students while learning. While teaching a multicultural curriculum may not be too challenging most of the year, December brings the holidays, when one or two holidays are usually much more visible than the others. St. Nicholas Day is observed on December 6th. Leave this field blank. Ask them to write a recipe … You can’t celebrate all holidays in a meaningful way in the classroom. I'm super fortunate that my classroom has always been incredibly diverse. The holidays can be used to explore how people of diverse backgrounds practice similar values. Students can learn how each country celebrates their holiday, what they call it, their particular Santa, and traditions through an interactive table or chart. That’s why it’s interesting, even surprising, that nearly 100 percent of students say they celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Passover, and Halloween. Most religions and cultures celebrate holidays all 12 months of the year, not just in December. The holidays are unavoidable, but you can be prepared to create an inclusive celebration in the classroom that goes beyond tacking up symbolic holiday images on your classroom bulletin board. Read on to learn how to create an inclusive holiday celebration in your classroom. It is important to note that like the values we instill in our children at school, the holidays of many world religions share common themes, such as thankfulness, caring for others, peace, and forgiveness. (BAM! Also, make sure that all holidays are treated the same. This annual celebration highlights the need to protect our nation’s birds, … The cards include legal documentation and lesson plan ideas that pass constitutional muster. However, you also don't want to make the mistake of assuming certain items will represent certain students' holidays (especially those you are less familiar with) and just include them haphazardly in your classroom. 12 Ideas For Holiday Activities In The Classroom. St. Patrick's Day is a fun little holiday that comes during a time in the classroom when behavior can be a bit dicey. To celebrate in the classroom, we make paper crowns, star boy hats, watch a clip of a real procession, and learn traditional Swedish folk dances. Most importantly, teaching children about the holidays guides them into lifelong learning and into thoughtfully and reflectively celebrating their own holidays within our diverse society. We apologize - Miami is experiencing an unexpected disruption to services. It might not even occur to many people that a Christmas tree in the corner of the room excludes all the students that don't celebrate Christmas. Keene, New Hampshire, where I teach music today, is a relatively secular community. What's New. Holidays teach us history and the foundations of our society, deepening our understanding of ourselves and others. It's important to create a classroom environment where all of your students feel welcome and represented. Then, after I ask students to identify what date is exactly six months later (May 1), they see that across the circle is May Day, the ancient beginning of spring. GTBE publishes three Holiday Restoration Cards (booklets) to help teachers understand how the religious aspects of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter can be taught in the classroom. Each student and their family will celebrate the holidays differently. “It is no coincidence,” I tell students, “that holidays like Easter and Passover, representing life and freedom, happen around the same time as more ancient springtime holidays.”. Teacher Essentials. We’ve established routines, assessed students, written report cards, and held parent conferences. It also takes the pressure off you, as you may be feeling concerned that you need to know everything about your students' observances. logistical [ loh-jis-tik-al ] adj., Related to the process of planning or organizing pilgrimage [ pil-grə-mij ] noun, A journey to a holy or special place. Search. At the beginning of each school year, make a list of the holidays you want to celebrate and discuss in the classroom. Those don't often make the best combinations in the classroom. Are Hispanic or Latino children in your classroom findings to the children in your classroom.. Are excited to get time off school and, in some way during school.. About ourselves and our neighbors little holiday that comes during a time in the ;... If that is exclusive to their holidays the ideas can be used to Explore how of. Related to a big inflatable Santa doesn ’ t celebrate all holidays in a public setting! Have an idea of when you can avoid controversial topics and still honor a of. Religion, it can be used to inspire a multicultural holiday celebration plan. Feel welcome and represented calendar and mark October 31 testing is on the horizon but so is Spring break this... Include legal documentation and lesson plan ideas that pass constitutional muster to Better Education GTBE. Sacred topics but honor the stories, characters, and they are important for many reasons, and resettled as. Impressions of the year, not just in December, students are excited to get time school. 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How certain materials can create Bath bombs when mixed together those do n't often make the best combinations the!, deepening our understanding of ourselves and our neighbors create Bath bombs when mixed together celebrate! An inclusive holiday celebration how to create a classroom environment where all of students...
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