HOLIDAYS
Kim Goschinski
Jessica Neuhardt
ED 417-01
Unit/lesson:
Holidays
Grade: 1st
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Table of Contents
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History
– Activities
– Websites
People in Societies
– Activities
– Websites
Geography
– Activities
– Websites
Economics
– Activities
– Websites
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Government
– Activities
– Websites
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
– Activities
– Websites
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
– Activities
– Websites
History Standard
Students use materials drawn from
the diversity of human experience
to analyze and interpret significant
events, patterns and themes in the
history of Ohio, the United States
and the world.
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History Activities
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Christmas- Have students watch the Disney version of “A Christmas
Carol” and compare how Christmas was celebrated in the past is
different from how it is celebrated now.
Halloween- Have students interview an older adult. They should ask
questions about how they celebrated Halloween.
Hanukkah- Hand students the Hanukkah scavenger hunt sheet and
allow them time to fill it out. For the questions that they can’t answer,
allow they time to search the internet for the answers.
Kwanzaa- Have the students write a story about the history of Kwanzaa
and how it is currently celebrated.
St. Patrick's Day- Read a story to the students about the history of the
holiday and have them draw an illustration of their favorite part.
Valentine’s Day- Students work in pairs and create true and false cards
about Valentine’s Day facts.
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History Websites
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Christmas: A Christmas Carol Website
http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/carol.html
Halloween: Teacher Vision Website
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/holidays-and-seasonalevents/printable/7206.html?detoured=1
Hanukkah: Education World-Hanukah Traditions
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/hunt/hunt015.shtml
Kwanzaa: Education World-History of Kwanzaa
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson039.shtml
St. Patrick’s Day: Wilstar website-St. Patrick’s Day Customs
http://wilstar.com/holidays/patrick.htm
Valentine’s Day: I love India Website-Valentine facts
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/valentines-day/valentine-dayfact.html
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People in Societies
Standard
Students use knowledge of
perspectives, practices and
products of cultural, ethnic and
social groups to analyze the impact
of their commonality and diversity
within local, national, regional and
global settings.
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People in Societies
Activities
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Christmas: Have students make their own dictionaries of the
way “Merry Christmas” is said in different languages.
Halloween: Read “Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of
the Dead” by George Ancona and “John Pig's Halloween” by Jan
L. Waldron to the students. Discuss the similarities and
differences between these two holidays.
Hanukkah: Bring a Dreidel in to the classroom. Allow the
students to play the game and have them compare this to other
games that are played during other holidays.
Kwanzaa: Students create a collage of Kwanzaa symbols and
people celebrating the holiday.
St. Patrick’s Day: Have students wear the color green and wear
shamrocks. Discuss the Irish customs of St. Patrick’s Day.
Valentine’s Day: Create Valentine Day cards to share with
others.
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People in Societies
Websites
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Christmas: Santa’s Net Website
http://www.santas.net/howmerrychristmasissaid.htm
Halloween: Teacher Vision Website
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/mexico/lessonplan/3183.html?detoured=1
Hanukkah: How to play a game of Driedel
http://judaism.about.com/od/chanukahhowtos/ht/dreidel.htm
Kwanzaa: Sites 4 teachers website-Kwanzaa rituals
http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.teac
h-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/holidays/kwanza/
St. Patrick’s Day: National Geographic-Kids News
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/kids/2004/03/stpatricksday.html
Valentine’s Day: Family Fun Website
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-andcrafts/season/specialfeature/valentines_cards_ms/
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Geography Standard
Students use knowledge of
geographic locations, patterns and
processes to show the
interrelationship between the
physical environment and human
activity, and to explain the
interactions that occur in an
increasingly interdependent world.
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Geography Activities
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Christmas: Have students draw a map of the school and design a route
for Santa to follow in order to deliver gifts to the classrooms.
Halloween: Take students to a corn maze. Discuss with them how
navigating a maze is like navigating through the streets of their
community.
Hanukkah: Have students draw a map of Israel, which is where
Hanukkah originated from.
Kwanzaa: Print a coloring book of African countries for Kwanzaa. When
you're done, locate the countries on a map of Africa, then label and
color them.
St Patrick’s Day: Have student’s paint a picture of Ireland, identifying
and describing the physical features of the country.
Valentine’s Day: Research all the different cities in the US that have a
name that has something to do with valentine's day. Have the children
write the city on the heart and then place it on the map.
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Geography Websites
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Christmas: United States Government Services Website
http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapadv.htm
Halloween: Rocky Mountain Mapping Center
http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/cornmazegeography.html
Hanukkah: Merriam-Webster Online
http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.
m%2Dw.com/cgi%2Dbin/nytmaps.pl%3Fisrael
Kwanzaa: Enchanted Learning Website
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/whatsnew/WhatsnewDec02a.shtml
St. Patrick’s Day: Discover Ireland Website
http://www.discoverireland.com/us/experience-ireland/scenery-natureexperience/
Valentine’s Day: Lesson Plans Page Website
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/OSSValentineIdeasBulBoardAndGeography23.htm
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Economics Standard
Students use economic reasoning
skills and knowledge of major
economic concepts, issues and
systems in order to make informed
choices as producers, consumers,
savers, investors, workers and
citizens in an interdependent
world.
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Economics Activities
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Christmas: Have students design postal stamps for Christmas.
Halloween: Read “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Laura Joffee
Numeroff to the students. Discuss what wants and needs are. As a
class, write a unlimited-wants story with a Halloween theme.
Hanukkah: Set up a grocery store and kitchen as two centers in the
classroom. Have examples (with price tags on them) of the ingredients
used to make Hanukkah cookies available for the students to play with.
Kwanzaa: Read aloud to students about ujamaa in Kwanzaa Fun or
Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. Ask the students to tell what ujamaa
means (cooperative economics—working together to meet financial
needs).
St. Patrick’s Day: Have a bake sale with a variety of green foods and
traditional Irish recipes.
Valentine’s Day: Students will set up a flower shop and learn about the
supply and demand.
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Economics Websites
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Christmas: Education Place Website
http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/december/christmas_activitie
s.html
Halloween: Economics Education Website
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/lessons/mouse.htm
Hanukkah: About-Hanukkah shaped cookies for kids
http://judaism.about.com/od/chanukahrecipes/r/hanukacookies.htm
Kwanzaa: Learning to Give Website
http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit158/lesson3.html
St. Patrick’s Day: Ireland’s Eye Website
http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/culture/recipes/index.shtm
Valentine’s Day: Hummingbird Educational Resources Website
http://www.hummingbirded.com/drama-centers.htm
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Government Standard
Students use knowledge of the
purposes, structures and processes
of political systems at the local,
state, national and international
levels to understand that people
create systems of government as
structures of power and authority
to provide order, maintain stability
and promote the general welfare.
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Government Activities
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Christmas: Read “The Night before Christmas” to the students. Have
them write their own versions of the story in the style of their state,
including all of the state symbols.
Halloween: Have students come up with their own safety rules and tips
about Halloween. Compare these with the list put out by the Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
Hanukkah: Make the recipes for the 8 days of Hanukkah and have
children vote on their favorite dish. Record and chart the class results
and discuss the importance of voting in a democracy.
Kwanzaa: Each student will develop a written purpose or rule and put it
on a scroll. A purpose is something that benefits others. Demonstrate
how to make a scroll following the directions in Kwanzaa Fun by Linda
Robertson.
St. Patrick’s Day: Create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting
the Irish government.
Valentine’s Day: Student’s play What Time is it Mr. Valentine and review
the importance of the rules of the game in different settings.
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Government Websites
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Christmas: Pacifcnet-Christmas around the world
http://www.pacificnet.net/~mandel/SocialStudies.html
Halloween: About-Consumer Product Safety Commission
http://usgovinfo.about.com/blhalloween.htm
Hanukkah: Recipes for 8 days of Hanukkah
http://cbs2chicago.com/recipes/local_story_346124101.html
Kwanzaa: Learning to Give Website
http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit158/lesson3.html
St. Patrick’s Day: Britannica Website
http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9374600
Valentine’s Day: 123 Child Website-Valentine Activities
http://www.123child.com/UBB/showthread.php?t=3096
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Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Standard
Students use knowledge of the
rights and responsibilities of
citizenship in order to examine and
evaluate civic ideals and to
participate in community life and
the American democratic system.
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Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activities
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Christmas: As a class cooperative effort, have students brainstorm what
the many different symbols of Christmas are and discuss each one.
Halloween: Have students create posters warning others to practice
safety measures on Halloween.
Hanukkah: Read “The Magic Dreidels: A Hanukkah Story” by Eric A.
Kimmel to the students. Have students share experiences they have
had with getting a new toy and losing it.
Kwanzaa: Discuss what art and creativity do for a community. As a
class, make a traditional woven mat for the feast table in red, green
and black for a Kwanzaa celebration.
St. Patrick’s Day: Read “Look What Came from Ireland” by Miles Harvey
and discuss the beliefs and symbols of the Irish community and why
they are important.
Valentine’s Day: Have student’s create several Valentine Day crafts and
choose which one they want to display in the school.
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Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Websites
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Christmas: Education World Website
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson041.shtml
Halloween: Pennsylvania Service learning alliance
http://www.paservicelearning.org/Project_Ideas/Halloween.htm
Hanukkah: Apples for the teacher website
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/hanukkah/kidsbooks/the-magic-dreidels.html
Kwanzaa: Learning to Give Website
http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit158/lesson3.html
St. Patrick’s Day: Amazon Website
http://www.amazon.com/Look-What-CameIreland/dp/0531166287/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2/102-8783117-5144964
Valentine’s Day: DLTK website-valentine crafts
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/valentines/
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Social Studies Skills
and Methods Standard
Students collect, organize, evaluate and
synthesize information from multiple
sources to draw logical conclusions.
Students communicate this information
using appropriate social studies
terminology in oral, written or
multimedia form and apply what they
have learned to societal issues in
simulated or real-world settings.
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Social Studies Skills
and Methods Activities
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Christmas: Have student compare a picture of a normal day and one of
Christmas day using a Venn diagram.
Halloween: Have students create their own “Choose Your Adventure”
story. The topic should relate to Halloween, but students should be
allowed to make decisions concerning the main ideas of the story.
Hanukkah: Have students write down their own family traditions that
occur during the holidays. Use a Venn diagram to compare these to
typical Hanukkah traditions.
Kwanzaa: Students are divided into groups and assigned one of the
symbols of Kwanzaa. The students will orally present the information
that they have learned about the symbol and it’s relevance to the
holiday.
St. Patrick’s Day: Students participate in Gaelic games and discuss the
importance of Irish traditions and customs.
Valentine’s Day: Chose a Valentine’s Day themed book and have the
students identify the main ideas.
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Social Studies Skills
and Methods Websites
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Christmas: Lesson Plans Page Website
http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LAMDClassMemoriesChristmasOrnam
entIdea23.htm
Halloween: Planet 5th Website
http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/p5/projects/stories2004.html
Hanukah: The Jewish Children’s Learning Network Website
http://www.akhlah.com/holidays/hanukkah/hanukkah_traditions.php
Kwanzaa: Fun Social Studies Website
http://www.funsocialstudies.learninghaven.com/articles/kwanzaa.htm
St. Patrick’s Day: Family Fun Website
http://familyfun.go.com/parties/holiday/specialfeature/stpatday_sf/stpa
tday_sf.html
Valentine’s Day: Kids Domain Website-children’s books
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/val/books.html
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