Around The World Holidays: Non Christian Celebrations
One of my favorite ways to introduce multicultural concepts in my classroom is through an introduction to different holidays during December. For, as Nancy Stewart makes clear in her song A Season For Singing, there is nothing more universal than celebration!
You can get more information and resources on Nancy's song page.
Another great resource at this time of year is Scholastic's 20 Holiday Adventures video (and it's only $5 too)! You can purchase it through this affiliate link.
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr is a Muslim celebration that occurs after Ramadan (a month of fasting and prayer). The date of Eid is determined by the crescent moon and occurs in the summer or fall.
Find more information on this song at Nancy's website.
Find more information on this song on Nancy's website.
While discussing Ramadan and Eid in our classroom, we make a crescent moon, learn vocabulary, and play a high frequency word game.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is an African American holiday that celebrates African American culture and heritage. The celebration begins on December 26 and lasts for seven days.
Go here to find the original page for this song at Nancy's website.
While learning about Kwanzaa we learn about the seven principles of Kwanzaa, make a Kinara, and play a phonetic game with nonsense words.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is celebrated between November and January. The holiday celebrates a miracle that occurred in the Jewish temple when the menorah burned for eight nights even though there was only enough oil for one night.
You can get more information and resources for this wonderful song on Nancy's song page.
While learning about Hanukkah we learn the Dreidel song, make a star of David and a menorah, and practice reading CVC words.
Diwali
Diwali is a five day Hindu festival of lights that is celebrated between October and November.
Get more information on this song on Nancy's website.
While learning about Diwali we make a rangoli and practice blending and segmenting.
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Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Holidays around the World Thematic Cross-Curricular Activities takes a look at multi-cultural celebrations that are held in the Winter months. It is filled with time-tested, quality activities that are strategically linked to Core Standards. It is divided into areas of literature, music, art, literacy, math, social studies, creative writing, word wall, and guided reading.
Part Three Features:
Eid
Kwanzaa
Hanukkah
Diwali
The activities include:
Literacy Lessons
Eid: Reading Sight Words
Eid Variation: Reading Alphabet letters
Happy Kwanzaa: Reading Nonsense Words
Spin the Dreidel: Naming Alphabet Letters
Spin the Dreidel Variation: Decoding CVC Words
Follow the Lamps: Blending and Segmenting Words
Art Projects
Eid: Crescent Moon
Kwanzaa: Kinara
Hanukkah: Star of David
Hanukkah: My Menorah
Diwali: Rangoli
Scrapbook Pages:
Eid
Kwanzaa
Hanukkah
Diwali
Songs/Fingerplays
Eid
Kwanzaa
The Dreidel Song
Diwali is Here
© Kathy Crane
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Also available at Teachers Pay Teachers!
Christmas Around the World Scrapbook enhances the memories of Christmas Around The World Activities and reinforces researching key details. Complete the scrapbook, and then bind into an around the world memento.
This product contains:
An full-color informational card for each country
Two Scrapbook Cover Options: Color or Black and White
A Scrapbook Page for each of the 20 countries Found in our Christmas World Tour Thematic Units.
A Culminating Scrapbook Craft to include into the scrapbook.
An original song adaptation of Let There Be Peace On Earth to sing with your students and include in the scrapbook.
Countries Include
Germany
Australia
Russia
Denmark
Spain
England
France
Africa
Canada
Greece
India
Sweden
United States of America
Bahamas
Peru
Israel
Mexico
China
Italy
Scotland
Norway
© Kathy Crane
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Here are some of the customer reviews on this unit:
“great multicultural work! looking forward to using it again this year”
“Excellent resource for this time of the year. Thanks.”
“Perfect for my class of diverse learners :)”
“I love this idea, I can’t wait to implement these holidays”