Holidays & Traditions By: Erin Anderson Christy Calvert Christy Calvert Ashley Heitman Ashley Heitman

Table of Contents  Introduction to Unit  Content  Objectives  Activities  Evaluation  Teacher Resources  Student Resources  Media Resources

Introduction to Unit First Grade The goal of this unit is for the students to learn about the different holidays around the world and have fun while learning. This unit will be completed during the appropriate times for corresponding holidays.

Content / Vocabulary  The holidays and traditions that will be covered include:  Christmas  Thanksgiving  The Fourth of July  Cinco De Mayo  Hanukah

Objectives  The students will learn about a new holiday, and will learn new information about holidays they are already familiar with (cognitive).  The students will gain appreciation for the reason that supports that holiday being celebrated (affective).

Activity One - Christmas  Introduction: Give a brief synopsis on the background and history of Christmas. Show “Charlie Brown’s Christmas” to the children. Sing with the children “Jingle Bells” while incorporating the use of instruments.  Development: Read aloud "The Mouse Before Christmas" by Michael Garland and then read aloud any version of "The Night Before Christmas."  Culminating: Hand out a Venn Diagram to each student. (two overlapping large circles.) Have the students write all of the similarities of the stories in the overlapping section of the Venn Diagram. Have the students then write the differences in the separate parts.

Activity Two - Thanksgiving  Introduction: Play Indian tribal tunes to engage the children, and show a thanksgiving video.  Developmental: Soak the corn husks in warm water for about an hour until they become pliable. Then gather several damp husks and tie them together tightly with twine, about 1/2 inch from one end. To make the head, hold the knotted end in one fist, then fold the husks down (as though peeling a banana) so that they cover the knotted end. Smooth out the husks to make a face, then secure them with a piece of twine around the doll's neck. To make the arms, roll up a single husk and tie it off at both ends. Position the arms up between the husks, under the doll's neck. Smooth the husks over the arms to form the chest and back, then cinch in the waist with twine. For a skirt or legs, arrange several husks, inverted (like a skirt that has blown up over the doll's head) around the waist. Secure with twine, then fold the skirt down. For legs, divide the husks into two parts, tying each bunch at the knees and ankles. Use construction paper to fashion outfits or use markers and watercolors to give the illusion of clothes or to add on facial features. To make hair, hats or headdresses, glue on little strips of construction paper. Provide an example of a completed doll to model for the children.  Culminating : Attach sticks to the backs of the dolls for mobility. Build a doll stage and put on a special Thanksgiving puppet production. Video tape the production for the children to enjoy!

Activity Three - Fourth of July Introduction: Have the students color this page, while listening to “I’m Proud to be an American.” Developmental: Brainstorm ideas on a smart board about why it is important to be patriotic. Culminating: Give each student a sentence strip saying “I’m proud to be an American because…” and have them fill it out, and paste it onto a large life size American flag. Hang this flag up in the classroom, or out in the hallway for the whole school to see!

Activity Four - Cinco de Mayo  Introduction: Play a tape, teaching the students how to count to ten in Spanish.  Developmental: Next, students will make maracas while listening to festive Mexican music.  Culminating: Make and eat corn tortillas. Corn Tortillas 1 cup corn meal 1 Tbsp. baking powder 3/4 cup water 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste) 2 tsp. corn oil I would make corn tortillas with the students! SpanishEnglish uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez one two three four five six seven eight nine ten In mixing bowl, combine corn meal, baking powder, and salt. Boil water. Mix boiling water and oil into corn meal. When mixture cools enough to handle, divide into eight equal balls. Flatten slightly. Place flattened ball on top of an 8-inch square of waxed paper. Cover with a second square. Roll into 6" circle. Remove from paper. Cook on ungreased griddle until lightly brown.

Activity Five- Hanukah  Introduction: Show the students a picture of the Star of David and then pass out their own to color. David and then pass out their own to color.  Developmental: Lighting of the candles using the Chanukah. Give the students candy for every day that a candle is lighted to celebrate Hanukkah! This will allow the children to anticipate and participate in a huge hanukkah tradition.  Culminating: The Dreidel Game: The four letters which appear on the four corners of a dreidel alude to the miracle of Hanukkah. They spell out: Nes (N- miracle), Gadol (G-great), Haya (H-happened) and Sham (S-there, meaning in Israel). To begin the game, each player should have about 20 Peppermint Candy Drops. Each person puts one piece of candy in the middle of the table. Then each person takes a turn at spinning the dreidel. When only one piece of candy or no candy is left in the middle each player adds another piece of candy. When a player has all the candy, that person wins! For those of you who don't want to use candy for the game, we have also added "Points" to this game. You can grab a piece of paper and keep track of how many points you get! Who ever reaches 100 points first wins!

Evaluation  The teacher can evaluate the child’s progress by informal observations. Teachers can also perform assessment by providing a worksheet at the end of each lesson summarizing the content that was taught. A checklist could be performed by the teacher during instruction.

Teacher Resources  ontrastMouseNightBeforeXMasIdea36.htm ontrastMouseNightBeforeXMasIdea36.htm ontrastMouseNightBeforeXMasIdea36.htm    eden/ednkc002.html eden/ednkc002.html eden/ednkc002.html  crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid= crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid= crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10749

Student Resources  ksgiving/traditional-pumpkin-pie.shtml ksgiving/traditional-pumpkin-pie.shtml ksgiving/traditional-pumpkin-pie.shtml      ushis.html ushis.html ushis.html

More Student Resources  m/Social_Studies/History/History.html m/Social_Studies/History/History.html m/Social_Studies/History/History.html  m/Social_Studies/History/History.html m/Social_Studies/History/History.html m/Social_Studies/History/History.html  en.com/holidays.htm en.com/holidays.htm en.com/holidays.htm 

Media Resources  Video- Charlie Brown’s Christmas  Book-The Mouse Before Christmas by Michael Garland  Book- The Night Before Christmas (Any version)  Visual- Christmas Venn Diagram  Audio- Indian Tribal Tunes CD  Audio- Song “Proud to be an American”  Video- Self produced video of the re-enactment of the 1 st Thanksgiving  Audio- Jingle Bell Instruments  Audio- Jingle Bell CD  Visual- Completed doll for modeling  Visual- Use of smart board  Visual- Class produced flag with sentence strips

More Media Resources  Audio- Spanish counting tape  Interactive Website-  Interactive Website-  Interactive Software - – Jumpstart first grade.  Interactive Electronic Book - This ebook is an electronic talking book about Mexico created by Mrs. Miller of apples4theteacher.com and Ronald Guillen, a 7th grade student, who lived in Mexico for several years. - country.html  The Fourth of July Story (Paperback) by Alice Dalgliesh Alice DalglieshAlice Dalgliesh  The Story of America's Birthday (Board book) by Patricia A. Pingry, Patricia A. PingryPatricia A. Pingry  Hooray for the Fourth of July (Paperback) by Wendy Watson Wendy WatsonWendy Watson