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Japanese Festivals and Holidays
Bring the excitement and beauty of Japanese festivals into your classroom. Kids with special needs create calendars that reflect special festivals and holidays common to Japanese culture. They start the project by creating a list of...
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Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"
Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...
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Christmas Spirit?
Pupils examine how they greet the holiday season and participate in a class discussion to explore the ongoing debate on how best to celebrate the holidays. They read and discuss an article, and write a personal essay.
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Making The Holidays Special
Students examine ways in which holiday television specials reflect some of the religious, historic and cultural themes of the holidays on which they focus. They create their own holiday television specials in groups, each focusing on a...
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Holidays
High schoolers make a list of all of the national holidays and explain why we celebrate them. They create a holiday based on their culture, gender, or generation and then debate and defend the creation of their holiday in class. They...
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Ghosts of Holidays Past
Students write in their journals to analyze the use of nostalgia. After reading an article, they identify aspects that are universal for holidays. They describe and examine their own memories of a specific holiday and interview someone...
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Comparing Cultural Holidays
Students discover facts about the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead. In this compare and contrast activity, students explore Halloween and the Day of the Dead. Students create an alter to memorialize a family member or friend that has...
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Holidays and Observances: Looking at Diversity and Culture
Young scholars share their own knowledge and experiences of holidays they observe. They research a holiday of their choice and write a report. They also create art of their holiday to complete as a pre-writing activity.
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A World of Special Celebrations
Brainstorm lists of celebrations with which your class are familiar. This instructional activity can be adapted to many different grade levels as they research ethnic and religious occasions/events celebrated by people around the world,...
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December Holidays:Create A Comparison Chart
How are Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, and Ramadan similar? How are they different? Learners research the different December holiday celebrations around the world and compare the dates, symbols, countries, foods, and stories...
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Homemade Holidays
Foster your high schoolers' creativity - and generosity - with this writing lesson. After reading the article "Homemade Holiday Gifts" by Frances Janisch (from the GALE Student Resource Center - Gold), pupils meet in groups to brainstorm...
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Reason to Celebrate!
Learners consider the importance of secular holidays celebrated around the world, researching holidays in various countries and creating patchwork quilts to illustrate their findings.
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Much Ado About Nothing?
Students explore their feelings regarding the celebration of various holidays. Using the New York Times article as a model, students write articles critiquing what they consider to be inappropriate expressions of holiday spirit.
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Developing Dialogue
Why do people argue? Use the article "A Holiday Medley, Off Key" to discuss the struggles that interfaith couples face when choosing to celebrate certain holidays. Then, in small groups, encourage learners to write dialogues that...
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Hark, the Herald Atheists Sing
Students complete a one minute interview on their classmates views on religion and holiday traditions. They read an article about how Americans celebrate Christmas in different ways. Creating in-depth questions, they practice...
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What Sharing Really Means
Students read the story "Sharing in Africa". As a class, they brainstorm a list of holidays and celebrations in various cultures and identify the Congo on a world map. To end the instructional activity, they focus on one paragraph of...
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Cinco de Mayo
In this holidays worksheet, students read 10 statements about Cinco de Mayo. Students fill in the blanks with the correct response.
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Foreign Language: Travel Brochure
Students research either French or Spanish speaking countries. After compiling information covering the geography, people,government, economy, and culture, they produce travel brochures on their respective countries.
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Benne Cakes and Other Holiday Recipes
Benne Cakes, a West African treat packed with sesame seeds for luck, are a featured part of the celebration of Kwanzaa. Young chefs try their hand at crafting these goodies that are sure to enrich your holiday feast.
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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Students create Thanksgiving menu and pre-dinner blessing or ritual that is sensitive to five different imaginary Thanksgiving guests from a variety of backgrounds.
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"Jazz is About Freedom": Billie Holiday's Anti-lynching Song Strange Fruit
Working in small teams, learners analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of...
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Love is ... Business Studies
Students celebrate St. Valentine's Day. In this holiday lesson, students discover details about Lupercalia, St. Valentine, and modern traditions of the holiday.
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Invent a Holiday
Who wouldn't want to create their own holiday? Use the 12 elements of a holiday to have learners of all ages create their own holiday. These days, it seems like we make any excuse for a holiday! Consider having some fun with your kids...
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Social Studies: Bridging the Gap Between Cultures
Have you special education class examine multiculturalism. By exploring the cultures of Israel and Greece, they discover the holidays, cuisine, arts, andgeography of the countries. During this twelve-week unit, students develop a...