December Holidays

‘Tis almost the season…to celebrate the many different December holidays from around the world! Help students learn about the history, traditions, and culture surrounding the winter holidays. Each of these activities meets a variety of state and national standards for technology and core subject areas.

Grades K-2
One of the great things about holidays for children is the traditions, both those unique to their family and those shared with others, that create a pattern and timeline around a single event. Have students use Visual Mapping software to create a visual map that illustrates the different events, traditions, and activities that make up the holiday(s) their family celebrates in December. Students should pay attention to sequence, and should use a combination of illustrations and writing to explain the components of their map. Have students share their visual maps with the class.
EasyTech units: Visual Mapping Basics

Grades 3-5
Discuss as a class the different holidays celebrated in December, in the U.S. and around the world. Have students use Word Processing software to write a short story that includes characters celebrating different holidays, and/or similar holidays with different traditions. Students should use the Web for research. Encourage students to develop characters with different heritages and beliefs; to use plot elements to describe different activities and traditions the characters would engage in; and to use descriptive language to evoke a holiday feeling that ties together the different characters and holidays with a common tone.
EasyTech units: Word Processing Basics, Web Browsing Basics

Grades 6-8
Have each student make a list of 10 countries from around the world. Then tell students they are going to research how people in that country celebrate December holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, the winter solstice, and more). Students should use the Web for research and should then create a multimedia presentation. The presentation should include a slide on each country, with information on their holidays, traditions, and customs. The final two slides should present some key similarities and differences in holiday celebrations across the ten countries.
EasyTech units: Web Browsing, Presentation Software