December in the classroom is magical, chaotic, fun, eventful, busy, and stressful. Let’s admit it- there are so many feelings teachers and students feel during December at school. Between assemblies, assessments, concerts, and holiday parties, it can feel impossible to fit in anything extra- even something as exciting as a Holidays Around The World unit.
Here’s the good news: you can celebrate global traditions with your students without sacrificing your sanity or your schedule! It takes some strategic planning and the right ready-to-go resources.
Let’s dive in to discuss how to fit teaching different holidays into your December schedule this busy season!
What To Do With The December Overwhelm
Let’s simplify your December without taking away some festive fun! You know the feeling – you want to do something special and fun for your students, but your December calendar looks like this:
- Benchmark testing
- Spirit week
- Parent and family gifts
- Field trips
- Extra assemblies
It is a whirlwind, and by the time you get to that last week before the anticipated winter break, you are running on coffee and sugar cookies. You might be thinking that adding a “Holidays Around The World” unit means extra prep, new materials, and a total schedule shift to your weekly plans. But, what if you could weave it into what you are already doing?
Adding Holidays Around The World To Your Daily Plans
Here is how to simplify your December- and still give your students a fun experience while also learning about global December traditions:
Integrate Holidays Around The World Into What You Are Already Teaching
There is no need to reinvent the wheel, or your schedule! Let’s talk about different ways to add teaching about different holidays into your daily schedule, without taking away important skills throughout the day.
- During your writing block, use the postcard prompts. You could even add these into your writing center.
- During your reading block, have students read the short nonfiction passages about each country. This will support you in teaching about nonfiction texts and text features.
- During your morning meeting or share time, have students share a fun fact they learned about the holiday you are currently learning about.
Differentiate By Giving A Choice
Not every student has to do every single holiday! You could let your students pick a holiday to learn about within their reading groups (or groups that you form). Students can choose the holiday they want to know about. These students read the brochures, do the research, and complete the craft. Then they get to teach their peers about the holiday while showing them the craft they completed, introducing them to the vocabulary, etc.
Have A 5-Day World Tour
If you have a class that thrives on structure (and who doesn’t?), you could focus on teaching Holidays Around The World for just one week. Students learn about a different holiday and country each day for one week. It may work best on that week before winter break when your students have high energy and need something different.
What Is Included In Our Holidays Around The World Unit
You can take your students on a trip around the world with our comprehensive Holidays Around The World Unit. This unit introduces your students to traditions, symbols, foods, and decorations of various winter holidays around the world. Here are the holidays included:
- Hanukkah
- Kwanzaa
- Los Posados
- Chinese New Year
- Ramadan
- Diwali
- St. Lucia’s Day
- Christmas in France
- Christmas in Germany
- Christmas in Italy
- Christmas in Australia
- Christmas in America
Each holiday includes the following activities:
- Brochures for each holiday for students to learn the different traditions, foods, symbols, and decorations.
- Postcards for each holiday so students can write to someone explaining a tradition they learned about the holiday.
- Writing crafts for each holiday to display around the classroom for a fun visual.
- Passports with stamps from each country to show where they have traveled.
- Travel journal to write about each holiday, what they have learned, and practice the new vocabulary.
- Vocabulary cards to display for students to remember the new vocabulary introduced.
- No prep pages to fill in the gaps.
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