Sharing Holiday Traditions of Other Cultures in the Classroom

How do we explore holiday traditions while creating a classroom that is inclusive and respectful? In every culture, people engage in holidays traditions and celebrations. The celebrations are great way to create life-long memories. There are different ways to celebrate a holiday, and holiday celebrations often honor the history and past of a culture. Sharing information about traditions can help kids to discover and respect sacrifices made by people.

Learning about holiday traditions means exploring what the holiday means to different people. Teaching kids about the holidays of other cultures help them to understand that although there might be differences, we all have many things in common such as family gathering to enjoy special food and enjoyable activities.

By being inclusive and eager to learn about different holiday traditions you set an example for the kids. Explore a variety of holiday traditions and do not push or emphasize a holiday tradition over another. Teaching about a holiday requires that you make clear that the class can enjoy learning about each other’s holidays while holding to their own family’s beliefs and traditions.

Make sure that you do your research carefully since you will be teaching about traditions you do not celebrate. Check multiple sources and ask colleagues who might be give you first-hand accounts of the holiday. Carefully select teaching materials and books that are designed to teach kids about diversity and multicultural beauty.

Some people believe that learning about other holidays and celebrations can do more harm than good, for example, proving stereotypical ways of celebrating a holiday. Yet, you can with good planning and by using suitable resources support kids to learn about holiday traditions of a country. The activities should be a way to build awareness of others.

It is vital that kids understand and are given a chance to express their own family traditions but learning about other holidays helps kids expand their cultural world. The Festive Season can be a great time to support kids to explore other cultural traditions. Understanding reduces fear and increases empathy. Learning about different holiday traditions also creates a platform where kids can ask questions about their own traditions and help down stereotypes. December is a wonderful time of year to learn together and discover traditions around the world.

December 2021 Reading

In the whirlwind of the season, it is perfect to slow down and relax with some Christmas books. The perfect way to relax while building up that festive feeling.

Christmas and books go together like Gingerbread man and the cunning fox. Today, you find exciting and engaging stories about Gingerbread men, Gingerbread kids, and even gingerbread pirates. If your school does not do activities involving Santa so gingerbread books and activities is a great festive alternative. By including classic gingerbread men stories and some with modern twists you r students are guaranteed memorable adventures with the determined, sweet little cookie.

Add a bit of diversity to your December book list. Books about Christmas traditions around the world always spread a little extra magic. Choose a continent or a country and explore the celebrations. Look for similarities and differences between your kids' traditions and celebrations and those of kids around the world.

There is no time like Christmas to fill your classroom with laughter. Laughing out loud is guaranteed with fun Santa books. Looking for a reindeer book? There are beautiful and imaginative stories about reindeer. Sometimes trouble is brewing in the North Pole. Also, you can explore the Artic, one of the most extreme environments on Earth, by following a reindeer through its life. There is something magical about reindeer and kids love them. So, make sure that you incorporate plenty of fictional and fact reindeer books throughout the month of December.

December 2021 Resources

Celebrating the Festive Season and Christmas is a special experience for kids. Bringing the celebrations into the classroom is a wonderful way to make the learning memorable and the perfect opportunity to travel around the world to learn about Christmas traditions. Kids love learning about how kids in Germany, Russia, Italy, England, or France celebrate Christmas.

Getting your kids involved in making Christmas decorations inspired by traditions in other countries is a creative activity as well as a great learning opportunity. A way to open kids' eyes to different ways of celebrating Christmas. By offering experiences about different cultures in a well-informed way, there is a chance that kids will learn respect for different ways of life. Providing kids with opportunities to broaden their learning is vital and help kids to build their personal identity.

A Christmas directed drawing is the perfect complement to projects about the Christmas around the world. A way to learn how to draw familiar objects such as jingle bells, poinsettias, and candy canes. Kids can put their own personal touch to the Christmas classroom with their own writing and drawings.

A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hoberman is a lovely book that you can use during December to talk about the importance of home. During the festive season, many people decorate their homes. Decorating the homes with Christmas Nutcrackers is a German tradition. Kids love decorating their own dolls.

Reindeer! Reindeer! Reindeer! Learning about these majestic creatures and their lives in the Arctic is a wonderful way to make sure that December is filled with some interesting science. Keep your kids engaged as excitement builds for the end of the 2021.

Be Kind - Talking about things that matter

Kindness is extremely contagious! The sense of doing good develops as kids grow. If kids are provided with good role models it becomes intrinsically rewarding to do kind acts for people. Nurturing kindness in kids is nice for the other person and for the kid. Kind kids even experience a better sense of self-value. They see the impact that that actions and behaviors have on other people.

Kindness might mean something different to each kid. Yet, kindness is something that is universally understood. Naming emotions helps kids to emphasize. Understanding where emotions come from and being able to name and identify them will help kids to identify emotions in others, which may help them to carry out kind actions. Talk about what kindness is. Look up some definitions in a dictionary and let kids write their own definitions of the word. One way to explain the word is to say that it is a powerful yet simple action. Think of words that are connected to kindness such as caring, respectful behavior, and thoughtful. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Quilt-of-Kindness-with-Digital-Activities-1212741

Thankful Sale!

Guess What? Every single resource in my store will be 20% off!  Awesome, right?!  It gets even better. If you use the promo code CYBER21, TPT will give you an additional 5% off! That is a total of 25% off of all resources, including bundles. This amazing offer will only be available Monday Nov. 29 and Tuesday, Nov. 30.  

You need to be quick. So how about getting your cart ready now?  

Not sure where to start?  Here are five of my newest resources: 

1  Designing an Animal Habitat:

What better way to learn about the places animals live than this creative Designing Animal Habitats project. Pick up this hands-on resource now and watch students sort animals according to where they live. Students discover about the diversity of life on Earth and how animals make their homes in a variety of habitats across the globe - from the grassland to the desert and the rainforest. Exploring different habitats are the perfect way to make science interactive, engaging & fun! 

 

2  Designing a Community Helper's Office - Dentist and Doctor:

Your students will love designing a dentist or doctor's office. Design challenges provide a wonderful learning opportunity where students build and adjust plans to fit the community helpers' offices. A great way to gain a deeper understanding of what tools and equipment doctors and dentists need. Students will explore the work carried out by community helpers by mixing art and literacy.

This resource will allow you to create a doctor and dentist office. As you build your offices, you will have the opportunity to sort items according to what is found in each office.

  

3 Designing a Healthy Grocery Store

What if you could design your own grocery store? Pick up this engaging resource now and watch your students explore healthy eating. Grocery shopping is an important life skill and the finished project together with short writing sample is a lovely prompt for classroom discussions. This mini-project has two differentiated levels so you can be sure that all your students can enjoy the challenge of exploring healthy eating. 

 

4 Designing and Decorating Homes for the Holiday:  

Are you looking for an educational Christmas resource that combines art and writing? Included in this resource are materials that allow your students to design and decorate a home for the holidays. There is nothing quite like bringing the festive spirit to your home and neighborhood, and this resource will save you hours of preparation and reduce your workload during this exciting and busy time of the year. The decorating possibilities are endless, and you can rest assured that your students will be fully engaged. Grab this wonderful resource for the holiday season now!

 

5  Community Helper Activity Bundle - Dentist and Doctor    Are you planning a community helper's theme and looking for inspiration? This bundle is of great value and it contains fun and engaging materials to make this a memorable theme. Using this resource can save you hours of work time and it has everything you need to cover the work carried out by doctors and dentists. Your students will have great opportunities to practice their skills when they design offices. A great way to mix, health, art, and understanding about community helpers.  This bundle includes the following resources:

Dentist Fact Booklet, Doctor Fact Booklet, and 

Designing a Community Helper's Office - Dentist and Doctor.

 I hope this helps you to get your cart ready for the big sale! Let me know if you have questions. Click HERE to head to my store.

Giveaway:

November is here and ready to race. Themed

learning in November can get quite expensive; therefore our group will be sponsoring a giveaway.  Winner will have a choice of: $200 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card OR $200 Amazon Gift Card. The giveaway starts on November 24th and ends on December 1. Simply enter here: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/c396cb38516/   Enjoy and be thankful! 

 

Thank you!

November 2021 Books to Read

November is full of opportunities, and it is an exciting time of the year. We have engaging books that focus on how we celebrate Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, and Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). It is time to read stories that will make the kids reflect on all that this season stands for but offer an opportunity to giggle.

Teachers and parents today are concerned about raising kids that will be good to have a positive impact on the world. There are countless books that offer beautiful stories about compassion, friendship, and kindness. Books are the most powerful tool to get the message about kindness, being thankful,  and love across in a fun and interesting way. The World Kindness Day is on the 13th of November, a lovely opportunity to read and explore books about kindness.

November is the Native American Heritage Month and sharing positive information from Native Americans themselves that reflect their history and culture is a great start to learn to do better. We cannot erase what has been done but educating kids and sharing books is a great way to make the world a better place. Help your kids imagine how others feel during difficult situations by reading a wide range of books.  Books that promote caring and respectful behaviors are great discussion starters for many of the interesting topics that you can dive deeper into during November.  Reading in November is a real treat!