Celebrate the holidays with ten Web sites that no elf could do without! These resources will help you get in the spirit of the season and teach your students more about Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Chanukah. Ho! Ho! Ho! Let's learn about the holidays online!
Library media specialist Dianne Prager designed online activities for
the holiday season that she calls the Christmas
Around the World Internet Scavenger Hunts.
 By
making the hunts available to all students and teachers on the Internet,
Prager -- who teaches at Pleasant Grove Elementary School in Stockbridge,
Georgia -- hopes to provide a fun way for students to learn as they navigate
the World Wide Web.
"Teaching the different holiday customs is a favorite topic for elementary
teachers and students," Prager told Education World. "Although there are
some great sites on the Internet on this topic, at the time we developed
these pages there weren't any Web interactive pages for students… I know
how students love a 'scavenger hunt.' Combining the two seemed a natural."
"Our students and teachers use the pages actively, and I have received
many, many correspondences from people at other schools as well," said
Prager. "The scavenger hunt pages are linked to quite a few schools' Web
sites."
The holidays are upon us! Do you need craft ideas? Information? Want
to send an online greeting? The Web will help you make the most out of
this holiday season with excellent resources for December celebrations.
Celebrations Around the World
Lin and Don Donn describe the history of many holidays celebrated in the
classroom at their Holiday
Lesson Plans page. This guide gives information and activity suggestions
for December holidays such as Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah, as well
as other celebrations you won't want to miss. A priceless collection of
links is included for each holiday topic.
Chanukah
Chanukah is a December holiday that many teachers may not know very much
about. If that's the case with you, the Chanukah
Web site will surely rescue you! Check out the customs of lighting the
menorah, singing songs, and cooking delicious Chanukah recipes. A special
section of this site is designed to help teachers share the wonders of
this season with their students. Although much of this is really created
for religious instruction, there are plenty of resources for the regular
classroom teacher.
When you think of Chanukah, do you think of fun? If not, Chanukah
Time will change your mind! Download software with holiday screen
savers and games, and send an e-greeting to a friend to celebrate the
season. You'll find crafts to do, word searches, mazes, and coloring pages
to enjoy. This Web site is full of Chanukah projects to make your students
smile!
Christmas
Learn about Christmas customs through the voices of children by exploring
A
World Wide Christmas Calendar. Like an advent calendar, this site
counts the December days leading to the holiday and focuses on a different
land on each page. The site provides a unique opportunity for children
to discover the customs of other people by reading their own words.
Another chance for students to investigate the Christmas customs of
people in other countries is provided by World
View. The celebrations of more than 150 countries are identified at
this site. Students may select from the table of nations to locate articles
about how Christmas is observed in the countries. This site would be the
perfect start to a class project that describes holiday customs around
the world.
Do you know how to wish someone a merry Christmas in another language?
With Christmas
Wishes, you'll be able to do that in many languages! An extensive
list of countries will help you learn to share holiday greetings in Chinese,
French, Portuguese, and more. Also, see the site's collection of Christmas
poetry from authors such as Ogden Nash.
Kwanzaa
Catch the spirit of an African-American holiday celebration with Celebrating
Kwanzaa. This site explains the history of the observance, discusses
its symbols, and teaches students about the seven principles that are
at the core of the season. There are activities, crafts, and recipes to
share in the classroom, and you'll find suggestions for "zawadi," handmade
gifts that are exchanged in honor of the holiday.
At Kwanzaa
-- African American Holiday students will enjoy exploring the history
of the holiday and its driving principles. They will find out how to pronounce
Kwanzaa words and discover what goes on at a typical feast. This colorful
site is an ideal stop as students begin their study of the holiday.
12/08/2004
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