During the month of December, we explored how children around the world celebrate winter holidays.
We used our Promethean Board to virtually travel from place to place around the world. At each stop we received a flag in our passports and documented what we learned about each place.
Our first stop: China
We learned that in children in China celebrate Christmas by decorating their houses and trees with paper lanterns and paper chains. We decided that we should also decorate our classroom with paper lanterns and chains. We also learned that the Christmas tree in China is called "tree of light".
We had so much fun working together to create beautiful paper chains.
Our next stop: Mexico
We hopped aboard the plane and traveled to Mexico. We learned that children in Mexico celebrate Navidad (or Christmas) with parades. We learned that the poinsettia is used to decorate for Christmas in Mexico.
We also learned that children in Mexico celebrate Navidad with celebrations. At their celebrations they have pinatas which are filled with candy and treats. We worked with Ms. Fleming's class to bust our very own Elmo pinata!
Next stop: Germany
We learned that children in Germany believe in a man called St. Nicholas, which is like our Santa Claus. Children in Germany celebrate St. Nicholas Day by placing their shoes outside of their bedroom doors at night. Children that have been good receive fruits, nuts, and candies. But, children that have been naughty receive potatoes in their shoes! On St. Nicholas Day, we put our shoes outside of our classroom door in hopes that St. Nicholas would visit us too!
Sure enough, St. Nicholas made a stop by room 207! We loved finding little treasures inside each of our shoes. Don't worry, we had no naughty friends this year!
Another German Christmas tradition is the advent calendar. We learned that children in Germany create advent calendars that count down to Christmas day. So, we created our very own advent calendar to count down to Christmas day. Each day, different boys and girls had the opportunity to open the advent calendar and enjoy the treats that were inside.
Finally, we learned that the tradition of bringing an Evergreen tree inside and adorning it with decorations began in Germany. We loved seeing that this German tradition is something that we do in the United States!
Our next stop: Israel
We learned that children in Israel celebrate the winter holiday called Hanukkah. We learned that Hanukkah holiday lasts for 8 days and nights. Each night, families light a special candle called a menorah. We learned that boys and girls in Israel get to open a present during each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah. During math, we had fun spinning and graphing Hanukkah dreidels.
Our final stop: United States
We learned that in the United States many families have their very own holiday traditions. We had fun talking about our favorite holiday traditions. We learned that many people in the United States give gifts to share their love during the holidays. We each made gifts to give to our families.
Before winter break, we had a holiday open house and invited our families into our classroom. We loved sharing our new knowledge about children around the world with our families. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our learning!
Happy Holidays!
No comments:
Post a Comment