Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Celebrating and Remembering
Help scholars understand the history, geography, traditions, and art of Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Find background information for your reference as well as a detailed cross-curricular lesson plan. Learners compare...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Narrating a Family Tradition
After examining a piece of art, scholars discuss what they see, paying close attention to details and space. A read-aloud introduces the topic of family traditions. Pupils interview their family members about a tradition in preparation...
Can Teach
Groundhog Day Songs and Poems
This Groundhog Day add a bit of rhythm and rhyme with 23 songs and poems that put a spotlight on the holiday's shining star, the groundhog.
Smithsonian Institution
Dia de los Muertos: Honoring our Ancestors Through Community Celebration
Oral storytelling has been an important part of every culture. The time-honored practice uses stories as a conduit for a culture's values and customs from one generation to the next. Keep the tradition going with a family interview...
Missouri Department of Elementary
Celebrate Your Culture
After a class discussion about celebrations and customs, class members draw pictures depicting special events from their family cultures. Next, they draw pictures of an event from a different culture and share their work with classmates.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Celebrating Traditions: Challenge Activities (Theme 2)
Here's a packet of activities, designed to be used with the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt textbook, that will engage and challenge learners who have already mastered the basic skills in a thematic unit study of traditions.
Peace Corps
Celebrating Our Connections Through Water
Water is vital for survival, but how does it help global cultures flourish? Elementary and middle schoolers learn about the different cultures around the world that celebrate water and incorporate it into their festivals or traditions.
Missouri Department of Elementary
Family Traditions
Honor family traditions with a instructional activity that examines the variety of winter celebrations. Class members discuss their family's traditions then complete a cut-and-paste practice page in which they match a picture to the name...
Mexic-Arte Museum
El Dia de los Muertos
Celebrate the traditional Mexican holiday El Dia de los Muertos! Explore the intricate history behind the traditions, compare other cultural rituals honoring the dead, and create sugar skulls. Learners read informational text on Aztec...
Curated OER
Celebrate Family Story Month
Creative lesson and activity ideas that record family stories and memories.
Museum of Tolerance
Cultural Research Activity
Class members explore cultural diversity through a variety of texts that showcase the importance of traditions. Then, they interview their family members to research their own cultural background and write their findings on quilt...
ESL Holiday Lessons
Kwanzaa
Teach English language learners about the week-long holiday of Kwanzaa that is celebrated around the world during December. It includes holiday-themed reading comprehension passages, phrase matching, fill-in-the-blanks, and journaling...
Curated OER
The Family Tree
Students make a family tree. In this family activity, students brainstorm what the word family means, interview their family members and grandparents, create a family tree, list their family's favorite foods and write an essay describing...
Our White House
The Our White House Inauguration Celebration Kit for Kids!
Get the youngest American citizens involved in the presidential election and inauguration with a set of social studies activities. Focusing on the history of presidential inauguration ceremonies, learners draft their own poems, design...
Curated OER
Family Day
Here's a great way to encourage your kids to celebrate their families. A Family Day event is planned. After a big class discussion on families, preparations are made for the big event. Invitations are created, decorations are made, and...
Santillana USA
Celebra Kwanzaa
¡Celebramos Kwanzaa! Celebrate Kwanzaa through the fictional story Celebra Kwanzaa con Botitas y sus gatitos to delightfully explain the seven principles of Kwanzaa. Dual language learners participate in reading and vocabulary...
GeorgiaStandards.org
Using Connecting Themes in First Grade Social Studies
Foster contributing members of society with a social studies unit focused on five aspects of community. First graders discuss themes of culture, groups, location, scarcity, and change with discussion questions and activities about...
Smithsonian Institution
A Life in Beads: The Stories a Plains Dress Can Tell
Young learners discover how the Sioux and Assiniboine tribes preserved native culture through the making of traditional dresses, identifying the resources used to make the dresses and discussing behind the meaning behind some...
Children's Theatre of Cincinnati
A Charlie Brown Christmas Study Guide
Bring A Charlie Brown Christmas to social studies, language arts, math, science, and art class! Learners ponder the meaning of Christmas trees, write about Christmas during the original release of the television special,...
Curated OER
New Year Celebrations Around the Globe
Students view art images of Norman Rockwell's family traditions and celebrations. They search the internet for information, and complete reflective and creative writing and sketch assignments. Students recognize and name emotions shown...
Curated OER
Folklife Around the Year and Around the State
Research how seasonal changes in Louisiana affect learners' lives and the folklife of their communities and the state. They investigate differences in the seasonal round in the regions of Louisiana, including celebrations, festivals,...
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast
Following an online activity, scholars listen to a read-aloud of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma. Pupils discuss their family traditions and complete a T-chart comparing the holiday then and now. Collages are made to...
Curated OER
I Am Special and You Are Special Too
Pre-schoolers identify things that make them a special individual. In this diversity lesson, they read the book Little Gorilla and discuss ways they are special and unique. Children create a birthday party for "Little Gorilla" and...
Curated OER
Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Students explore and study the celebration of Kwanzaa in which African-Americans remember their heritage and remind people of the importance of sharing with family and friends. They participate in a chant about the seven continents and...