Holiday Celebrations
Mrs. Nelsons Resource Page
Diwali
Ramadan
Hanukkah
Christmas
Kwanzaa
New Years
Other Activities

Diwali (Oct/Nov)

I was lucky enough to have a parent come and tell us stories to help us understand Diwali the hindu holiday. To help us celebrate we painted lanters to take home with tea lights!

Ramadan

We learned about how Ramadan is celebrated by the moon calendar and it is not always at the same time every year. We created lanterns to help symbolize the festival of lights during the pilgrimage to haj. We also learned about why many of our friends fast (do not eat) at school during Ramadan.

Hanukkah

Visit Hanukat for stories

 

Christmas

Polar Express Lesson Plans
More tickets and activites are on this linked page

We take a trip on the Polar Express! I handed these tickets (or boarding passes) to the children as they entered the classroom. Before they boarded the train, I blew a train whistle and called, "All Aboard". I used a Christmas tree hole punch at the bottom of the ticket as I collected them and they boarded our train. (I returned the tickets to them at the end of the day to keep as a souvenir.) Thanks to Colleen for allowing us to download the tickets from her site:

http://www.teachingheart.net/roundtrippolarexpressticket.doc

 
Kwanzaa

Kinara Printable

Kwanzaa Candle Printable

New Years  

 

Winter Coordinate Graphing

Introduce elementary students to coordinate graphing through seasonal coloring activities. The winter Gingerbread House activity requires students to use the grid code and crayons or markers to create a gingerbread house on a blank 11x11 grid. The use of letters on the horizontal axis and numbers on the vertical axis introduces young students to coordinate pairs without the confusion of the standard (h,v) format. Notice that it is important that elementary students become accustomed to listing the horizontal coordinate first as this will transfer to the coordinates they will use in later grades.

Download the Gingerbread House coordinate graphing activity

Deck the Halls with...GeometryMrs. Thal's sixth graders at Sycamore Drive School in Hazlet, NJ, investigated the geometry in holiday symbols. Students made symbols using various shapes, and then added geometric labels.

Glyphs are a fun way to add data collection activities to the math curriculum. Creative teachers adapt seasonal and holiday craft projects to glyph activities. This elf glyph comes complete with legend and patterns for easy assembly by students. * Modifications: There are many elements of the design (belt, buckle, face) that were not included in the glyph legend. Please feel free to add these or to modify or omit any of the suggested glyph legend items to personalize the experience for your students.
* Although this activity was designed as a holiday glyph, the elf glyph could easily be modified for use with "The Elves and the Shoemaker" story as well simply by changing the colors and legend choices.
o Download Elf Glyph Legend.
o Download Elf Patterns
Elf Glyph
Teachers if you've got photos or ideas of other activites please email them to me and I would be happy to post them!