Holiday Lesson Plans and Resources

Updated March 3, 2008.

Index:
Multiple Holiday Resources/Lessons
Fall  (September, October, November)
Winter (December, January, February)
Spring (March, April, May, June)

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Didn't find it here? Try a Google search:

Google
Multiple Holiday Lessons and Resource Sites:

Holidays Around the World for K-12
A  user-friendly site with excellent information and links. See also Yahoo: Holidays and Observances.

Official and Religious Mexican Holidays
Celebrate Mexican holidays with your Spanish class.

Ancient Roots, Modern Holidays
Lots of holiday lesson plans and resources.

Holiday Topics and Authors
Lesson plans for many holidays.

Holidays and Festivals - Encyclopedia of Days
A comprehensive alphabetical list.

Holidays on the Net
A collection of multimedia holiday celebrations.

Multicultural Calender
A
student-produced calendar of holiday traditions from around the world.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Holidays
An alphabetical list of links to activities and resources.

Yahoo Directory: Christian Holidays and Observances
Many links listed alphabetically.

Guide to Jewish Holidays for Children
From the Jewish Children's Learning Network.

Yahoo Dirsctory: Islamic Holidays and Observances
Links to sites for 9 major holidays.

Holiday Lesson Plans
From Teachnology.

Wilstar's Holiday World
Excellent site for holiday history and customs.

Kid's Domain - Holidays
Lots of fun activities, crafts, games, and resources.

Valuing Our differences: Celebrating Diversity
A month-by-month list of national, religious, and ethnic holidays.

Fall Holidays
September

Grandparent's Day

Resources and information about Grandparent's Day (Sept. 12)

Rosh Hashanah
A grade 4-5 lesson plan about this Jewish holy day.

Labor Day Scavenger Hunt
An Internet Scavenger hunt from Education World. See also
Federal Holidays, a unit for grade 3, Labor Day Tools, a 2nd-grade lesson plan, and Labor Day, a lesson plan for grades 6-12.

Labor day Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans with labor and occupational themes.

Mexican Independence Day (September 16)
A lesson plan for grades 3-5.

October
German-American Day (October 6)
Teacher's guide and unit for celebrating German American Day

Columbus Day
Lesson ideas and information from askacop.org.

Sink or Float?
A K-1 science lesson plan with a read aloud of the book,
Christopher Columbus, by Stephen Krensky.
Could be a good choice for a Columbus Day theme.

Columbus Encounters America
A first-grade lesson plan from a unit titled, Contact: Europe and America Meet.

Columbus Day: Native American Perspective
A lesson plan for 4th/5th grade. See also Colombus Day: Two Perspectives for a similar intermediate-grade lesson plan.

Columbus Day Theme
Many activities and lesson ideas from A to Z Teacher Stuff.

Columbus Day
A readers theater actvity.

Columbus Day
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 from the Miami-Dade County Public Schools designed "to
enhance student understanding of the Columbus Day observance."

Should We Celebrate Columbus Day?
In this inquiry-based lesson plan for grades 6-12, students gather information and try to answer this question.

In 1492, Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue
An ESL leson plan.

The Columbus Navigation Homepage
An elaborate page examining the history, navigation, and landfall of Christopher Columbus.

Halloween Mini-Unit
A primary-grade mini-unit on Halloween history.

Reading Thematic Unit on Halloween
For second grade.

The Pumpkin Patch
A collection of pumpkin poetry compiled by 2nd-graders. Click on About This Project for the lesson plan that inspired the poetry.

Our Favorite Halloween Treat
A lesson plan for grades 1-2 in which students conduct a survey to determine the class' favorite Halloween candy.

Draw a Monster
A brief lesson plan that includes printable flashcards of body parts!

Halloween Creative Writing Project
For grades 3-5.

Have a Halloween Party
A lesson plan from Teacher Vision.

SPOOKtacular Lessons for Halloween

Five new lesson plans from education World.

The History of Halloween
A lesson plan for grades 6-9 from the Educator's Reference Desk.

Pumpkin Carving for K-2 Students
An ESL leson plan. For other ESL lesson plans, see Pumpkin Science and Will the Pumpkin Sink or Float?

Halloween Activities and Lesson Plans
A long list of activities and links from the Teacher's Corner.

Hummingbird Educational Resources
Halloween and pumpkin poems, recipes, stories, etc.

Free Stuff for Halloween for Kids and Teachers
Halloween history, recipes, clip art, games, ecards, and many lessons and activities.

Ghosts, Ghouls, and Goblins
Lots of ideas for classroom activities about ghosts and Halloween.

Teaching the Epic through Ghost Stories
A high school lesson plan examining the oral traditions of ghost stories and epics.

A Ghost Story
A lesson plan for grades 11-12 that is part of a unit on short stories.

Introduction to Mexican Art and Culture: "Day of the Dead"
An art activity based on this Mexican holiday celebrated October 31 through November 2. See also Day of the Dead Mini-Unit.

November
Diwali-Hindu New Year
A lesson plan for grades 4-6 on this festival observed by many Hindus in late October or early November.

Veterans Day (Nov. 11)
Several ideas for activfities from the Lesson Plans Page. See also Veterans Day Resources, VA Kids, and Honoring Our Veterans through Poetry.

Veterans' Day Lesson Plan
A social studies lesson plan for grades 6-12 from Patriotism.org. See their Veterans' Day Home Page for background information regarding this holiday.

Veterans in My Family
A KWL lesson plan that can be adapted to a variety of grade levels. See also Veteran's Day, a Chance to Honor Those Who Served Our Country for a lesson plan from Scolastic.com.

Education World @ Holidays Center: Veteran's Day.
Links to many lesson plans and teaching resources.

Teaching about Thanksgiving

From the Center for World indigenous Studies, this site provides information and lesson ideas to help teachers prepare more factual, balanced lesson plans about Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Story: The Pilgrims Revisited
Information and links for teachers from Education World. See also Pilgrims Projects for more ideas from this same source.

Thanksgiving Themes
Thematic units on Thanksgiving, Native Americans, and Pilgrims.

Imagine Me at the First Thanksgiving
A kindergarten lesson plan.

Clifford Learns About the First Thanksgiving and So Do We!
A kindergarten unit from Scholastic.

Thanksgiving History
A primary-grade unit.

Thanksgiving - A Focus on Clothing
A primary-grade mini-unit.

The First Thanksgiving
A 2nd-grade unit.

Thanksgiving: A Celebration of Gratitude
Ideas for a 1st or 2nd-grade unit.

Franklin's Thanksgiving
A K-3 lesson plan from Scholastic using this book.

Strawberry Thanksgiving
A lesson plan for grades 4-5.

Thanksgiving
A lesson plan for grades 4-6.

Squanto Helps New Arrivals
A lesson plan for grades 3-5 using the book, Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrams.

Bountiful Thanksgiving
A directory of Thanksgiving links.

The Origins of Thanksgiving
An interesting site with information on Thanksgiving myths as well as the perspectives of African Americans and American Indians.

Ramadan
A lesson plan for grades 5-7 on the Islamic fast of Ramadan, which occurs during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar (beginning November 16, 2001). For information about Ramadan, see Ramadan: The Fasting Month for the Moslems.


Winter Holidays
December
Bill of Rights Day (December 15)
A lesson plan for grades 4-6.

Bill of Rights Unit
A social studies unit for grades 4-6.

Hanukkah
A mini-unit for grades 4-5.

Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights
A multi-grade lesson plan.

Comparing Hanukkah and Christmas
A 2nd-grade lesson plan.

Light in Festivals
A social studies unit for grades 4-5 that examines the use of light as a symbol in celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Le Re'veillon, Los Posados, and St. Lucia Day.

Kwanzaa
Mini-unit for grades 2-3.

Kwanzaa: An African American Heritage Celebration
A lesson plan for the early elementary grades.

Kwanzaa
Another elementary lesson plan.

Let’s Speak Swahili
A Kwanzaa-related vocabulary lesson.

The Polar Express
A Teacher's Guide with a summary and lesson plans for this Christmas book by Chris Van Allsburg. See also The Polar Express - Teachers! Librarians!, Take the Polar Express to Learning, and Ride the Polar Express.

Holiday Rhyming Lesson Using the Christmas Tree Tangle
A lesson plan for grades 1-3.

Fiesta
A lesson plan for grades 2-4 examining similarities between our (US) celebration of Christmas and Latin American Fiestas held in honor of religious holidays, national events, or community leaders.

Christmas Around the World
A lesson plan for grades 2-5 in which students create a presentation about Christmas is celebrated in a country of their choice.

Christmas in Mexico
An excellent lesson plan for use with ESL students. See also Happy Christmas for other ESL/EFL activities.

Feliz Navidad: A Mexican Christmas Unit
An interdisciplinary unit for grades K-2.

The Christmas Tree
A 4th or 5th-grade lesson plan on the origin of the Christmas tree. See also Teaching lesson Plans: The History of Christmas Trees Parts One, Two, and Three.

Christmas
Lesson plans and resources from Mr. Donn's pages.

Consumerism and Holidays
An interesting lesson plan for grades 4-5 examining the economic impact of holidays, including Christmas.

Spreading Christmas Cheer Using Spreadsheets
A Christmas-related math activity for grades 4-6.

A Colonial Christmas in Williamsburg
An intermediate to middle-grade lesson plan in which students learn about Christmas during colonial times.

The Twelve Days of Christmas
A math activity for the intermediate grades.

Writing About a Christmas Day Celebration
A middle school lesson plan. See What Does Christmas Mean to Me? for another middle school lesson.

Philanthropy in A Christmas Carol
One more middle grade lesson.

Help Others on Boxing Day
A lesson plan this holiday celebrated December 26 in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. For more information on this holiday, see Boxing Day.

January

Year-End Holidays
A primary-grade lesson in which use the Internet to explore year-end holidays from three different cultures: Chinese, African-American, and Mexican.

The New Year
Lesson ideas and links from the Donns.

Celebrating the 100th Day of School
300 Celebration Ideas!

100th Day of School Celebration
More ideas for celebrating the 100th day of school.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
A list of lesson plans and links from Mrs. Donn's pages.

Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
A mini-unit for grades 4-5.

Martin Luther King Day
A lesson plan for grades 3-4.

Lesson Plans and Resources for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Many other lesson plans and links for Martin Luther King.

Tet: The Vietnamese New Year
A lesson plan for grades 3-4.

Australia Day (January 26)

Crafts, worksheets, and activties suitable for kindergarten and the primary grades. See also  Australia Day.  


February
Come to a Groundhog Day Party
Activities for a variety of grades from Education World.

Groundhog Day

Links from Debbie's Unit Factory.

Groundhog Day - February 2nd
Information and lesson ideas from the Donn's.

Groundhog Day History
From 123Holiday.net. See also Stormfax Weather Almanac Groundhog Day.

President's Day and Valentine's Day Lesson Plans and Resources
President's Day
The history of the holiday. See also President's Day and President's Day or Washington's Birthday?

Presidents: Past, Present, and Future

A WebQuest for President's Day!

Presidents' Day Resources
Links to web sites for parents, teachers, and students.

The Presidents of the United States
White House source of information, pictures, etc. for all U. S. presidents . Use the left-side menu to find the president about whom you want information.

American Presidents: Life Portraits
Teacher guides and resources for all US presidents from C-Span.

Presidents' Day Activities
Ideas from Education World.

Presidents' Day Lesson Plans, Activities, and Clip Art
From Mr. Donn.

Presidents' Day Quiz
An activity for ESL students that could probably be adapted to other student groups.


The Many Powers of the President

A lesson plan designed to help students become familiar with the many roles of the president.

Valentine's Day Lesson Plans and Resources

The History of Valentine's Day
From History.com. See also St. Valentine's Day - February 14th.

Mend My Broken Heart

A math/language arts lesson plan for grades 2-3.  See also Count the Hearts.

Valentine Vase
A Valentine's Day art project for grade 1-4


Saint Valentine's Day
A 6th-grade language arts lesson plan. 

Valentine's Day 2002 Teaching Tip Lesson Plan
This intermediate-grade lesson plan should still work this year!

Valentine's Day Theme Unit
Lots of worksheets, stories, and other resources from edHelper.com.
Click here for another long list of lessons and other resources for Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day Lesson Plans and Links
More lesson ideas from Debbie's unit factory.

The Language or Love
A lesson plan for grages 6-8 in which students learn about intercultural aspects of love and then create Valentines based on their new knowledge. See also Wilstar Valentine Word Search, Valentine Cinquain Poems, and Valentine Rap Game.

Susan B. Anthony Day
A grade 3-4 lesson plan about this day which is celebrated on February 15.

Chinese New Year
Information about the Chinese New Year as well as a 3 to 5-day mini-unit for grades 2-3.

Mardi Gras Lesson Plan
A lesson plan for grades 9-12 from mardgrasday.com.

The History of Mradi Gras  
Internet-based activities for grades 3-4. See also Mardi Gras New Orleans.com; Mardi Gras Lesson Plan (grades 4-5); Pancake Day/Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday (a K-4 lesson plan); Mardi Gras Lesson Plan for K-3; and Celebrate Mardi Gras (a lesson plan for grades K-8 from Education World)




Spring Holidays
March
St. Patrick's Day Lesson Plans and Resources
Teacher's Guide St. Patrick's Day Page
Lesson plans, printables, clip art, etc.  


St. Patrick's Day Lesson Plans
More ideas from Debbie's Unit Factory.

St Patrick/s Day Worksheets
More than 20 worksheets from Teachnology.

Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade
A 4th-grade lesson plan for this book by Steven Kroll.

Leprechauns and Other Tricksters
An Online unit.

Who Was Saint Patrick?
See also Saint Patrick FAQ

St. Patrick's Day
Information and links from the Donns.

St. Patrick's Day Links
Though this site has links that may be particularly useful for teaching ESL, they should also be useful for other situations.

Ireland WebQuest
See also Ireland.

Women's History Week
A mini-unit for grades 4-5.

Easter Lesson plans and Resources
Easter
Information and teaching ideas from the Donns.

Easter Egg Math
A kindergarten or 1st-grade lesson plan.

Origin of the Easter Bunny
A lesson plan for grades 4-6 on how to write a myth.

Why All the EGG-citement about EGGs?
Lesson ideas from Education World.

Easter Egg Dribble
A primary-grade P.E. lesson plan.

Lesson Plan on Easter Island
How about this for a geography lesson plan with an Easter connection! Learn about this island named by
Admiral Roggeveen, who came upon it on Easter Day in 1722
. See also The Lessons of Easter Island and Easter Island Home Page.
   
Easter Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans and resources from the Lesson Plans Page.

Easter Theme
More lesson plans and activities from A to Z Teacher stuff.

Religious Easter Activities
Activities to help children understand the religious significance of the Easter holiday. See also Celebrating a Christian Easter and Easter Resources.

Easter Lesson Plans
Religion-based Easter activities for homeschoolers.

The History of Easter
Need some information regarding the history of Easter? Take a look at this page from History.com. See also Easter: History, Meaning, and Observances.

A Tale of Two Easters
Explains why in most years Western Christian churches and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on different dates. See also Easter Date Lesson Plan and Easter Dating Method.

Easter in Australia
Doing a unit on Australia? Learn about Easter down under!

Easter Time
Clip art, games, printables, etc.

April
April Fool's Day
A unit for grades 3-4.

April Fool's Day
Information on April Fool's Day from the Donns.

April Fool's Day Greeting Cards from 123Greetings.com
Make somone's day by sending them a free April fool's Day greeting card.

Hana Matsuri (Buddha's Birthday)
A mini-unit for grades 5-6.

Passover
A lesson plan for the 5th grade.

Arbor Day Lesson Plans
Many lesson plans from the Lesson Plans Page. See also The Teacher's Guide: Arbor Day.

National Arbor Day Foundation
Information from the Arbor Day Foundation.

Arbor Day Across the United States
A color-key map activity for grades 3-8 from Education World.

Earth Day
A mini-unit for grades 4-6. Click here for a similar mini-unit for grades 2-3.

Earth Day - Every Day
Information, links, and a list of lesson plans from the Donns.

Kid's Domain: Earth Day
A long list of links to Earth Day sites.



May
May Day Activities and Crafts
See also May Day/Beltaine.

Cinco de Mayo
A lesson plan for grades 3-4. 

Cinco de Mayo History
An excellent resource.

Celebrate Mother's Day in a New Way
Lesson ideas from Education World.

Billy Bear's Happy Mother's Day Site
Create gifts, promise cards, awards for mom, etc.

Happy Mother's Day
Clip art, coloring, make a card, etc.

A Special Memorial Day
A lesson plan for grades 6-12 designed to enhance students' understanding of the significance of memorial day.

Memorial Day
Information and links

June
Flag Day Quest
A brief webquest. 
 

Flag Day Lesson Plan
An Internet-based lesson from Education World.

Father's day for Educators
Links to ideas for lessons and activities.

Father's Day Brainstorming and Writing
A lesson plan from Teachervision.com.

Father's Day
Coloring pages, create cards, make a present, etc.

Greeting Cards for an Awesome Dad
E-mail dad a card.





 
 

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