I love the holidays!! They are so much fun to teach and to celebrate with family, friends, students and our schools. One thing that is important to keep in mind is to be respectful of all the students today who do not celebrate Christmas, but other holidays as well. Many families celebrate other occasions over the month of December, or may not celebrate anything at all. Even if all the students in your class do celebrate Christmas, it is important to have them be aware of other traditions around the world. One thing I enjoyed doing with my own class in elementary school was to learn about the different ways Christmas is celebrated around the world, as well as other holidays.
One thing that inspired me seeing this project was to have students, or a class in the school, all create Christmas trees inspired by a different place in the world and how they celebrate Christmas, or different December holidays. These could be displayed around the halls in the school to decorate the school in the Holiday Spirit!!
source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/176414510376771432/
That's a super neat idea! I like how you can integrate SS content into it. Good art integration! lol You sneeeeaaaaky teacher!! ;p
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is very important to be aware of students in the classroom who do not celebrate Christmas. And it is definitely important to teach about the other holidays and traditions around the world. I did this with Halloween by teaching the students about Day of the Dead!
ReplyDeleteThese make an incredible display. I am not sure I see the multicultural influence distinctly but it is good if the kids know it is there. I am disappointed that some people don't want Christmas mentioned in schools or society - that is heritage for many of us. So I think the solution is to include Christmas but expand to other winter festivals, acknowledging that Christmas is not our society's only heritage. That's why I enjoyed working with the Maya Angelou poem. I don't think there are enough good multicultural materials. And a Muslim girl in my daughter's class asked if they could decorate the class for Christmas - often newcomers do want to learn about and be somehow included in the sparkle of it all, even if it is not, for them, a religious celebration. I think lots of communication with parents is important - and sensitivity - no insisting on a Christmas only concert, as one school did, when half their families were Muslim!
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