Brief Description Objectives Materials and Resources Activity Description

• Grade Level: Upper Elementary

• Subject Area: Social Studies, Language Arts

Brief Description

     Based on the research they have conducted, students participate in a group discussion that helps them see the characteristics that each of the holidays they have investigated has in common with the others.
Objectives

    Students will:

• Develop critical thinking skills by participating in a class discussion.
• Gain a deeper understanding of and respect for the similarities as well as the differences among groups of people.

Materials and Resources

    In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.

1. Special hardware requirements: none
2. Special software requirements: none
3. Internet access: none

• writing tablet
• markers

Activity Description

• Have students sit in a circle to discuss the similarities and differences among each of the holidays they have studied.

• Keep a list of the characteristics cited on the tablet using the markers.

• Have students think about and discuss why the characteristics common to all of the holidays might be important.

• Have the students think about and discuss why it might be important for each holiday to have characteristics that distinguish it from other holidays. Students may refer to the sites they used to conduct research.

Back to Holiday Explorations Unit