Brief Description Objectives Materials and Resources Activity Description Internet Resources

• Grade level: Upper Elementary

• Subject Area: Language Arts, Social Studies

Brief Description

     Students use the Internet resources provided and their own searches to select and investigate a holiday of interest to them.
Objectives

    Students will:

• Gain proficiency in conducting research on the Internet.
• Gather information about a holiday of their choice that helps them better understand the country, culture, or group that celebrates it.

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: Server space for HTML documents (optional).
2. Special software requirements: Multimedia design application such as ClarisWorks, HyperCard, Hyperstudio, or Director (optional); SoundEdit or other audio editing application (optional).
3. Internet access: Medium-speed (28,000 BPS via modem) or High-speed (greater than 1 MBPS via network).

Activity Description

• Have students use the Internet Resources listed below and other sites regarding holidays that they find to select a holiday to investigate. Students should feel free to choose a holiday that interests them; it does not have to be a holiday celebrated in this country.

• Once students have identified a holiday that interests them, they can begin to conduct more in-depth research on that holiday. Make sure the students think about why the holiday they have chosen interests them and why it is important for others to learn more about it.

• Have students give some thought to the manner in which they would like to present their findings to the class, whether as an HTML or text-based document or a hypermedia project.

Internet Resources

• Simply Holidays
  [http://holiday.ritech.com/]
  This site provides information and activities related to some of the holidays that are commonly celebrated in the U.S. Information provided includes a brief history of the holiday, suggestions for easy ways to celebrate the holiday, and links to related sites.

• The Webster's Holidays and Parties
  [http://www.cyberspy.com/~webster/holiday.html]
  This site contains information on a large variety of political and cultural holidays. Provides links to electronic card-mailing sites, sites to connect with other people, and other holiday sites.

• The (Almost) Comprehensive List of Festivals and Holidays
  [http://www.hooked.net/users/twerp23/festchart.html]
  This site welcomes contributions from other people to help make it truly comprehensive.

Back to Holiday Explorations Unit