PowerPoint Presentation

Let the kids know that we are going to talk about some winter holidays1

Kwanzaa

Kwanza is a cultural holiday that begin in America in 1966.It is celebrated from December 26- January 1. It isnt a religious holiday and it doesnt celebrate a heroic person instead, it is a time when people of African descent honor the heritage and traditions of their ancestors.2

There are special symbols for Kwanza including fruits and vegetables which stand for the harvest. During Kwanza, seven candles are lighted. They stand for the seven principles which are unity, self determination, collective work and responsibility, co-operative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.3

Read the Seven Spools of Thread. A tale for KwanzaaKindle book4

Hanukkah

Feel Free to Paraphrase!A long, long time ago (in 168 BCE, to be exact), King Antiochus IV ruled over ancient Israel. Not being a fan of variety, he demanded that if you didnt pray to the Greek gods and share in his same culture, you would be in trouble.This was a problem for the Jews, who still wanted to partake in Jewish traditions like studying Torah and celebratingShabbat. This made some of the Jewish people so angry that they decided to disobey the king. Preist Mattathias and his sons were joined by other Jews to fight back against King Antiochus IV. One son, Judah, a.k.a. Judah the Maccabee, stepped into the spotlight, leading all of his fellow fighters, the Maccabees, in an attempt to save their Jewish heritage. Even as the kings soldiers rode in on elephants to attack, the Maccabees stayed strong and drove them right out of Jerusalem.Upon their victory, the Maccabees cleaned up the Temple and decided to light a menorah, an oil-burning lamp. As the story goes, they only had enough oil to burn for one day, but miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days and eight nights. That is why we celebrateHanukkahfor eight days, lighting another candle in the menorah each night to remember this miracle and the triumph of the Jews.5

Hershel and the Hunukkah Goblins is a Hanukkah story & a CALDECOTT HONOR BOOKClick on the icon for the audio book version of Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. You can show the pictures in the book while it is playing. You wont have time for the whole story. I would play five to ten minutes and tell the students to listen to the rest on the website (www.ashleyhalil.com)6

Chinese New Year

This traditional festival has been celebrated for more than four thousand years! It came about from ancient celebrations to mark the end of the long winter season.For Chinese people all over, the Lunar New Year isthecelebration of the year, a time for happy reunions, family and friends, rich in colorful traditions and customs.

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Click to play video about Chinese New Year8

Let the students figure out which animal they are9

CHRISTMAS

Some fun Christmas videos10

The reason for Christmas- click to play11

Click to play movie12

Click to play13

Click to Play14

Click to play- for the older students15

Click to Play16

Winter Solstice

Winter solstice marks the beginning of winter and it's also the shortest day of the year. This year, winter solstice will be on December 21stBecause of the earth's tilt, on this day the Northern Hemisphere is as far away fro the sun as it can be, therefore the first day of winter has the least amount of sunlight

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Click to play video

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This is a long book, but I there are a few pages that you can read so the students will learn a little about the winter solstice.Feel free to pick other pages to share if you would like to. 19

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