MINI-HISTORY:
Christmas Celebrated Long Ago MINI-HISTORY:
Christmas Celebrated Long Ago
From
Stormie:
Just like all the "mini" themes on
my website, this one is not meant to be a major History Class 101. What
we do can be brief and very subtle. In fact, we often incorporate such themes
into our curriculums without even realizing it. And by the way, if you don't
celebrate Christmas, select an early-days celebration of your own choosing --
it's still mini-history.
Classroom Decor: We're exposing the
children to history when we post magazine pictures on our classroom walls of an
early Victorian Christmas (preferably with children in the picture) and provide
children's books depicting an earlier-times Christmas.
Or, maybe you
have access to pictures/books of a Colonial Christmas.
Group Time: Using pictures and/or books, we can discuss an early-times Christmas (or whatever your holiday) by pointing things out in the pictures that are different than what we experience today (like clothing, furniture, lighting, etc). We can ask questions: Did the children of long ago times watch Rudolph on TV? Why not? And so on.
Cooking Project: We can bake an early-times
cookie recipe with the class talking about how it's a cookie children used to
make and eat long ago.
Special Project: If/when you take
the children to visit a nursing home this month, speak with the home staff in
advance about perhaps allowing the elderly residents to share ornaments, cards,
toys, snacks, etc from their childhood holiday celebrations. For example, the
stringing of popcorn for a Christmas tree decoration might be something an elderly
resident may have done as a child that s/he could teach the children to do. Or,
maybe they have an easy fun way they used to create a card for someone they loved.
Suggested Books:
Bobbie
Kalman is the author of the "Early Settler
Life Series" books for children. Even though there may be alot
in the books that's really more suited for older children, I feel that most of
the information can be adapted for use with the younger ones:
Early Christmas, by Bobbie Kalman
Share
your thoughts and ideas too.
---------------
Reminder
from Stormie: If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom
ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you
can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here
to check them out.
|
|