7th Grade Christmas, Chanukah, & Kwanzaa Research

Dive into the festive spirit and broaden your students' horizons with this unique ELA resource, "Holiday Characters from Around the World." Perfect for middle school educators, this comprehensive package offers an engaging journey into the diverse and rich traditions of holiday celebrations across the globe.

Key Features:

• In-Depth Articles: Discover well-researched, student-friendly articles on nine iconic holiday characters, including Santa Claus, La Befana, Krampus, and more. Each article delves into the origins, traditions, and modern-day significance of these beloved figures.
• Culturally Rich Content: Enhance cultural awareness in your classroom. This resource serves as an excellent tool for exploring global customs, fostering an appreciation for cultural diversity during the holiday season.
• Interactive Learning: Engage students with thought-provoking questions and activities. From creative writing prompts to comparative analysis, these materials are designed to stimulate critical thinking and discussion.
• Versatile Usage: Ideal for reading comprehension, cultural studies, or as a basis for projects and presentations, this resource adapts to various teaching styles and curriculum needs.
• Teacher-Friendly Format: Easy-to-use PDF format, perfect for both in-person and remote learning environments. Print-ready for classroom handouts or viewable on digital platforms. Google slides are ready to assign and go!

How to Use This Resource:

Day 1 Read articles 1 and 2 and use the thought catcher to take notes about the character
Day 2 Read articles 3 and 4 and use the thought catcher to take notes about the character
Day 3 Read articles 5 and 6 and use the thought catcher to take notes about the character
Day 4 Read articles 7, 8, and 9 and use the thought catcher to take notes about the character
Day 5 Complete the reading quiz. Students should choose a character to create their project on 
Day 6 Students begin researching the country of origin for their Slides presentation
Day 7 Students begin section 2 (Character analysis) of the slides presentation
Day 8 Students begin planning their own Holiday character in Section 3
Day 9 Students continue planning their own Holiday character in Section 3
Day 10Presentation day! Have students present their own holiday character to the class. Alternatively, have them bring in a food from the country of their cultural holiday character!

Benefits:

• Enhance Global Awareness: Help students understand and appreciate winter traditions from different cultures.
• Develop Critical Thinking: Encourage analysis and reflection on how holidays are celebrated worldwide.
• Boost Engagement: With colorful and captivating content, keep your students intrigued and eager to learn more.
• Cross-Curricular Integration: Seamlessly integrate these materials into ELA, social studies, and art lessons.

Who Is It For?

• Middle School Teachers
• ELA Educators
• Homeschooling Parents
• Cultural Studies Instructors

Embark on a festive educational journey with "Holiday Characters from Around the World." Bring the magic of global holiday traditions into your classroom today and watch as your students' understanding and curiosity grow!

This lesson is easy enough for 5th graders to understand yet works well with students up to 12th graders. Modifications can be made as needed.

A fun and exciting Christmas holiday geography project to engage students in learning about winter holidays and traditions around the world. Implement this activity days prior to Christmas break to keep your students motivated and learning. Make every moment a teaching moment!

Through this lesson, students will catch a glimpse into the life of another child, discovering how the winter holiday season is celebrated within their culture/country—whether it is Christmas, Kwanza, Ramadan, Hanukkah, or other winter holidays. Students will be introduced to various ways of life, from South America to Europe to Africa, and will gain an understanding of each winter tradition and celebration.

Students will Adopt a Friend for the holiday Kwanza/ Ramadan / Hanukkah season and will explore ways of life during the holiday season.

Note: (1) This is a research project. Will need a zip file reader to open the file.

WHAT IT INCLUDES

• Detailed Teacher Instructions
• Suggested Introduction Videos (optional for lesson)
• 9 Pages of Christmas Ornaments Reproducible (For Tree)
• A Word File With Editable Ornaments
• Christmas Ornament Reproducible Activity Sheet
• Christmas Ornaments Reproducible (With Writing Lines)
• Grading Rubric

Note: This lesson calls for the instructor to supply an artificial tree or cut a large human-sized tree out of butcher paper. Although, this activity can be modified so that the tree is not necessary.

(TO EDIT THE EDITABLE ORNAMENTS, CLICK ON THE TEXT BOX INSIDE EACH ORNAMENT AND ADD THE NAME, GENDER AND COUNTRY OF THE FRIEND/CHILD. )

☑ Check out the preview to see what is included.

Visit our store Geography & Math Made Easy to view other related resources:

Similar Resources & Skills:

✧ Geography Christmas Resources

✧ Other Fun Seasonal Activities

✧ Seasonal Year Around Puzzle Pack

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Disclaimer:

One purchase is for the use of one teacher. If additional teachers would like to use this product, please purchase additional licenses.

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Related Topics:

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Bring history to life this Christmas holiday season with a fun and engaging stations activity your students will love!

In this festive critical thinking activity, students will travel through time as they uncover which famous historical figures wrote 25 intriguing holiday wish lists to Santa! Blending creativity, historical context, and problem-solving, this activity is perfect for middle school or high school social studies classes.

Each wish list includes a mix of both physical items and abstract ideas, giving students clues about the personality, accomplishments, and aspirations of notable figures from both world and U.S. history. Students will match the wish lists to their corresponding figures as they rotate through stations, completing an answer sheet with their guesses.

What’s Included:

• 25 unique holiday wish lists written from the perspective of historical figures
• A student answer sheet for tracking guesses
• A teacher instructions page with setup and modification suggestions
• A detailed answer key for easy grading
• A blank wish list template for an optional extension activity where students create their own historical wish list

*Includes both color and black & white versions of all sheets!*

Uses:

• Interactive lesson or station-based activity
• Holiday-themed class event
• Review or enrichment for history topics
• Collaborative or individual learning

Extension Idea:
Wrap up the activity by having students choose their favorite historical figure and create a wish list from that person’s perspective. Then, let classmates guess the figure based on their creative clues!

Perfect for:

• Middle and high school world history or U.S. history classes
• December lessons or holiday-themed units
• Sub plans, early finishers, or enrichment

Add some historical holiday cheer to your classroom with this engaging activity!

This is a simple but engaging way for students to practice their unit rates in a real world scenario. They are shopping for Christmas breakfast and they have to compare unit rates of different size products and incorporate coupons! It is a fun way to practice unit rates and also see how they can be used in every day life! There is a rubric for the activity!

• 10 Winter Holiday Narrative Essay Picture Prompts & Planner: Engage students in narrative writing with holiday-themed picture prompts and a structured planner to develop plot, character, and setting in alignment with creative writing standards.
• Christmas Hip Hop Lyrics Analysis: Teach figurative language, rhyme schemes, and tone through an engaging analysis of hip hop lyrics, blending music and ELA standards for Grades 6-8.
• St. Nick: Informational Text Structures: Explore main ideas, text structures, and author’s purpose with this winter-themed set of informational texts designed to strengthen critical reading skills.
• Unraveling Krampus: Text Structures and Critical Analysis: Develop students’ ability to identify text structures and analyze information critically with this high-interest resource focused on the Krampus folklore.
• Informational Text Structure Coloring Sort: Combine creativity and learning as students sort and color-code winter-themed informational texts to practice identifying text structures.
• Winter Wonders: Exploring Text Features Through Snow-Themed Articles: Strengthen comprehension and analysis skills by examining text features in engaging snow-themed articles, perfect for enhancing nonfiction literacy.
• Christmas Winter Holiday Characters from Around the World Research PBL: Dive into global holiday traditions with this project-based learning activity that encourages research, critical thinking, and presentation skills.
• Holiday Figurative Language & Movie Clip Standard-Based Learning Activities: Analyze figurative language through fun, holiday-themed movie clips that align with ELA figurative language standards for middle schoolers.
• Virtual Winter Sports Exploration: Engage students in a digital exploration of winter sports, focusing on informational text comprehension and analysis for Grades 4-6.
• Analyzing Narrative Point of View Winter-Themed: Develop higher-order thinking with winter-themed narrative texts that challenge students to analyze and compare points of view using Bloom’s Taxonomy.
• Winter Vacation PBL: Inspire creativity and practical application with this low-prep, project-based learning activity where stude

Bring history to life this holiday season with The History Elf Project, a fun and engaging classroom project perfect for any social studies unit! This fun, creative activity invites students to step into the shoes (and hats!) of famous historical figures, becoming Santa’s special “History Elf” to uncover the achievements, character traits, and lasting legacies of iconic people from the past. Perfect for the Christmas holiday season, this project combines research, creativity, and writing in a memorable way that makes history engaging for students!

What’s Included:

• History Elf Outline Design Page – Students design their elf to look like their chosen historical figure, adding details to reflect the figure’s life and accomplishments.
• The History Elf’s Holiday Report – In this writing activity, students pen a letter to Santa about their historical figure’s impact and decide if they belong on the “Nice” or “Naughty” list based on what they’ve learned.
• History Elf’s Merry Mischief – Students write a creative story where their elf causes a bit of historical mischief! This optional extension activity lets students imagine their elf changing history in a fun and playful way.
• History Elf - Who Am I? Sheet – This biography sheet helps students organize and summarize their research on their historical figure, covering key achievements, personality traits, and interesting facts.
• Instructions and Grading Rubric – Clear step-by-step instructions for teachers and students, and a comprehensive rubric to guide assessment across creativity, historical accuracy, effort, and more.
• Example Projects - Examples included to give you a better understanding of the direction and design of the project!

Key Features:

• Engaging and Interactive: Blends holiday fun with historical learning to keep students excited about history.
• Perfect for Display: Creates a colorful and festive classroom showcase of “History Elves” with their biographies and stories.
• Flexible Usage: Use it as a stand-alone project, Christmas-themed assignment, or winter break activity!

Encourage your students to explore the past in a fun, memorable way with The History Elf Project! This unique activity is sure to become a holiday favorite in your classroom.

World History Ultimate Bundle! Yearlong Activities, Worksheets, Lessons, Games & Projects for Your Classroom

Bring world history to life and save time with this ultimate yearlong bundle! This comprehensive collection includes over 125 engaging activities covering major historical periods, from Prehistory, Ancient Civilizations, and the Middle Ages to World War II and the 21st Century. Designed for middle school, high school, and homeschool students, this bundle provides an extensive range of resources to enhance your world history curriculum, making history interactive, fun, and memorable.

What’s Included:

• Reading Comprehension Worksheets: This is a new product line, currently covering key historical periods from Prehistory to Ancient Greece, with more added throughout the year!
• Interactive Reading Lessons: Explore historical events and figures with guided questions and in-depth analysis.
• Worksheets & Notes: Perfect for classwork, homework, and review.
• Projects & Research Assignments: Encourage deep dives into specific historical topics, fostering critical thinking.
• Crossword Puzzles & Word Searches: Fun ways to reinforce vocabulary and key historical concepts.
• Classroom Games: Make history fun with interactive activities that engage all learners.
• Teacher Guides & Answer Keys: Detailed guides, rubrics, and answer keys for easy lesson planning and grading.

This Bundle is Ideal For:

• New teachers building a robust collection of classroom activities.
• Experienced teachers seeking fresh, creative resources.
• Homeschool families wanting structured, engaging lessons.

Stay tuned for even more resources added throughout the year as the reading comprehension series continues to expand. Check out the previews to see how these activities can enrich your classroom today!

Engage your students year-round with our captivating "Fun Holiday-Themed Activities Bundle! - Social Studies | U.S. & World History!" This comprehensive collection currently features 20 best-selling activities designed to infuse your social studies curriculum with excitement and fun across various seasons and holidays. Check out what's included below!

Back to School

• Blobs and Line - Classroom Icebreaker Activity
• Four Corners - Classroom Icebreaker Activity
• Would You Rather - Classroom Icebreaker Activity

Halloween

• Frighteningly Famous! - Historical Biography Project
• Historic Headstone! - Social Studies Stations Activity

Thanksgiving

• Feasting with Famous Figures - Thanksgiving Holiday Project
• History of Thanksgiving - Crossword & Word Search Worksheets

Christmas / Winter

• History in a Snow Globe - Social Studies Activity
• The History Elf Project - Winter - Holiday - Christmas - Social Studies Activity
• Winter Holidays - Christmas - Hanukkah - Kwanzaa - Crossword & Word Search
• Guess The Wishlist - Holiday - Christmas - History - Who Am I? Stations Activity

Black History Month

• Martin Luther King, Jr. and The Civil Rights Movement - Crossword & Word Search
• The Civil Rights Movement - U.S. History Vocabulary Crossword & Word Search
• The Civil Rights Movement - Funko Pop Biography Project

Valentine's Day

• Mystery History Date - Valentine's Day - Fun Social Studies Research Activity
• Historical Heartthrobs! Valentines from Famous Figures | Social Studies Activity
• History of Valentine's Day Reading Comprehension & Questions - Holiday Activity
• Valentine's Day Crossword Puzzle & Word Search Activity - Holiday - Winter

Spring Break / Summer / End of Year

• Draw Your Own Sandcastle! Spring Break | Summer | End of the Year Activity
• Biography on a Beach Ball! - End of the Year | Spring Break | Summer Activity

This is a growing bundle and will update as more products are created and included!