CHRISTMAS

by John Milne and Kara Turner
This lesson is designed for students to use the Internet to gather facts about Christmas. In Lesson 1 , Christmas Around the World, they complete scavenger hunts to collect facts about Christmas in many countries to later be placed on a map of the world. Part 2 involves students selecting a country and answering specific questions about Christmas traditions in that country. Students can present their information in the form of a poster or a whole class slideshow. Lesson 2, The History and Traditions of Christmas, involves students answering questions that will give them knowledge of the origins of our Christmas traditions and more about the history of Christmas in Canada. Students will create trivia questions that can be used in a game.

IRPs COVERED:

GRADE 4:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-locate and record information from a variety of sources
-organize information into a presentation with a main idea and supporting details
-demonstrate understanding of timelines
LANGUAGE ARTS:
-read, listen, and view for specific purposes
-use strategies, including asking and developing questions, rereading and reading further to develop understanding
-describe and recount key ideas or information from various media
-locate specific details in stories, poems, mass media, and audio-visual media
-gather information for specific purposes and identify sources, including people, print, audio-visual media, and electronic media
-monitor and correct their own spelling by using manual and electronic spell checkers, dictionaries, and thesauri
-create and express thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a variety of oral, written, and electronic forms
-create and present a variety of personal and informational communications, including written and oral poems, stories, explanations, informal oral reports and dramas, personal letters, and illustrated charts or posters

GRADE 5:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-gather and record a body of information from a variety of primary and secondary sources
-use an outline to organize information into a coherent presentation
-demonstrate understanding of Canadian culture
-explain ways people preserve and transmit culture
-demonstrate appreciation of contributions of Aboriginal peoples, the French, and the British to the development of Canada
LANGUAGE ARTS:
-read, listen, and view for specific purposes
-adjust their reading rate according to their purpose and the difficulty of the text
-demonstrate understanding of the main ideas or events in print (including stories and poetry) and in non-print media
-use conventional spelling for most words
-identify and use sources of information, including people, print, audio-visual media, and electronic media
-edit to correct their own and others' use of grammar, spelling, and punctuation using both electronic and manual means
-demonstrate pride and satisfaction in using language to create and express thoughts, ideas, and feelings in a variety of oral, written, and electronic forms
-create a variety of personal and informational communications, including written and oral stories, poems, or lyrics; explanations and descriptions; informal oral reports and dramatics; and brief factual reports
-apply the basic rules and conventions of writing or speaking for the oral, visual, and written forms they select

GRADE 6:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-research information using print, non-print, and electronic sources
-organize information from a variety of sources into a structured presentation using more than one form of representation
-describe daily life, work, family structures, and gender roles in Canada and the world
-demonstrate appreciation of contributions of a variety of cultures to Canada and the world
-locate and describe major geographic features and selected nation states of the world
LANGUAGE ARTS:
-use questioning, predicting, summarizing, inferring, skimming or scanning, and graphic organizers to accomplish specific purposes for reading, viewing, and listening
-use text and electronic media features, including indices, tables of contents, and keyword searches, to locate specific information or material
-identify and represent the main ideas or events in stories, poetry, informational material, videos, and other media
-locate, gather, select, and record information for specific purposes from various human, print, and electronic sources
-demonstrate pride and satisfaction in using language to express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings in various written, oral, visual, and electronic forms
-create various personal and transactional communications, including real and invented narratives, poems or lyrics, summaries or retellings, descriptions, letters, informal oral presentations, charts, and posters
-apply the basic rules and conventions for the forms of communication they select

GRADE 7:
SOCIAL STUDIES:
-gather and record a body of information from primary archaeological and historical evidence and secondary print, non-print, and electronic sources
-demonstrate understanding of events as part of a chronological series
-identify connections between current cultures and ancient cultures
-locate and describe current and historical events
LANGUAGE ARTS:
-use text and electronic media features, including indices, tables of contents, and keyword searches, to locate specific information or material
-demonstrate increased control over their use of grammatical structures and begin to vary grammar to achieve particular effects
-locate, gather, and select information for specific purposes from a variety of human, print, and electronic sources
-revise and edit to improve basic content, organization, and effect to best suit their audience and purpose
-demonstrate pride and satisfaction in using language to create and express their thoughts, ideas, and feelings through a variety of oral, written, and electronic forms
-create a variety of personal and informational communications, including fiction and non-fiction; written summaries, instructions, and reports; oral and visual presentations; oral and written opinions; poems; or lyrics
-use appropriate language to celebrate special events and accomplishments

COMPUTER SCOPE AND SEQUENCE COVERED:

· Relate writing process to computer.
· Combine information from multiple sources for presentation.
· Launch browser to access the World Wide Web, FTP sites, Gopher.
· Access information files and search sites.
· Observe appropriate etiquette at all times.
· Identify, define/locate sources of electronic information (e.g. CD-ROM, Internet).
· Select relevant information.
· Transcribe text from a prewritten document.
· Save, name and retrieve files.
· Insert the cursor to add or delete text.
· Use spell checker and understand its limitations.

LESSON 1: Christmas Around the World
Part 1:

1. In class talk about what students already know about how Christmas is celebrated in other countries.

2. Divide your class into 4 groups and distribute one of the following four scavenger hunts to each student in that group:

Group 1: Scavenger Hunt #1
Group 2: Scavenger Hunt #2
Group 3: Scavenger Hunt #3
Group 4: Scavenger Hunt #4

(If you are unable to get the worksheets in Adobe Acrobat please contact K. Turner at kturner@sd71.bc.ca. Acrobat will be in all the schools soon.)

3. Students can visit SD#71 Christmas Page (sd71.bc.ca) go to Teaching Resources then click on Christmas. Go to Sites for Students and visit one of the four Scavenger Hunt links and answer the questions on their printed out version.

4. Now students within each group get together and divide the questions up so that each answer gets written in a full sentence on a separate piece of paper. When each sentence is completed, that student should use a tack or tape to pin it on that particular country on a large map of the world.

PART 2:

5. Now students can sign up to study one of the following countries (these countries have been chosen by the availability of information on the Internet):

6. Hand out the sheet of questions that students can answer about their chosen country. Click here to view the sheet in Adobe Acrobat. Some students may have difficulty answering all the questions, depending on which country they choose.

7. Students can use the following sites to answer the questions on the sheets (these sites are all at the top of the worksheet or students can use the links on the SD #71 Christmas Page):

http://christmas.com/worldview

http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/around.html

http://www.wsmailorder.com/christmas/christmas.htm

http://christmas-world.freeservers.com//index.html

http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm

http://milwaukee.about.com/library/blChristmas.htm?iam=dpile&
terms=Christmas+around+the+world

8. Students could present the information that they collected in one of the following ways:

-create a poster using Kid Pix
-create a poster or sign in Student Writing Centre
-create a poster in class with felt pens and pencil crayons
-an oral presentation to the class
-a whole class Kid Pix slide show
-a whole class Hyperstudio presentation.

Click here to return to the Christmas Web Page.

Click here to return to the School District #71 Web Page.

LESSON 2: The History and Traditions of Christmas

1. In class discuss the origin of our Christmas traditions: Ask where Santa came from and what they know about other traditions like bells and sleigh rides.

2. Print out a copy of the worksheet for each class member. Click here to get an Adobe Acrobat version of the sheet.

3. Ask students a few random trivia questions to help them understand what trivia questions are like. Tell them that while they are reading the information that they can record other interesting facts to be used to create trivia questions about Christmas (they can also use the answers to the questions to make the trivia questions). Talk about difficulty level too to ensure they don't make questions too hard.

4. In the computer lab, students follow the instructions on the sheet to answer the questions. Students can either type in the addresses or visit the sd71 Christmas Page and use the student links there.

5. After students have answered all the questions they are to revisit the sites on the worksheet and write down more facts that can be used as trivia questions. If they have written out enough information to satisfy their teachers they can work on the mazes on the back of the sheet or visit one of the primary Christmas sites.

6. In class have students create trivia cards with the question on one side and the answer on the back and either have students create a game to be played using the questions or play a whole class game like trivia baseball (class in 2 teams and get a question from the other team when you are up to bat).

EXTENSION:

-Have students create their own symbol of Christmas and tell what it stands for.

Click here to return to the Christmas Web Page.

Click here to return to the School District #71 Web Page.