1011DecemberHolidays

=December Holidays =
 * This is a great activity to turn into a unit or mini-unit about holidays celebrated around the world during December. We have all heard of Christmas and most of us know about Hanukkah and some of us may stay up until midnight to welcome in the New Year on New Year's Eve but do you know what St. Lucia Day is or Las Posadas or Boxing Day? These, and others, are all holidays celebrated in December. Which ones do your students and their families celebrate?

This activity will include a collaborative survey about which holidays are celebrated by the students participating in the Winter Wonderland Project and a follow-up activity for students to share their favorite December Holiday Celebrations using VoiceThread.

December Holidays Survey:
Survey your students to discover which December holidays/events are celebrated by the students:
 * Hanukkah
 * St. Nicholas Day
 * Rohatsu
 * St. Lucia Day
 * Las Posadas
 * Winter Solstice
 * Christmas
 * Boxing Day
 * Kwanzaa
 * New Year's Eve

**Survey Results: [|1011WWDecemberHolidaysSurvey-Final.xls] ** <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">December Holiday Celebrations VoiceThreads

 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students will create original artwork illustrating their favorite December Holiday. This could be done using any graphics program: KidPix, Pixie, TuxPaint or in an art class using any type of media and then photographed for digital use.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The teacher will upload the artwork to a VoiceThread.
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Each student will then comment on their artwork and talk about the holiday/event that they have illustrated and the traditions their family observes.
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The teacher will add their VoiceThread to their class page(s) on the wiki and will **submit a link to the VoiceThread(s)** so that all of the December Holiday VoiceThreads can be linked on this page.
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students can also comment on their classmates' work and other classes' VoiceThreads. We realize that time is often tight in December but we would ask that if your class is participating in this activity, they should try to comment on at least one other VoiceThread from another school.

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> (kid friendly explanations of St. Lucia, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year's & Solstice)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Here's what you need to do to get started with VoiceThread: **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">You will need an account on VoiceThread. There are 2 options for individual educators and one of which is free.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Free Option Hints & Restrictions: If you are using the free option (under Single Educator), you will have to have your students record one at a time or you can have them record using Audacity or Garageband and save their comments as MP3s which you can upload. This may be the way you want to record anyway to reduce background noise but it is the only option with the Free Educator option. If you choose the free option, you may want to set up identities for your students or classes and then have them select the appropriate identity for recording.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Class Subscription: This can be a great option for any classroom, even a computer lab. It is a more controlled environment if you are going to have your students creating their own VoiceThreads in the future. If you have more than 100 students in a computer lab, you can set up your students as your Computer Numbers (so if you have 30 computers, you will have 30 student accounts). Then set up identities for your students who sit at that computer. Since you won't have multiple students sitting at the same computer at the same time you can still have all students log in and comment at the same time if you wish. Note, that doing it this way means that all of your grades will share permissions on the VoiceThreads for that computer.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">There are also School Subscription for $1/user which lets each student have their own account and their own permissions on VoiceThreads they create and [|State or District accounts] too.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">It is preferable that you have a microphone for commenting but it is not necessary. You can upload previously recorded comments saved as MP3 from other audio recorders (Audacity, Garageband, etc.) or you can use a WebCam to comment (this would mean you student's faces would also show so make sure you have permission for that) or you can comment by telephone or you can just type your responses. For the basics on how you navigate and comment in a VoiceThread check out this tutorial.
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">That's all there is to it. I would highly recommend that you moderate all comments on your VoiceThread so that you can approve them before they can be seen/heard by the world. This will keep your VoiceThread safe from inappropriate comments. || **<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">December Holidays Resources **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Arthur: Sue Ellen's Scrapbook
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Education World December Holidays
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">BrainPop Jr. Winter Holidays
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">BrainPop Winter Holidays

> (4th & 5th Grade Level but could be adapted)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Hanukkah/Chanukah **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">A Mini Unit
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Torah Tots
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Akhlah: Hanukkah for Children
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Hanukat: About Hanukkah
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Chanukah Songs


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">St. Nicholas Day **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">How to Celebrate St. Nicholas Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kaboose - St. Nicholas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">MIKids
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: St. Nicholas Day


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Rohatsu (Bohdi Day) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">What is Rohatsu?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: Bohdi Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Dharma School: Children's Rohatsu
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Buddhist Meditations for Kids


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> St. Lucia Day **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Christmas in Sweden
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">All About St. Lucia Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Celebrate St. Lucia Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Lucia History
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">A Santa Lucia Festival
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: Saint Lucy's Day


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Las Posadas **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Scholastic: Celebrate La Posada
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">BrightHub Las Posadas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Las Posadas History
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kaboose: Mexican Christmas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Hispanic Culture: Las Posadas
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Holiday Traditions of Mexico

> (Science tie-in)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Winter Solstice **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">History of Winter Solstice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Understanding the Winter Solstice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Celebrating Winter Solstice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: Winter Solstice
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Winter Solstice


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Christmas **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Christmas Celebrations Around the World
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">[|Christmas Symbols]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Christmas Around The World
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">How to Say "Merry Christmas"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Christmas Traditions Around The World
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Christmas Around the World


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Boxing Day (St. Stephen's Day) **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Boxing Day Origins
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">What is Boxing Day?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Boxing Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Why Christmas: Boxing Day
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: Boxing Day

> (Online Picture Book) > (Online Picture Book)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Kwanzaa **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Official Kwanzaa Site
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kwanzaa Guide
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kwanzaa For Kids
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kid Zone: Symbols of Kwanzaa
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kwanzaa Songs
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">What Is Kwanzaa
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kwanzaa Candles


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> New Year's Eve **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">History of New Year's Eve
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">New Years History
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">[|New Year's Traditions]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">New Year's Eve Traditions & History
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Wikipedia: New Year's Eve


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;"> Online Activities & Games: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Torah Tots: Spin The Dreidel
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 90%;">Kwanzaa Games ||