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Celebrating Memorial Day – No Greater Gift

Teach your students about the ultimate sacrifice

The meaning of the most solemn of civic holidays is sometimes lost, as many Americans view Memorial Day weekend as simply the unofficial start of the summer season.  There may be a vague awareness of Memorial Day’s meaning among the general populace, but for families which have a military tradition the day can be deeply personal.  We’ll take a look at the origin of this day of remembrance, examine how it is celebrated, and profile some of the courageous people who have given their lives for their country.

What is Memorial Day?

Memorial Day is always observed on the last Monday in May.  It commemorates all men and women who have died while giving military service to the United States.  Memorial Day should not be confused with Veterans Day, which is a celebration of all U.S. military veterans every November, or with Armed Forces Day (celebrated the third Saturday in May) which honors men and women currently serving in the military.

The History of Memorial Day

While some trace the idea of a “memorial” day back to President Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address dedicating the Gettysburg National Cemetery in 1863, an actual Memorial Day holiday began in 1868, just a few years after the end of the Civil War.  The holiday, originally called Decoration Day, was established by a group of Union veterans as a day to decorate with flowers the graves of fallen soldiers.

In an 1868 Decoration Day address at Arlington Cemetery, then-congressman and future U.S. president James Garfield said, “I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion.”  This sentiment still captures the true meaning of Memorial Day today.

In 1873, New York became the first state to recognize Memorial Day as an official holiday.  By the late 19th century, many more cities observed Memorial Day, and a number of states had declared it a legal holiday.  In 1971, an act of Congress made Memorial Day a national holiday.  In 2000, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act, encouraging Americans to observe a moment of silence at 3 p.m. local time to remember those who have died while serving.

Memorial Day Traditions

Americans observe Memorial Day in many ways.  Parades, speeches, ceremonies and concerts are held around the country.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The solemn holiday is formally observed each year at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. when the president gives a speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  This monument contains remains of unidentified soldiers and stands as an iconic memorial to all those killed in service.  The tomb, a white, marble sarcophagus has stood atop a hill overlooking the capital since 1921.  The Tomb is also a place of mourning and a site for reflection on military service.

Military Cemeteries

Arlington National Cemetery is the most-well known final resting place for America’s fallen heroes.  Approximately 400,000 veterans and their eligible dependents are interred there including service members from each of America’s major wars, from the War of Independence through today’s conflicts.  The cemetery also holds the grave of two U.S. presidents (Taft and Kennedy).  An eternal flame marks the place of Kennedy’s grave.  More than 16 million people visited the site in its first three years.

There are over 150 “national” cemeteries in the U.S.  These include the aforementioned Gettysburg, one of the 14 national cemeteries established by Lincoln in 1862.  Other famous national graveyards are Golden Gate National Cemetery and Antietam National Cemetery which contains nearly 5,000 graves (over 1800 are unidentified).  Antietam is the deadliest one-day battle in American military history with more than 22,000 casualties.  In this battle a nurse known as the “Angel of the Battlefield”, Clara Barton, brought badly needed supplies to doctors at the scene.

Since many American soldiers and sailors died in foreign lands, there are many military cemeteries on foreign soil.  Notably, St. James American Cemetery in Brittany, France contains the remains of over 4,000 World War II American soldiers, many who were killed on D-Day.  The Manilla American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines is the final resting place for more than 17,000 U.S. personnel who lost their lives during World War II.  Many were killed in New Guinea, or during the Battle of the Philippines (1941–42) or the Allied recapture of the islands.  Buried there are the five Sullivan Brothers, who perished when their ship was sunk in 1942.

Parades and Ceremonies

Memorial Day observances include parades, presentations of the colors, speeches, and gun salutes.  These events are often organized by groups such as Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, American Gold Star Mothers, and Daughters of the American Revolution.  The presentation of colors is a ceremony presenting the American flag and flags of the armed services (referred to as the “colors”).  A color guard, consisting of honor guards and flag bearers, presents the colors while a sergeant-at-arms dictates the orders during the ceremony.

There’s a protocol for displaying the American flag on Memorial Day.  The stars and stripes should be hoisted quickly up to full staff at sunrise, then lowered to half-staff until noon, and then returned to the top of the staff.  And, as always, any other flag displayed with Old Glory should be given a lower place. 

Gun salutes have long been associated with Memorial Day as a way to honor the fallen.  A three-volley salute – representing duty, honor, and country – is performed by a rifle party which fires blanks into the air three times in unison.  A 21-gun salute is typically performed with cannons rather than rifles, and, although reserved for the funeral of a sitting or former president, is sometimes given on Memorial Day.

Other Memorial Day traditions include pilgrimages by veterans and their families to military cemeteries and sites such as the World War II Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.  During the 3 p.m. moment of silence on Memorial Day, Amtrak conductors sound one long whistle in honor of those who have died in service.  Memorial Day is often chosen for special dedications of monuments.  Fittingly, in 1922, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated by then-Supreme Court Chief Justice William Taft on Memorial Day. 

Hall of Heroes

What follows are just a few of the people who have paid the ultimate price on the battlefield.  Each received the nation’s highest award for military valor in action: the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Frank Luke

Lieut. Luke was a daredevil WWI fighter pilot who targeted heavily defended German observation balloons.  In just thirty hours of flight time over ten missions in nine days of combat, Luke shot down fourteen enemy balloons and four aircraft.  On his final mission on Sept. 29, 1918, his plane went down in a field near a small village in France.  He posthumously received a Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery.

Joe Gandara

Pvt. Gandara received the Congressional Medal of Honor “for his heroic actions on June 9, 1944, in Amfreville, France.  His detachment came under devastating enemy fire from a strong German force, pinning the men to the ground for a period of four hours.  Gandara advanced voluntarily and alone toward the enemy position and destroyed three hostile machine-guns before he was fatally wounded.”*

Alfred Nietzel

Sgt. Nietzel was awarded the Medal of Honor “for his valorous actions in Heistern, Germany, Nov. 18, 1944.  When an enemy assault threatened to overrun his unit’s position, Nietzel selflessly covered for the retreating members of his squad, expending all his ammunition and holding his post until he was killed by an enemy hand grenade.”*

Leonard Kravitz

Army Pfc. Kravitz was “recognized for his actions in Yangpyong, Korea, March 6-7, 1951. While occupying defensive positions, Kravitz’s unit was overrun by enemy combatants and forced to withdraw. Kravitz voluntarily remained at a machine-gun position to provide suppressive fire for the retreating troops. This forced the enemy to concentrate their attack on his own position. Kravitz ultimately did not survive the attack, but his actions saved his entire platoon.”*

Joe Baldonado

Army Cpl. Baldonado “distinguished himself on Nov. 25, 1950, while serving as a machine-gunner in the vicinity of Kangdong, Korea. Baldonado’s platoon was occupying Hill 171 when the enemy attacked, attempting to take their position. Baldonado held an exposed position, cutting down wave after wave of enemy troops even as they targeted attacks on his position. During the final assault by the enemy, a grenade landed near Baldanado’s gun, killing him instantly.”*

Oscar P. Austin

During the early morning hours of February 23, 1969, Marine Pfc. Austin’s observation post was attacked by a large North Vietnamese Army force.  One of his wounded companions had fallen unconscious in a position dangerously exposed to enemy fire.  Austin didn’t hesitate to leave the relative security of his position and, with complete disregard for his own safety, raced across the bullet-swept terrain to help.  As he neared his fellow Marine, Austin saw an enemy grenade land nearby.  Instantly, he leaped between the injured man and the grenade, absorbing its detonation.  Ignoring his painful injuries, Austin turned to examine the wounded man when he saw an NVA soldier aiming a weapon at the unconscious Marine.  Austin threw himself between his friend and the enemy soldier, and by doing this, was mortally wounded.   He gallantly gave his life for his comrade and his country.

Robert Miller

On January 25, 2008, following an engagement with insurgents in Afghanistan, Army “Staff Sergeant Miller led a small squad forward to conduct a battle damage assessment. As the group neared the small, steep, narrow valley that the enemy had inhabited, a large, well-coordinated insurgent force initiated a near ambush, assaulting from elevated positions with ample cover. Exposed and with little available cover, the patrol was totally vulnerable to enemy rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapon fire. As point man, Staff Sergeant Miller was at the front of the patrol, cut off from supporting elements, and less than 20 meters from enemy forces. Nonetheless, with total disregard for his own safety, he called for his men to quickly move back to covered positions as he charged the enemy over exposed ground and under overwhelming enemy fire in order to provide protective fire for his team. While maneuvering to engage the enemy, Staff Sergeant Miller was shot in his upper torso. Ignoring the wound, he continued to push the fight, moving to draw fire from over one hundred enemy fighters upon himself. He then again charged forward through an open area in order to allow his teammates to safely reach cover. After killing at least 10 insurgents, wounding dozens more, and repeatedly exposing himself to withering enemy fire while moving from position to position, Staff Sergeant Miller was mortally wounded by enemy fire.”†

*From remarks made by President Barack Obama at a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony on 3/18/2014

†From remarks made by President Barack Obama at a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony on 10/6/2010

Resources for Teaching about Memorial Day

Help Teaching has created these educational resources:

KidsKonnect.com offers these resources:

BusyTeacher.org has these free resources:

In today’s culture which touts professional athletes and celebrities as heroes, it is important to instill in children and youth the significance of Memorial Day to America’s history and civic life.  Let’s teach them what true heroism is.

Celebrating Mother’s Day

Celebrating Mother's Day

After Christmas and Halloween, Mother’s Day is perhaps the most popular holiday on the calendar.  It is observed in different forms and on different days throughout the world.  In the United States, Canada, Australia, much of western Europe, Japan, China, the Philippines, South Africa, and India, Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May.  It’s a day set aside to honor and/or remember one’s mother.

“A printed card means nothing except that you are too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone in the world.”
—Anna Jarvis, founder of Mother’s Day

(Read on to discover the meaning behind this unusual quote about this holiday.)

When did Mother’s Day Begin?

Although the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, the modern idea of Mother’s Day did not begin until about 175 years ago. Just before the American Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach women how to care for their children properly. After the war, she organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” when mothers would meet with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. Another forerunner of Mother’s Day was promoted by the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe, who in 1870 wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” asking mothers to unite in promoting world peace.

Anna Jarvis

It wasn’t until the daughter of Ann Reeves Jarvis, Anna Jarvis, took up the cause of promoting a Mother’s Day specifically to honor mothers that the idea became a national movement. In 1908 Jarvis held a memorial ceremony to honor her mother’s memory in Grafton, West Virginia. Jarvis had cared for her mother as her mother’s health had declined. The idea for a day set aside to honor mothers quickly caught on until President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day an official U.S. holiday in 1914.

Mother’s Day quickly spread in popularity, and Jarvis just as quickly saw the rapid commercialization of the holiday as the exploitation of what was intended to be a special day of reverence for one’s mother. Oddly, she spent more of her life trying to eradicate the holiday than she did trying to create it.

Jarvis railed against the florist, card, and candy industries cashing in on Mother’s Day. She called for a boycott against florists who raised the price of the symbol of Mother’s Day – the white carnation – every May. At one point in the 1920s, her threat to sue the New York Mother’s Day Committee, which included the state’s governor and the city’s mayor, over plans for a large Mother’s Day celebration resulted in the event being canceled. When she crashed the American War Mothers convention, Jarvis was charged with disorderly conduct.

Mothering Sunday

It should be noted that in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the origins of the holiday known as “Mothering Sunday” had nothing to do with honoring one’s mother, although nowadays in those countries, Mothering Sunday has become the equivalent of Mother’s Day.

Mothering Sunday is always held on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and that should give you a clue as to its genesis as a religious holiday. This Mid-Lent Sunday – or Laetare Sunday – also known as Refreshment Sunday, is a day to take a break from the penitential Lenten fasting. The day’s relation to mothering comes from the Scripture passages read during the Mass as far back as the 8th century. Since the 16th century, it had been a custom for families to attend a church service together in the nearest important church or cathedral – their “Mother” church. 

Mother’s Day traditions

In North America, Mother’s Day traditionally involves presenting moms with flowers, cards, and other gifts. Taking mom out to dinner is also very popular, and most restaurants that day will be mobbed with diners. Reservations are a must!

Americans spend upwards of 25 billion dollars each year on the holiday, second only to the combined spending during the Christmas/New Year/Hanukkah/Thanksgiving season. (Mother’s Day even tops Valentine’s Day in spending!). Families also celebrate by giving mothers a day off from activities like cooking or other household chores. Mothers and other women will be honored at worship services on Mother’s Day weekend. The honoring of mothers is not limited to just biological mothers, but anyone who has stepped up to raise children that may or may not be their own.

Flowers

Flowers are a popular gift for mom as bouquets, and potted blooms account for more than two-thirds of all Mother’s Day gifts. Even though it was the white carnation that originally became popular, red carnations are also considered the official Mother’s Day flower. More importantly, a bouquet of mom’s favorite variety of flowers is the one she most would like to receive. The more than fifteen thousand retail florists in the United States will sell about 2.8 billion stems of cut flowers for Mother’s Day. That’s 69% of all annual flower sales. Most of the flowers are brought in from Columbia, which accounts for 78% of imports.

Another American Mother’s Day tradition is the wearing of flowers. It is said that wearing red or pink flowers shows that one’s mother is still alive. If a person wears a white flower, it means that mother has passed away. Some people place white carnations on the grave of their mother.

Cards and calls

The greeting card industry relies heavily on Mother’s Day sales to survive. Some 113 million cards are sent each year on the holiday. Surely, though, mom’s most memorable and cherished cards are those made by hand by her young children.

Phone calls to mom are also a popular thing to do on Mother’s Day. There is nothing like hearing one’s child’s own voice on the other end of the line, especially if that child lives far away. Likewise, video chats are more popular now than ever.

Mother’s Day or Mothers’ Day?

When Anna Jarvis campaigned for a national holiday honoring mothers, she made special note of the correct placement of the possessive apostrophe. She felt strongly that the holiday should be a personal celebration of one’s mother, thus she preferred the singular possessive Mother’s to the plural possessive Mothers’. Sometimes the holiday is spelled without an apostrophe.

Mother’s Day around the World

As you might imagine, Mother’s Day is celebrated around the world in various ways on various days with various customs.

Asia

In Thailand, for example, Mother’s Day is always celebrated in August on the birthday of Sirikit, the Queen mother of Thailand. Mother’s Day in Nepal is based on the Bikram Sambat Nepali calendar, which follows the positions of the sun, moon and planets, thus this holiday lands in April or May. Mother’s Day is known in Nepal as Aama ko Mukh Herne Din (“day to see mother’s face”). For those whose mothers have died, people visit the legendary natural pond Mata-Tirtha outside of Kathmandu, where they believe they will see their mother’s face when they peer into the pond.

Eastern Europe

Most eastern European countries celebrate Mother’s Day on March 8, which is also International Women’s Day. This may be due to Soviet-era influence on the region. Vladimir Lenin, founder of Russia’s Communist Party, declared Woman’s Day an official Soviet holiday in 1917. Today, however, Russia’s official Mother’s Day holiday is the last Sunday in November as established by President Yeltsin in 1998. Since November is a very cold month in Russia, fresh-cut flowers are hard to come by, so Russians resort to the more hardy chrysanthemum as a floral gift for mom.

In Albania, people observe Mother’s Day on March 8, and is generally celebrated in many of the same ways as it would be around the world. One Albanian tradition is to give a simple gift of a mimosa sprig to mom.

Western Europe

In Germany, they celebrate Muttertag in May. However, the German tradition began in an unusual way when it was first celebrated in 1922 as a way to raise the country’s low birth rate. It was officially declared a German holiday by Hitler in 1933 when childbearing women were honored as heroes. Today, Germans honor their mothers similarly to how the rest of Europe does.

In Spain, Mother’s Day takes place on December 8, the Roman Catholic Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This celebrates what Christians believe was the day when Mary, the mother of Jesus, became with child through the Holy Spirit of God.

Arab lands

A day honoring moms was introduced in Egypt by journalist Mostafa Amin who convinced Egyptian president Gamal Nasser to create a national Mother’s Day in 1956. Ironically, when Amin was jailed for espionage several years later, the holiday was changed to “Family Day.” Many citizens protested, and the government changed it back to Mother’s Day.

Egypt (and most Arab countries) celebrate Mother’s Day on March 21st (vernal equinox). The date harkens back to the time of the pharaohs when the goddess Isis, a symbol of motherhood, was revered with boats full of flowers floating down the Nile to mark the coming of spring.

In Dubai, Mothers are treated to a special day of dining out, gourmet baking, flowered baskets, and perhaps even a day at a spa! Prestigious department stores such as Bloomingdale’s and Harvey Nichols offer special pampering packages.

Africa

Mother’s Day in Ethiopia comes in the fall, when people gather to sing songs and feast as part of Antrosht, a multi-day celebration honoring motherhood. The children bring ingredients to make a traditional hash. Girls bring butter, cheese, vegetables and spices, and the boys bring a bull or lamb. As the mother prepares the meat hash, she and her daughter(s) put butter on their faces and chests as part of the ritual. 

Mother’s Day is not an official public holiday in Kenya, but most people still observe it every second Sunday of May. Like elsewhere, it is typical to make a card for Mom and to write a poem or other special message inside. Many people also do the chores for their mother on Mother’s Day, take her out to dinner, or go on a family picnic. The most common gift ideas for Mum in Kenya include flowers, clothing, jewelry, and handmade gifts like decorations.

Mother’s Day is a unique day in Nigerian churches when everybody puts on their dancing shoes for a musical atmosphere in the worship service. The special moment is when the children are called upon to recite a Mother’s Day poem to their mothers, and each presents them with a gift.

Latin America

Mother’s Day in Mexico is always celebrated on May 10. Children write cards, deliver flowers, and give gifts to mothers. Children also help with housework, churches have special masses, and music, food, and family gatherings are all traditional ways to honor Mexican mothers.

In Costa Rica, Mother’s Day is a national holiday observed on August 15, which is the Roman Catholic holy day celebrating the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Costa Rican mothers are treated like true royalty, receiving gifts as large as appliances. Some families may even raise a pig to be cooked that day.

Peruvians also honor their mothers in August, and they celebrate Mother Earth, or Pachamama, a goddess revered by Andean indigenous peoples. In Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting.

In Bolivia, Dia de la Madre is the most celebrated holiday besides Christmas. Mother’s Day is always May 27, a day that memorializes Bolivian women who resisted the Spanish Army in 1812. Hundreds of women, children and elders were slaughtered. After they gained independence from Spain, Bolivia declared May 27 as the “Day of the heroines of Coronillas” after the place where the women were killed.

Resources for Mother’s Day

Help Teaching offers these educational resources:

KidsKonnect.com has Mother’s Day Facts & Worksheets.

BusyTeacher.org offers a bouquet of resources here.

A Different Way to Mark the Coming of Spring

Mark the Coming of Spring

Most people are familiar with the two major spring festivals in the west: Easter and Passover, but there are several other lesser-known spring celebrations, which come from pagan tradition.  We will take a look at some of the pagan festivals, which although ancient – and a bit off the beaten path – are still held today.

Ancient Pagan Festivals

Many of these festivals stem from ancient fertility rites, so caution must be used, as some celebrations in antiquity involved sexual rituals.  Thus, content should be closely reviewed before presenting to students.

Beltane

Beltane means “fires of Bel” in Gaelic (Bel was a Celtic god).  It is a fire festival that celebrates spring and the fertility of the coming growing season.  Springtime is the beginning of the agricultural calendar, and farmers would be hoping for a fruitful year for their families and crops.

Rituals of Beltane often included courting between young men and women who would collect blossoms in the forest and light fires in the evening.  These rituals and pagan festivals would often lead to marriages in the coming summer or autumn.  Fire was thought to cleanse, purify and increase fertility, so it played a central role in Beltane.  To ensure the fertility of the herd, cattle were often paraded between two fires.

Although agriculture is no longer the center of contemporary life, some modern pagans celebrate Beltane as a way to cultivate the “fertility” of an individual’s creativity.  Fertile minds are needed for our work, our families, and our health.  Celebrants today will leap over fire to bring good fortune, happiness, and fertility to mind, body, and spirit.

Every year on the last night of April, thousands of people come together in Edinburgh, Scotland, for a huge celebration to mark Beltane.  A procession led by the May Queen (fertility) and the Green Man (growth) marks the change of seasons.  Winter concludes when the Green Man’s winter attire is removed to reveal his spring costume.  A dance takes place as the Green Man and the May Queen are married.

Floralia 

The Roman pagan fertility-focused festival of Floralia occurred for six days beginning April 28, and this seems to be the likely origin of some of the things we associate with May Day.  Roman poets Ovid and Juvenal mention the wearing of bright colors, lots of drinking, and sexual permissiveness during this celebration dedicated to Flora, the goddess of flowers.  Romans marked Floralia with a set of athletic games and theatrical productions known as the Ludi Florales.  After the performances, the celebration continued in the Circus Maximus, where animals were set free and beans scattered to ensure fertility.

Walpurgisnacht

An old Germanic festival also involving bonfires, which later merged with the feast of the eighth-century German Saint Walpurga became known as Walpurgisnacht (or Hexennacht, meaning “Witches’ Night”).

According to tradition, on the eve of May Day, all witches and warlocks would fly in from all around Germany on broomsticks or goats, and come together on the Brocken, the highest peak of the Harz Mountains.  Here they would await the arrival of spring with bonfires and dancing.  In reality, though, the gathering was probably not made up of witches, but rather ordinary pagan people who were forced to secretly practice their ancient rituals because church law forbade them to do so.  The lofty Brocken was often shrouded in cloud cover, making it a good place for clandestine meetings.

Festivals co-opted by the Roman Church

By the Middle Ages, what had once been the fertility rituals Floralia and Beltane had been subsumed into the Roman Church calendar and converted into the Christian celebration of Whitsun, or Pentecost.  The Welsh tale of Geraint begins with a description of the Welsh kings’ Whitsun feast, one of the three times feasts of the year, along with Christmas and Easter, when vassals were gifted with new clothes.  Although disputed, it is thought by some that the word Easter was derived from Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility.

Bringing in the May

May Day (May 1) celebrates the return of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, with origins in the fertility rites of ancient agrarian societies of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans.  May Day falls exactly 6 months from All Saints Day (November 1).  This ancient festival survives today, including decorating a May tree or maypole, around which people dance.  May 1 has also become linked with political action in association with International Workers Day.

In most places, people would “bring in the May” by gathering flowers and branches to make garlands or wreaths.  The English poet and author Geoffrey Chaucer mentions woodbine (a honeysuckle shrub) and hawthorn (a flowering shrub of the rose family) in The Knight’s Tale, while birch was more common in Wales and sycamore in Cornwall.  The flowers were given as prizes or gifts to friends and neighbors.  The quaint custom of washing one’s face in the morning dew of May Day was supposed to bring youth and radiance to one’s complexion.

The most lasting May Day image is the painted and ribboned-trimmed maypole which was displayed prominently on the village green.  Despite the earliest recorded mention of this pagan festivals in a mid-fourteenth century Welsh poem, it seems to have English, rather than Celtic, roots.  There are many theories as to the maypole’s original significance, but there is no definitive explanation.

May Day rituals go back a long time but were not enjoyed by everyone.  In the 1600’s the fun-loving festivity of May Day was frowned upon by the Puritans, who banned dancing and merry-making in England.

May Day Rituals

In the fifteenth century, pantomimes of Robin Hood stories became a popular part of May Day celebrations, as did Morris dancing.  This form of English folk dance is based on rhythmic footwork and the performance of choreographed steps by a group of dancers wearing bells on their shins.  The dancers may also brandish sticks, swords, and handkerchiefs.

The ‘Obby ‘Oss Festival takes place in the town of Padstow in Cornwall on May Day.  The main activities revolve around the two Obby Osses (hobby horses), which resemble a one-man pantomime horse.  The horses’ main task is to cavort around the town in search of maidens followed by a team of dancers, dressed in white, playing accordions and banging drums.

The beginning of May, and the association of spring in general with fertility and courtship, was popularized by the medieval French troubadours.  A famous song from the twelfth century known as Kalenda maya (“Calends (first) of May”) celebrates the unrequited love of a knight for a lady:

Gracious lady,

everyone praises and proclaims

your worth, which gives such pleasure;

and he who forgets you,

prizes life but a trifle

and so I adore you, distinguished lady.

Teaching Resources

Help Teaching offers related educational resources

KidsKonnect.com has 

Other resources include these videos 

So, there you have a quick tour of some of the lesser-known festivals which celebrate the blossoming of the earth each spring.  Get dressed up, wash your face in the morning dew, leave a surprise wreath of flowers for someone special, and find a sunny spot to revel in the coming of spring!

Image source: Freepik.com

7 Things to Remember When Working with Kids with Autism

Working with Kids with Autism

April is Autism Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about autism within the community. Learn more about working with kids with autism.

As autism rates have risen over the years, so has awareness. However, as parents of children with autism know, a lot of myths and misunderstandings still exist. Whether you’re a teacher, a principal, or someone who works in another capacity in the schools, it’s important that you avoid the myths and develop an accurate understanding of what autism is and what it looks like to work with kids with autism.

1. Autism is a Spectrum

Perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of autism is that kids with autism are on a spectrum. There’s a world of difference between kids with high-functioning autism versus low-functioning autism. Before assuming anything about a child with autism, learn where they are on the spectrum and what particular aspects of autism they demonstrate the most.

  • Are they socially awkward?
  • Do they have trouble understanding non-literal language?
  • Do they lack basic communication skills?
  • Do they have tics?
  • Is it difficult for them to make eye contact?
  • Do they express emotions inappropriately?

Not all children with autism will express all of these traits and some will express all of them and more.

2. Autism does not Signal a Lack of Intelligence

Many parents have sat through IEP (Individualized Education Plan) meetings where they listened to professionals discuss their child’s lack of intelligence. For example, in a recent initial IEP meeting for a newly-diagnosed child with autism, the Child Study Team leader said, “We’ll give him a series of tests to see where he is, but I’m sure he’ll be low.” This assumption was made simply because the child had been diagnosed with autism. Imagine how surprised she was to learn that not only did the student not score low, but he was working above grade-level in multiple subject areas.

Kids with autism may struggle academically, but often their struggles do not signal a lack of intelligence. Rather, they signal their struggle to adapt to the educational system. In many cases, kids with autism solve problems and communicate differently than what is expected. Sometimes teachers and other educational professionals think they got the answer wrong, when really they just thought about it differently.

3. Autism Often Confuses Other Kids

7 Things to Remember When Working with Kids WIth Autism Sesame Street App

Several years ago, Sesame Street introduced its first autistic character, Julia. While Julia represents a character to whom many children with autism relate, she also serves as a tool to help teach other kids how to interact with kids who have autism. Kids don’t always know how to act around kids who are different or who don’t do what’s expected. Teachers can use models like Julia and other activities to help kids understand what autism is and how to interact with their peers who have autism. After all, everyone has differences. Some of those differences are just more noticeable than others.  Learn more on this topic in “Educating Children about Autism in an Inclusive Classroom” from the University of Prince Edward Island.

4. Autism is Unpredictable

One thing about working with kids with autism is that you are never quite sure how they will react. Sometimes, you’ll expect them to react negatively to a loud concert and they’ll be fine. Other times, you will think a certain activity will be easy for them and it will become a major challenge. When you work with kids with autism, you must be flexible. You must also learn to recognize their cues so you can adjust a situation to avoid making it a bigger problem.

5. Autism Requires Predictability

Imagine living every day without knowing what’s going to happen. For kids with autism, that’s often a reality. They are not always in control of their emotions and navigating life can be confusing. Surprises lurk around almost every corner. However, the adults in their lives can help limit those surprises by developing routines for them to follow. For some kids, just knowing the general schedule of the school day will help. For others, parents and teachers will need to develop a detailed schedule that includes the smallest of events, such as brushing their teeth and going to the bathroom. If the schedule is going to change for any reason, adults should also try to take time to warn the child about the change in advance. For example, a child expecting to do math at 10:15 may be upset if he goes out for early recess instead. Even though recess is fun, the disruption to his routine could outweigh that fun.

6. Autism Requires Parents and Educators to Work as a Team

Educators have a lot of students to focus on, but when working with a child with autism, it is essential they take the time to develop a relationship with the child’s parents and work as a team to ensure they are working in that child’s best interests. Educators should respect a parent’s position as an expert on the child, while parents should respect an educator’s professional expertise and observations in the classroom. Educators must also be careful not to criticize parents of autistic children for making decisions related to their child. They must also take into consideration the child’s autism when making observations about the child’s appearance or behavior. For example, a note home saying “Please ensure your child wears socks each day” may seem innocent, but it may not take into consideration the fact that the parent is encouraging the child to become more independent in dressing himself and letting him go to school without socks when he forgets is part of that process.

Some of the information above may overwhelm educators. “I have 25 students in my class. How can I spend this much time on the needs of just one?” At the end of the day, it’s not that hard. Just as you get to know your other students, get to know your students who have autism. Learn their quirks. Get to know their personality. Focus on their diagnosis, but at the same time don’t focus on their diagnosis. Just treat them as human beings.

There are lots of resources available to help educators work with children with autism. One of them is the School Community Tool Kit from Autism Speaks. It contains a wealth of resources, information sheets, worksheets, and activities to help the many different people in a school community understand autism.

For educators looking for help with behavior modification, check out Insights to Behavior, a free resource full of activities to help educators create behavior plans for students, as well as find activities to help with some of the social and emotional challenges kids with autism face.

You can find additional books, videos, toys, and information sheets in the Autism Speaks Resource Library. If you’re looking for more educational resources, you may appreciate Help Teaching’s Life Skills or Study Skills worksheets or use Help Teaching’s Test Maker platform to develop tests, quizzes, and worksheets that can meet the needs of your autistic students.

Resources for working with kids with autism

The internet is bristling with free resources to help teach your students with autism!

Teachers and parents will benefit from professional development in this area:

  • The Teacher’s Corner at the Organization for Autism Research is giving away resources to teach yourself about how you can better support students on the spectrum in your classroom.
  • The Autism Society has material geared for school administrators, teachers and families
  • More programmers are turning their attention to the unique learning needs of kids on the autism spectrum. CommonSense.org has a list of the best apps for kids with autism
  • From kindergarten to college, students with autism spectrum disorder can soar with this guide to academic resources, social support, and expert tips for school success produced by Student Training & Education in Public Service
  • Accredited Schools Online has a free guide which discusses the unique difficulties autistic students face and how educators and families can respond to them
  • From music education to handwriting, snug vests, and even cruise vacations, the state of Oregon’s Columbia Regional Program has compiled a list of Best Web Resources for Autism
  • The University of Louisville’s Kentucky Autism Training Center has assembled and exhaustive list of instructional resources and products
  • The National Association of Special Education Teachers has a compendium of resources for nearly every topic in autism education
  • A number of different approaches can be used to yield positive results when teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, outlined in this article from St. Joseph’s University
  • The Indiana Resource Center for Autism at Indiana University’s Institute on Disability and Community offers Teaching Tips for Children and Adults with Autism
  • The Marcus Autism Center has tools and tips for helping you care for a child with autism
  • Here is a valuable list of autism resources compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Books, worksheets, and videos for students with autism are selected by an astute 8th grader from New Jersey in this list from the Association for Science in Autism Treatment
  • The National Education Association has oodles of resources for educators

At-home learning

This is just a small sampling of the resources available to you as you face the challenge of teaching a student with autism.

Image source: Vecteezy

How to Teach Kids about Passover

Teach Kids about Passover

In Judaism, Passover ranks just below Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in importance. Learn more about this religious holiday as well as access resources perfect for the classroom.

What is Passover?

Passover commemorates the miraculous deliverance of the Hebrew people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt sometime in the 14th century BCE.  This event is detailed in Exodus, the second book of the Torah.  Passover, also known as Pesach, is an eight-day festival celebrated by Jews the world over.

In 2024, Passover is celebrated starting on April 22 and ending on April 30.  Although the dates vary from year to year, Passover is a spring festival in the northern hemisphere.  Passover is always on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan, but since the Jewish calendar is lunar (based on the moon’s cycle), the dates in the secular calendar change each year.

The First Passover

The great story of Passover actually begins near the end of the book of Genesis, the first book of the Torah, when ancestors of the Hebrew people (the patriarch Jacob and his sons and their families) migrated from the land of Canaan (modern-day Palestine and Israel).  Jacob’s family left their homeland because of a famine, and found refuge in Egypt where one of Jacob’s sons—thought to be dead—had previously risen to second in command after the Egyptian king (or pharoah).  This story is also a great one, but for another time!

Jews enslaved

Sometime after this migration, the children of Jacob (who were also descendants of Jacob’s grandfather Abraham, the founder of Judaism) became known as Hebrews and became numerous in the land of Egypt, so much so that a new pharoah sought to control them by making them slaves.  This period lasted about four centuries.

Exodus says the Hebrew people cried out to the Lord for deliverance from this harsh slavery.  God heard their prayers and raised up a man who would lead a mass escape from this servitude.  That man was Moses.

God anoints a deliverer

Moses actually grew up in the pharaoh’s household when the king’s daughter discovered him as an infant in a basket in the Nile.  What was this infant doing floating in a basket in a river?  Well, Moses had been placed there by his mother to hide him from a slaughter of Hebrew babies carried out under the pharaoh’s orders.  He was raised as an adopted son of the pharaoh’s daughter.  Subsequently as a grown man, Moses fled Egypt after murdering another Egyptian who was abusing a slave.  He hid out in the land of Midian tending flocks for about 40 years.  Eventually, the Lord spoke miraculously to Moses through a burning bush, appointing him as the leader who would return to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery.

The plagues upon Egypt

Moses, along with his brother Aaron, confront the pharaoh, demanding the release of the Hebrew slaves (by now numbering about a half million).  To move the king’s hand toward this end, God delivers a series of ten plagues on Egypt.  Plagues of frogs, locusts, darkness, boils, you name it, were thrown at the kingdom of Egypt.  The last plague is the impetus behind the Passover event.

This tenth plague was the worst of them all.  It involved a night when an angel of death, sent by God, struck down all the first-born sons in the land of Egypt as well as all first-born male animals.  The Lord told the Hebrews to save themselves from this plague by sacrificing a lamb and smearing its blood on their doorposts thus sending a signal to the angel of death to “pass over” that home leaving the occupants unharmed.  They were to roast and eat the lamb and stay in their homes all night.

Immediately after this plague, the pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to take all his people out of the land of Egypt.  The Hebrews left so quickly they took their bread dough before they had a chance to add yeast to it.  This is why Passover is sometimes referred to as the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

How is Passover celebrated today?

Passover is divided into two parts.  The main ritual is called the seder, which happens on the first two nights (in Israel just the first night) of the festival.  The first two days and last two days (the latter remembering the parting of the Red Sea) are full-fledged holidays.  Holiday candles are lit at night, and sumptuous holiday meals are enjoyed on both nights and days.  Most Jews don’t go to work or drive.  Some more devout Jews will not write, or even switch on or off electric devices.  The middle four days (Chol Hamoed) are semi-festive when most forms of work are permitted.

In 2021, the first Passover seder is on the evening of Saturday, March 27.  It’s a holiday meal that involves the re-telling of the Exodus through stories and song and the eating of symbolic foods. The seder’s rituals and other readings are recited from the Haggadah.  The most significant missing ingredient is hametz, or foods with leaven.  This is to remember how the Hebrews were in such a hurry to exit Egypt after the tenth plague, that they didn’t have time to wait for their bread to rise.

Matzah, or unleavened bread, is the main food of Passover.  It’s available at most supermarkets, or you can make your own.  Other traditional foods include haroset (a mixture of fruit, nuts, wine, and cinnamon) representing the mortar used by Hebrew slaves, and matzah ball soup.  A roasted shank bone represents the Pesach sacrifice, and an egg represents spring and the circle of life.  Some households will serve gefilte fish too.  Drinking four cups of wine, dipping veggies into saltwater, children asking the Four Questions (Mah Nishtanah: “How is this night different from all other nights?”), and singing late into the night are also a part of the celebration.

The joyful cycle of psalms called Hallel is recited both at night and day (during the seder and morning prayers).  Passover also commences a 49-day period called the Omer, which memorializes the enumeration of offerings brought to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem.  This count culminates in the holiday of Shavuot, the anniversary of the receiving of the Torah at Sinai.

Relevant political or social justice themes have been incorporated into contemporary Passover seders.  Rabbi Arthur Waskow, for example, published the “Freedom Seder” in 1969, which discusses the Civil Rights movement and the women’s movement.  The American Jewish World Service offers a free Global Justice Haggadah to spark meaningful conversations at your seder. 

Resources for Teaching about Passover

Printed resources

Help Teaching

KidsKonnect

Free resources online

Online videos

Free virtual online Passover seders

Passover is a marvellous story of deliverance that can be taught in many ways.  Young and old alike will enjoy the retelling of this central tale of Judaism.

May you have a chag Pesach kasher vesame’ach (“kosher and joyous Passover” in Hebrew)!

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Valentine’s Day Teaching Resources

Valentine's Day Teaching Resources

Flowers, candy, and cards decorated with hearts are used by many to express love to that special someone.  The day offers many fun and creative ways to teach about friendships, poetry and prose, marriage, and relationships.

History of Valentine’s Day

Despite flowers being the number one gift given on Valentine’s Day, the holiday’s origin is not so rosy. 

The real Valentine

The most noted theory about how Valentine’s Day began, is rooted in Ancient Rome.  In the third century CE, the Roman emperor Claudius II wanted to develop a fierce team of young men to be soldiers in his legions.  It was his belief that when young men are in love, this makes them weak.  Naturally, a man with a wife and children tended to be more cautious in how he fought on the battlefield.  So, Claudius outlawed marriage for young men serving in the Roman armies.

Well, not everyone or everything can be commanded by an emperor.  As Claudius found out, he could outlaw love, but he could not stop it.  Young men and women still fell in love and wanted to marry.  A brave Christian priest named Valentine, who thought the law was horribly unjust, risked his life to perform the banned wedding ceremonies in secret.

News of Valentine’s clandestine ceremonies made its way back to the emperor.  The cleric was arrested, and while in prison, Valentine sent a love letter to a young woman — possibly his jailor’s daughter — who visited him during his imprisonment.  He allegedly signed it “From your Valentine”, hence the expression.  He was executed soon afterward.  Centuries later, when the Roman Catholic Church made the kindly priest a saint, St. Valentine’s feast day — February 14 — was chosen because it was the day he was put to death.

Literature of love

It wasn’t until almost 1,000 years later that the first known Valentine’s Day poem was written.  It also was penned by a prisoner, and was sent from the Tower of London to the prisoner’s wife in 1415.

My very gentle Valentine,

Since for me you were born too soon,

And I for you was born too late.

God forgives him who has estranged

Me from you for the whole year.

I am already sick of love,

My very gentle Valentine.

Well, not the most remarkable of poems, but it’s good for a first effort.

Everyone is familiar with Shakespeare’s love sonnets, most notably number 18 which starts out famously: 

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

And there’s Scotland’s remarkable bard Robert Burns: 

O my Luve is like a red, red rose

   That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve is like the melody

   That’s sweetly played in tune.

So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

   So deep in luve am I;

And I will luve thee still, my dear,

   Till a’ the seas gang dry.

And then there are the first love poems written by school kids:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

Faces like yours

Belong in the zoo

The economics of true love

In the 21st century, greeting card companies each year produce over a billion cards of love and affection just for St. Valentine’s Day.  The impact that Valentine’s Day has on the U.S. economy is stunning.  In 2019, more than $20.7 billion was spent on the holiday.  It’s thought the most expensive Valentine’s Day gift ever purchased is a heart shaped 1001 Nights Diamond Purse.  Decorated with over 4500 yellow, pink and transparent diamonds totalling 38,192 carats, the retail value of the gift is a gobsmacking $3.8 million.

Valentine’s Day symbols

  • Red Roses: the most popular flower of Valentine’s Day, this enduring symbol of passion, beauty, and love has the power to impress anyone when a dozen of the long-stemmed variety are wrapped in a large bouquet.  An ancient Roman legend has it that a beautiful maiden, Rodanthe, locked herself indoors while being pursued by overzealous suitors. When they eventually broke down her door, an enraged goddess Diana changed Rodanthe into a beautiful red rose and turned the suitors into thorns.
  • Cupid: He was the son of Venus (goddess of love) and Mercury (the winged messenger of the gods).  This mischievous little god carried around a quiver of arrows tipped with love potion.  Anyone struck by one of Cupid’s arrows would fall in love with the first person they saw.
  • Chocolates: Since ancient times, chocolates have been associated with sensuality and fertility.  This is perhaps because when eaten, chocolate stimulates the production of a hormone that is similar to the chemical produced when a person is in love.

Valentine’s Day Around the World

Although Valentine’s Day started as a Catholic feast day, the saint’s death and the tradition of love that he exemplified is celebrated worldwide by people of many faiths.  People send cards, flowers, and candy in many countries.

  • In the Philippines, Valentine’s Day is the time when many young couples marry in an event sponsored by the government as a form of public service
  • In Ghana, February 14 is celebrated as “National Chocolate Day”.  The Ghana government established this day in 2007 to increase tourism in the country, as Ghana is among the largest cocoa-producing countries in the world.
  • In Bulgaria on February 14, the “day of winemakers” (San Trifon Zartan) is celebrated.  Young and old couples celebrate their love with a glass of local wine.
  • In Denmark, Valentine’s Day is not limited to roses and chocolates. Friends and lovers exchange handmade cards with pressed white flowers that are called snowdrops
  • In Estonia, February 14 is celebrated as a friendship day known as Sobrapaev. This festival includes everyone, from couples to singles
  • In Japan on February 14, women buy gifts and chocolates for their male companions.  Men can’t return gifts until March 14, which is called the “white day”.
  • In England on Valentine’s Day, women used to place five bay leaves on their pillows.  It was believed this would bring them dreams of their future husbands.

In Slovenia, St. Valentine is a patron saint of spring.  It’s thought that on February 14, plants start to regenerate.  This day marks the first day of working in the fields for the New Year.  Slovenians also believe that birds ‘propose’ to each other on this day, and to witness this occasion, one must walk barefoot through the frozen fields.

Resources for Teaching about and around Valentine’s Day

Help Teaching has many fun educational resources which use the holiday to teach math and English.

Worksheets

 KidsKonnect.com has Valentine’s Day Facts and Worksheets, and check out these free resources from BusyTeacher.org:

Lesson plans

Videos

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Resources for Teaching Chinese New Year

Teaching Chinese New Year

Each year, Chinese New Year takes place. It’s a tradition that spans over 4,000 years! Read more to learn about its history, practice, and why it doesn’t fall on the day you’d think!

Our List of Resources for Teaching Chinese New Year

An annual tradition celebrated for more than 4,000 years

There will be hands filled with red packets of money and streets filled with dancing dragons as people worldwide, predominately of Chinese descent, welcome the Year of the Ox.  Known to the Chinese as Lunar New Year, what we in the West call Chinese New Year falls on Friday, February 12, 2021, and celebrations will climax with the Lantern Festival on February 26.

What is Chinese New Year?

Also called Spring Festival, the holiday marks the beginning of the lunar Chinese calendar.  The Chinese New Year is packed with tradition, family gatherings, superstition, and great food.  Each day has a special name and tradition.  The standard public holiday for mainland China is seven days from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the lunar calendar new year.

Since all stores in China are closed during the first five days of the Spring Festival, and some remain closed until the very end, people have to stock up on New Year supplies ahead of time.  Spring Festival really gets underway on Lunar New Year’s Eve (this year on February 11) with a reunion dinner which is considered the most important meal of the year.  After dinner, the children receive red envelopes, and the family stays up late to await the New Year.

Each day of Spring Festival is unique

New Year (February 12 this year) starts off with a bang as firecrackers punctuate a day of greetings and blessings among neighbors.  The original name for Spring Festival was Yuán Dàn (Yuán means “the beginning”).  In ancient times, the Chinese recorded and analyzed the weather, stars and moon to predict the fortunes of the year, a practice known as zhàn suì.  On Lunar New Year people may celebrate with Tu Su wine.  Tradition holds that it is forbidden to sweep or clean on this day, so that good fortune will not be swept away.

The next day of Spring Festival is called “to the in-law’s”.  On this day, a married daughter must bring her husband and children to her parents’ home along with a gift bag of crackers and candies, which her mother will divide between neighbors.  This simple gesture by the daughter expresses her longing for her hometown.

Day of the Rat

Following “in-laws” day is the “Day of the Rat”.  In 2021 it so happens to fall on February 14, Valentine’s Day, appropriately because, according to folktales, this is the day that rats marry.  On this day people will leave out some grains and crackers to share their harvest with the rats.  They will then retire early so as not to disturb the “wedding”.  The hope is if they do this, the rats will not disturb them during the coming year either.

Day of the Sheep

The fourth day of Lunar New Year is the “Day of the Sheep”.  In the Chinese creation story, sheep were created on the fourth day.  On this day the Chinese would traditionally pray to the god of wealth on this day.  At midnight, people will welcome the god into their home by opening the windows and feasting until daybreak.  Special foods for this feast are kumquats and sugarcanes — meant to represent a sweet life and successful road ahead — plus cakes, a whole pig, chicken, fish, and soup.  Superstition says it’s forbidden to slaughter a sheep on this day. 

Take a break

“Day of the Sheep” is followed by “Break Five”, when after praying to the god of wealth, markets and stores open again.  A traditional dish of dumplings are eaten on “Break Five”.  Some say that the taboos of other days can be done on the fifth.  Others claim it’s wrong to work on this day.

Day of the Horse

Day six of Spring Festival is known as the “Day of the Horse” because this noble beast was created on the sixth day.  On this day people will send the spirit of poverty away.  This frail-looking man who likes to drink thin porridge and turned his clothing into rags on purpose is chased away by burning scraps and offering banana boat candles.  It’s also believed that the god of bathrooms will visit to check on a home’s cleanliness, so everyone in the house is expected to clean on this day.

Day of the Human

Day seven of Lunar New Year is called “Day of the Human” because — you guessed it — humans were created on the seventh day.  Originating in the Han dynasty, “Day of the Human” traditions include wearing a hair accessory called rén sheng and eating seven gem porridge.  This delicious dish includes seven types of vegetables: kale, leek, mustard leaves, celery, garlic, spring vegetable and thick leaf vegetables.

Day of the Millet

After the “Day of the Human”, it’s “Day of the Millet”.  Legend has it that this is the millet grain’s birthday.  Ancient Chinese society was agrarian and, therefore, people highly valued the grain.  On this day, pets such as fish and birds are released back into the wild as a gesture of respect for nature.  Today, some families visit rural areas to learn about agriculture.  Fair weather on this day is a sign of a fruitful harvest, but a gray sky warns of losses ahead.

Providence Health

The ninth day of Lunar New Year is called Providence Health.  It’s the birthday of the sovereign god of the universe, the Jade Emperor.  The main activities on this day are ceremonies for the Jade Emperor.  In some places, women will bring perfumed flower candles to natural wells and harbors and offer prayers to the gods.  Everyone must fast and bathe before praying.

Stone Festival

The Stone Festival is the tenth day of Lunar New Year.  In some places the night before, people freeze a clay jar onto a smooth stone.  On the morning of the tenth day, ten youths will carry the jar around, and if the stone doesn’t fall, it’s an omen of a good harvest.  A traditional lunch on Stone Festival is a meal of baked bread.  It is believed that after the luncheon, the road to wealth will be open and smooth for that year, unless one uses stone tools, such as rollers and millstones, on the day.

Son-in Law Day

The eleventh day is Son-in-law Day when fathers will invite their daughters and sons-in-law to dinner.

Lantern Festival preparations

On days twelve, thirteen, and fourteen, people make preparations for the Lantern Festival by purchasing lanterns and constructing light sheds.  The old adage goes: “make noise on the 11th, build light sheds on the 12th, light the lantern on the 13th, light is bright on the 14th, a full moon on the 15th, end the light on the 16th”.  When spoken in Chinese, the saying has a nice rhythm.

The Lantern Festival

Lunar New Year culminates in the five-day Lantern Festival.  The most important activity during the festival is creating lanterns.  Lantern Riddles is a game played by writing riddles on lanterns.  As it is a full moon that day, moon-gazing amidst lanterns is the best way to celebrate.  Traditional food includes glutinous rice balls called yuan xiao.  Either boiled, steamed or fried, they represent reunions.  Lanterns are lit by those hoping to add children to their families.

New Year Oddities

Beyond the usual Spring Festival traditions, the holiday is full of interesting quirks and customs.

  • Traffic is chaotic

The world’s largest annual movement of humans happens before and after Lunar New Year.  It’s so big, it has its own name — Chunyun.  It’s when all of China travels at once.  The Chinese push their way into packed buses or stand for hours on a crowded train to visit loved ones.

  • Odd language customs

There are some things you can and can’t do over the Lunar New Year in China — simply because of how they sound.  Footwear purchases are a no-no for the entire lunar month, as the word for shoes sounds like “losing” in Cantonese.  One can, though, invert the Chinese character for luck to make “dao” (which sounds like “arrival”) and put it on your door to bring in good fortune.

Ever wonder why firecrackers are associated with Lunar New Year?  Legend has it that the half-dragon, half-lion monster “Nian” comes out of hiding and attacks people (especially children) during the Lunar New Year.  So the firecrackers are used to scare him away (apparently he has sensitive ears).

  • Wearing red

In Chinese culture red is associated with luck and prosperity, but it’s also used for protective purposes.  In addition to being spooked by loud noises, “Nian” is frightened by the color red.

  • Lunar New Year has its own movie genre

The “hesuipian” film genre in China and Hong Kong is devoted to Lunar New Year.  The films are usually uplifting comedies focusing on families and happy endings to make viewers feel warm and fuzzy.  Kind of like Christmas movies in the West.

Resources for Teaching about and around Chinese New Year

Help Teaching has many fun educational resources which use the holiday to teach math and English.

KidsKonnect.com has Chinese New Year Facts & 30+ Worksheets, and check out these free resources from BusyTeacher.org.

Here are some fun Chinese New Year learning activities from ReadWriteThink, and this Chinese New Year Fan Dance hands-on lesson from Teacher.org integrates social studies concepts with performing arts.  Students will delve into customs of Chinese New Year by exploring traditional artifacts and dance.

The Asia Society is planning virtual celebrations for 2021, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum is ringing in the Year of the Ox with online celebrations.  The Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association presents the Year of the Ox virtual celebrations, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is streaming a 12-hour broadcast event completely free (and no registration is required).  From art making classes to online dance and music, puppet shows and talks, there are many ways to celebrate.  Usher in the Year of the Ox with online events provided by The Museum of Chinese in America Lunar New Year Family Festival.

However you choose to celebrate or learn about Chinese New Year, we at Help Teaching offer you this traditional greeting: 恭 禧 發 財 or “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (pronounced goong ssee fah tsign), which is Mandarin for “wishing you great happiness and prosperity”.

Image source: Freepik.com

How to Teach Religions on World Religion Day

World Religion Day

Did you know the third January of each year is World Religion Day? It’s a perfect time to foster tolerance and diversity. We offer tips and advice on navigating religious studies in the classroom.

Religion is important to many

It’s estimated that seven billion of the world’s nearly eight billion people adhere to some kind of religious faith or spiritual belief system.  Religion is an important part of many people’s lives, and to ignore its study is to cut out a major part of our understanding of societies and cultures.  Even for the non-religious person, knowing about the many religious beliefs around us is important to help explain history and the motivations for people’s behavior.

What is religion?

Religion is a set of ideas about our world and our place in it.  It addresses questions such as: Where have I come from?  Who am I?  What is my purpose?  These are all questions raised by children and young people in their formative years.  The non-religious among us also hold a set of beliefs about the world and each individual’s place in it, therefore traditional non-religious worldviews can successfully be studied within the context of religion.  Atheism, for example, is a belief that a supreme being does not exist.  It is an existential belief similar in scope to the way a Christian, Jew or Muslim believes God does exist.

The big three monotheistic religions

Almost everyone is familiar with “the Big Three” faiths — Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.  But did you know these religions, though they appear quite dissimilar to the casual observer, spring from a common source?  All three trace their foundations back to a BCE figure called Abraham.  He is revered in all three faiths as the originator of a new kind of understanding about God, namely monotheism.  4.3 billion Christians, Muslims and Jews claim Abraham as the beginning of their spiritual lineage.

Eastern religions

Faiths which have their origins in east, south and southeast Asia include Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Confucianism.  Hinduism, which has no specific founder and is believed to have originated in the Indus River valley, is considered among the oldest of the world’s religions with roots and customs dating back more than four millennia.  With about 900 million followers, Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam.  Like some other oriental religions, Hindus are polytheists — they believe there are multiple gods who perform various functions.  However, Hindus also believe there is one supreme god whose three main forms are Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the sustainer) and Shiva (the destroyer).

Another popular eastern religion is Buddhism which dates from the 6th or 5th centuries BCE. Buddhism is a non-theistic religion; in other words, adherents have no belief in a creator god.  Buddhism, founded by the sage Siddhartha Gautama, is considered a philosophy and a moral discipline.  It’s thought there are about half a billion Buddhists worldwide.

There are many religions, or perhaps we should more rightly call them philosophical systems, which have their roots in ancient China.  Confucianism is maybe the most well-known.  Confucius (551 to 479 BCE) was a philosopher whose teachings focus on ethics, good behavior, and moral character.  Like some other religions from the Far East, such as Taoism and Shinto, one aspect of Confucianism is ancestor worship.

Other religions

Here are some religions you may not be aware of:

  • Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions of the world.  It is a pre-Islamic religion of ancient Persia (modern Iran)
  • Taoism is also very old.  It is a Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu, advocating humility and religious piety.  Here’s a unique lesson plan related to Taoism from The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Sufism, a mystical branch within Islam, is explored in this KidsKonnect worksheet set about the 13th century Sufi poet Rumi

Folk religions

Some less familiar belief systems which are based upon tradition and culture still exist today in many lands.  Although the practice of folk religions can be influenced by organized religious doctrines, it does not adhere to authorized accepted truths.  Folk religion does not have the organizational structure of established religions, and its practice is often restricted to a certain geographic area.  Many people within the Han ethnic background practice the Chinese folk religion Shenism which includes elements of Taoism, Confucianism, Chinese mythology, and Buddhist beliefs about karma.  This blending of elements from various sources is typical of folk religions.

Folk religions are sometimes called tribal religions when they are practised by a particular people group.

  • The warriors of the Shuar people of South America practice a ritual where the head of a slain enemy is cut off and then shrunk.  It’s believed this traps the soul of the dead enemy inside the shrunken head preventing it from taking revenge against the killer.
  • In remote areas of the world, some ritual ceremonies involve the consumption of mushrooms. This practice is common among the descendants of the Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs, and other indigenous peoples who live in rural areas of Mexico and Central America.  The mushrooms contain psycho-active elements which can produce wild experiences, including vivid hallucinations, which are mistaken for visions of the supernatural.
  • In Kenya, the Luo people have traditionally worshiped a sacred python named Omieri, which they believe lives in the waters of Lake Victoria but appears during droughts to summon rain to save the crops. 

Teaching about religion vs. religious instruction

Worldwide, the teaching of religion in state schools varies widely.  Many countries have compulsory religious education, some offer parents the option of withdrawing their children from religious education classes, and some state schools have no teaching about religion.  In our Western pluralistic society, there are many shades of religious education in state schools with most (as in the U.S.) avoiding the subject except in the context of social studies curriculum, and others making religious studies compulsory.

The teaching of religion also varies greatly in sectarian and parochial schools.  These schools are free to teach a chosen faith as the “right” one.  Often, sectarian schools seek to instill its brand of religious practice into students, but will also teach students about other faiths in a comparative way.  Some sectarian schools have a greater emphasis on making disciples of a particular faith, while other sectarian schools are satisfied with tolerating all religions.

Ask the experts

You might want to consider inviting faith leaders into your classroom to tell students about their religious beliefs.  If you do this, it is wise to include clergy from at least the “big three” — Christianity, Islam and Judaism — but you may also consider inviting an atheist, agnostic or humanist to speak.  If you live in an urban area, it’s probably not hard to find leaders of Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh communities who would be willing to visit your classroom.  This might be harder in rural areas, so consider connecting online with leaders of faith communities.

Keep parents/guardians informed

Let the parents and guardians of your students know ahead of time what and how religions will be studied.  In this way, parents can nuance what you are teaching in the classroom with their own beliefs.  Some parents may want their child to opt out of those lessons dealing with religion, so be prepared with an appropriate response.  Let your school administrator know what you will be doing with regard to teaching about religions, and follow the school’s guidance on the issue.

Teachers and administrators may find this article from ADL helpful when assessing options for instruction about religions in U.S. public schools.  The National Education Association also offers some advice here.

So, whether you are teaching students that all religions (or no religion) are equally valuable, or that your private/parochial school’s religion is the true one, Help Teaching has many resources you can use, as do many other reliable institutions.

Online Resources

Help Teaching

Here are some of our recommended resources:

Other educational content providers

KidsKonnect.com has countless worksheets and activities on various religions

And more…

The National Geographic Society’s resource library has many interesting resources for teaching about religions including

The BBC has produced six short videos based on Bible stories for elementary-age students.  Each is told with a humorous twist.

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding offers a set of resources for community educators called American Muslims 101.

Teach about religions can be an exciting and rewarding experience for the teacher and the student. 

New Year Customs from Around the World

New Year Customs from Around the World

Every year, people around the world mark the passage of time with New Year’s celebrations.  December 31 and January 1 find many more people than usual (even kids!) staying up well past their bedtimes. Learn more about this annual celebration here!

Around the world

Different cultures have different ways of celebrating the transition from the old year to the new.  It’s worth noting that some cultures which use a different calendar in addition to the Western civil one (also called the Gregorian calendar), may still mark the transition from one year to the next on January 1, but the cultural celebrations happen as the new year begins on their traditional calendar (for example, Chinese New Year and Islamic New Year).

What the heck is Hogmanay?

Hogmanay is what the New Year celebration is called in Scotland.  The word’s exact origin is unknown, but it may have come from the French word hoginane meaning “gala day”.  The name might also have come from the Anglo-Saxon haleg monath meaning “holy month”.  Some claim it came from the Scandinavian hoggo-nott meaning “yule”.  A traditional part of Hogmanay is “first footing”.  That’s when someone visits friends or family immediately after midnight to become the first person to go into their house in the new year.  First footers traditionally bring a lump of coal to ensure the house remains warm in the coming months.

No sour grapes allowed, but lentils are okay

When the clock strikes midnight in Spain, people reach for grapes.  Tradition has it that you should eat one grape each time the clock chimes.  In Romania, people dress up as dancing bears at the New Year to chase away evil spirits.  In Brazil, eating a bowlful of lentils at New Year is a guarantee of good fortune for the year ahead.

Ring the bells

At midnight on December 31, Buddhist temples and individuals all over Japan ring bells 108 times to symbolize the 108 human sins in Buddhist belief, and to get rid of the 108 worldly desires regarding sense and feeling in every Japanese citizen.  In Seoul, South Korea, the large bell in the Bosingak pavilion (originally constructed in 1396!) is rung just once a year at midnight on December 31.

Smashing stuff

In Denmark, people smash a plate on a friend’s doorstep to bring good luck over the next twelve months.  No one knows the origin of this strange tradition.  In Johannesburg, people like to begin the year without any unwanted items, so at the new year they chuck out old furniture by dropping it out of a window.

Speaking of dropping things…

In Times Square in New York City, the countdown to midnight finishes with a giant ball drop, when a glowing ball is lowered down a big flagpole to the cheers of a million people crammed into the streets below.  The ball is twelve feet in diameter, and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds.  It’s covered with more than 2,600 Waterford Crystal triangles.  The ball has been lowered every year since 1907, except for 1942 and 1943, when the ceremony was cancelled due to World War Two.   There are many ways to watch the ball drop live. 

Who is first (and last) to celebrate?

The Republic of Kiribati is the first nation to ring in the new year.  This Pacific atoll nation straddles the 180th meridian.  Even though its easternmost islands lie west of the Hawaiian Islands, an odd eastward thrust of the International Date Line gives Kiribati this privilege.  Kiribati is the only nation on earth which is situated in all four hemispheres.

The uninhabited Baker Island and nearby Howland Island, both U.S. possessions in the Pacific, are the last to say goodbye to the old year.  American Samoa is the last inhabited place on the globe to welcome the new year.

Fireworks

Although restrictions on large crowds due to the pandemic may limit fireworks displays, many are still planned and can be enjoyed from afar.  Sadly, the most famous fireworks display, held annually in Sydney, Australia will be toned down for New Year’s Eve 2020 due to pandemic restrictions.  In a normal year, the Sydney celebration would attract more than a million spectators to the city’s harbor, and one billion viewers on television and internet streaming.  Due to its time zone, Sydney is one of the first major cities in the world to enter the new year. 

Most major cities have fireworks displays each year including Dubai, Singapore, Niagara Falls, Berlin, and Rio de Janeiro, where fireworks are launched at the city’s famous Copacabana beach.  Again, fireworks displays in many of the world’s great cities this year have been cancelled or curtailed due to the pandemic, but some will be streamed online.

Virtual celebrations

Kids can zoom into the New Year with the many virtual “Noon” Year’s Eve celebrations offered by children’s museums and other non-profit groups.  Here are a few:

How can I celebrate New Year in my classroom?

Since most schools are closed for the winter holidays during the week between Christmas and New Year, it is difficult to celebrate the new year in your classroom on January 1.  However, you can celebrate the new year as schools reopen a day or two later.

Turning over a new leaf

For all students, the new year affords an opportunity to start over.  This can be particularly helpful for those students who have had a rough time academically and behaviorally in the autumn term.  Giving them a chance to reset, form new goals, and develop a new attitude about learning may be just what they need to succeed in the New Year.

Roses, thorns and buds from 2020: This prompt helps kids reflect on the past and move forward to what’s ahead.  Have each student share a highlight of 2020 (rose), a challenging or sad moment (thorn), and one thing they’re looking forward to (bud) in 2021.  This can be done in group discussion or as a written assignment.  Connecticut Children’s Medical Center has more great ideas.

Writing

Start a Journal: The new year is a great time for students of all ages to start writing a daily or weekly journal.  Create a Journal Center for students who are just beginning to write (K through 2).  In the center, place copies of a blank frame for drawing and a template for writing a journal entry that will be kept in a student’s folder.  The date and a prompt is posted in the center.  Beginning writers go to the center, copy the date, read the prompt, draw a picture, write, or dictate to an aide, a classroom volunteer, or an older student assistant from another grade.  Students may choose to share journal entries during time for sharing with the class.

Older elementary students will enjoy hearing Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin read out loud. This daily journal of a personified worm, reveals some of the good news and bad news about being a worm.  The book models journal writing with humor.  After reading, lead a discussion about the book asing questions such as: What do you think of the things the worm wrote about in his diary? What would you write about in your diary?

Check out Reading Rockets for more tips on journaling.

Making Predictions

Kids have great imaginations, so engage them with an opportunity to think about what the new year will be like in the area of science and technology.  What new inventions might be created?  What discoveries might be made?  What improvements to our lives might be coming?  You might want to start with a class discussion of some of the advances which are on the horizon in the areas of space exploration, undersea research, computers, and transportation.  Popular media such as Forbes, Interesting Engineering, and National Geographic usually offer summaries of trends in many areas this time of year.

New Year’s activities for elementary children

KidsKonnect has a thick bundle of New Year worksheets and activities available for download.  This packet includes:

  • New Year Facts
  • New Year’s Info by Numbers
  • Unique Traditions
  • Mapping New Year
  • New Year Ball Drop
  • Ancient Celebrations
  • Symbols and Meanings
  • New Year Around the World
  • My Resolution

From all of us at Help Teaching, best wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year!

Christmas History & Activities for Kids

Christmas History

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Or so the song goes.  There are many ways you can celebrate Christmas with your students.  Let HelpTeaching assist you with resources, worksheets, activities, and links to educational content for every taste.

What is Christmas?

Christmas is a season of gift-giving, feasting with family, reconnecting with friends, and decorating homes with lights, wreaths, and trees.  For others, it’s all that and more. Christians celebrate Christmas because it marks the birth of their savior Jesus Christ.  Christmas means different things to different people.

History of Christmas

The first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome on December 25, 336 CE.  That’s more than 300 years after the time when Jesus was born.  In the Roman calendar, December 25 was the winter solstice, which was considered a Pagan holiday.  A fourth-century sermon by St. Augustine explains why Christian leaders felt this was a fitting day to celebrate Christ’s birth: “Hence it is that He was born on the day which is the shortest in our earthly reckoning and from which subsequent days begin to increase in length. He, therefore, who bent low and lifted us up chose the shortest day, yet the one whence light begins to increase.”  The story of Jesus’ birth is found in the Bible.  Christians believe Jesus is God’s son, so that’s why his birth is so special.

Christmas remained a religious holiday in the West for many centuries gaining popularity in the middle ages.  The non-religious aspects of Christmas developed over time and in the last hundred years or so, many people on all continents celebrate the holiday in a more secular way.  Religious celebrations of Christmas are still held around the world.

Ho, Ho, Ho…

The jolly ol’ big guy in the red flannel suit is one of the most familiar symbols of Christmas.  The tradition of Santa Claus evolved from the true story of the Christian bishop who became Saint Nicholas.  The real Nicholas dates from the fourth century CE, and his legendary secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional Santa Claus, a name based on “Sinterklass”, the Dutch rendering of Saint Nicholas.

Our modern image of Santa Claus came about through the blending of several images and stories in the 19th century.  Clement Moore’s poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (better known today as “The Night Before Christmas“) was published in Troy, New York, in 1823.  Moore’s description of Santa as a “chubby and plump” elf whose reindeer-pulled sleigh lands on someone’s roof became inspiration for cartoonist Thomas Nast’s illustration of jolly St. Nick in 1863.  The look of Santa in a red suit with a long white beard became seared in the American mind with the 1930’s Coca-Cola advertisements created by artist Haddon Sundblom.

Around the world

Different cultures around the globe have a variety of ways to celebrate Christmas.  Here are few traditions from around the world:

  • In Japan, despite only 1% of the population claiming to be Christian, people flock to Kentucky Fried Chicken for their Christmas meal.  People order their boxes months in advance or stand in line for two hours or longer to get their “finger lickin’ good” food.
  • Iceland celebrates not twelve, but thirteen days of Christmas.  On each of the thirteen nights before Christmas, Icelandic children are visited by the Yule Lads who put either candy (if they’ve been good) or rotten potatoes in their shoes while they sleep.
  • In Brazil, many Christmas traditions come from Portugal, as Brazil was once a Portuguese colony.  Nativity scenes, known as presépio, are very popular.  They are set-up in churches and homes all through December.
  • In Uganda, the proper name for Christmas is Sekukkulu. Churches are the center of the celebrations with church bells ringing and carols sung by candlelight.  A Christmas feast of matooke and grilled chicken is served.  Matooke is a starchy variety of banana which is harvested green, peeled, and then steamed and mashed.
  • In New Zealand, Christmas comes in the middle of the summer vacation season, so lots of people spend time on the beach, camping, or at their baches (holiday homes).  Kiwis often have a Christmas barbecue featuring grilled ham slices, venison, and shrimp.  The Christmas tree in New Zealand is the pōhutukawa with its bright red flowers blooming in mid- to late December.
  • In Lebanon, Christians build manger scenes called nativity cribs in their homes.  The crib is more popular than a Christmas tree.  Santa Claus is known as Baba Noël, and people eat sugared almonds drunk with cups of strong coffee.

Christmas activities

There are loads of ways to keep your little elves busy right up to the big day, and to keep them engaged after they get tired of playing with their new toys in the days after Christmas.  Take a look at Christmas: 12 delightful recipes for the best family time from the charity World Vision for recipes not just for food but for family enrichment, too.

Christmas cooking ideas

Christmas cooking is more than just baking cookies!  And it can be a great learning experience for children.

Christmas craft ideas

  • Try this Santa Candy Holder from SantaGames.net suitable for older elementary children
  • Learn how to make Christmas tree decorations from buttons at Gathered.how
  • Here are 7 easy holiday craft ideas for kids from Easy Kids Craft
  • Check out these 12 Christmas activities for toddlers and preschoolers at Teachingmama.org
  • Kids will love learning how to draw their favorite Christmas images at ArtProjectsforKids.org

Christmas, language arts, and math

Check out HelpTeaching’s Christmas-themed worksheets and activities here.  There are many seasonal worksheets and tests waiting for your students here.

Our friends at KidsKonnect have a sleigh full of Christmas worksheets and activities:

Christmas storytelling

Christmas has inspired so much great literature, and it will inspire your students to write creatively, too.

  • Perhaps the most popular and famous Christmas tale is Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  Help Teaching has resources to accompany classroom or individual reading of this special story.
  • Kids will have creative fun making their own versions of Clement Moore’s classic poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
  • You can keep the holiday rolling as kids explore the theme of the Twelve Days of Christmas
  • Children love Dr. Seuss, so why not include a reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas to your holiday?  Use the accompanying worksheet to assess understanding of the story.
  • Storyline Online presents the Brothers Grimm tale “The Elves and the Shoemaker” free.  This 6-minute video aimed at 2nd – 3rd grade is produced by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation which streams free videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books alongside creatively produced illustrations.  They even provide a free, detailed teacher’s guide to the story packed with lesson ideas and worksheets.
  • The Indianapolis Public Library has plenty of Christmas read-alouds on video and free printed resources, including Christmas worksheets with Curious George and Pete the Cat.

Virtual Christmas

  • 61st Annual LA County Holiday Celebration. This free virtual Christmas Eve event will be streamed live 3-6 p.m., Pacific time
  • Thinking of hosting your students for an online holiday party?  Consider these tips offered by TeachingDegree.org.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Help Teaching!

Image Source: Freepik.com