Holiday Traditions in First Grade

First Graders spent the weeks leading up to winter break learning about each other's holiday traditions. Many of the students brought in their favorite holiday books which we had a great time reading!  We read stories from Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa.

To enrich the stories that were read, the students participated in a variety of traditions with family members, our fourth grade partners and through class activities:

• All kinds of gingerbread characters were creatively and thoughtfully designed with our fourth grade partners.
• We learned about a decades old family tradition of cookie baking (18 different kinds of cookies!!) and the students had a chance to practice their own cookie cutting skills before they were treated to freshly baked holiday cookies.
• We learned about Hanukkah and lighting the Menorah and were treated to delicious latkes and applesauce and Hanukkah gelt!  We even played the dreidel game - several times!!
• In addition to the books the students brought in, we heard the story of the Night Before Christmas as it has been read through four generations of one student's family!
• And, for our favorite school tradition, WinterFest, the students made bright, colorful dreidels to decorate the Hanukkah table.

We loved that several family members were able to come in and share their traditions with the class and thank them so very much for making these connections so real and personal.

We hope everyone found time to enjoy their own unique traditions over the winter break and wish you all a joyful new year filled with time for many more!

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