• Students will demonstrate an understanding of the similarities and differences in the ways individuals, groups, societies, and cultures live and interact in the world.
• They will compare 3 cultures Italy, Germany and France.
• They will describe how families transmit cultural tradition and express themselves through art, religion, and literature.
• They will write about the cultures and compare them.

Warm up
The class will brainstorm about what the word Holiday means to them.

Activities

1.  Have the children locate the countries they will study on a map.
2.  Go to the World Book Web site and read about the customs of the countries.

• Christmas Around the World

• Feasting

3.  Read a "Brief Christmas History" 
4.  Read about Santa Claus and the Giving Gifts page 110 Hark A Christmas Sampler by Jane Yolen.
5.  Decorate a tree with ornaments from each culture.
6.  This activity can be broken up into 3 different classes and each can report back to the other on their findings.

France "Joyeux Noel" 

1. Read French Traditions

2. Read - The Yule Log page 60 from Hark A Christmas Sampler by Jane Yolen.

3. Cooking Activity - Make a Yule Log

4. Art Activity - Make a Candle Holder

5. Writing Activity - A Candle is a French symbol of hope have the children write their hope for the New Year.

6. French Web sites
   Yule Log
   Christmas Traditions in France and Canada

Germany "Frohliche Weihnachten"

1. Read - The First Christmas Tree page 66 from Hark A Christmas Sampler by Jane Yolen.

2. Cooking Activity - Make a Gingerbread House using graham cracker, icing and candy.

3. Art Activity - The children will trace their hands to make a fir tree. 

4. Writing Activity - Have the children write their wish for the New Year on their hand.

Italy "Buon Natale"

1. Read Italian Traditions

2. Cooking Activity - Icing on fruit cookies

3. Art Activity -  Christmas Bell with Quilling

4. Writing Activity - It is the tradition of the Italian children to write a letter to their parents asking forgiveness for any wrong doings of the past year and then to promise to be better in the New Year. The children will write similar letters.

5. Read - The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1980

6. Italian web sites
   Christmas in Italy

Conclusion 

The children will choose one of the cultures to write about and explain why they have chosen it. 
They will hang their decorations on the "hand tree".

Rubric

3. You were able to write in complete sentences about your favorite culture and compare it to the others.
2. You were able to write very little about the culture or how it compared to the others. Your sentences were not complete.
1.  You write one word descriptions and could not make any comparisons.
0. You did not complete any of the tasks.

Bibliography

dePaola, Tomie. The Legend of Old Befana. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1980.

Overend, Jennifer. Have Yourself A European Holiday." The Mailbox - Primary. Education Center, Inc. Dec/Jan. 1992-93: p 21.

Sullivan, Dianna. Christmas Activities from Around the World. Teacher Created    Materials, Inc. California, 1986.

Yolen, Jane. Hark A Christmas Sampler. G. D. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1991.

Maps: The General Libraries. The University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/

Lesson developed by: JoEllen Youngblud, L.M.S., Marlton Elementary School, Dec. 9, 2000.      

Christmas In Italy. http://www.initaly.com/regions/xmas/xmas.htm. December 13, 2000.

Christmas Traditions in France and Canada. http://www.culture.fr/culture/noel/angl/noel.htm. December 13, 2000.

Created by JoEllen Youngblud