Holiday Traditions!

Did You Know?

Did you know that there are two islands in the world named “Christmas”? One is in the Pacific Ocean and the other is found in the Indian Ocean.

Someone figured that if you added up all the gifts from “The Twelve Days of Christmas, you’d get 364 presents.

A stocking filled with coal for naughty children originated in the country of Italy.

Did you know that three towns in the United States are named Santa Claus?

The first holiday song sung in space was Jingle Bells.

Two of the oldest ENGLISH spoken Christmas songs are “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Joy to the World

Jingle Bells was actually written for the Thanksgiving holiday!

Did you know there aren’t any plums in plum pudding? Actually the word “plum” at one time meant raisins.

It is believed that seeing a spider’s web on Christmas morning is good luck in the country of Ukraine.

Advent calendars and gingerbread houses are traditions of the people of Germany.

Holiday Traditions at the White House! 

Download this Interactive Notebook Activity: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Holiday-Traditions-at-the-White-House-Interactive-Notebook-Activity-2219599

• In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge began the custom of a National Christmas Tree. It had 2500 electric lights!

• First lady Jacqueline Kennedy began the custom of having a theme for the official White House Christmas tree.

• Environmentalist President Theodore Roosevelt didn’t approve of cutting a tree down for the Christmas holidays. Because of this, he banned having a Christmas tree in the White House. However, Archie, his son, cut a small tree down and hid it in the closet in the swing room. He also decorated it.

• The first president to have electric lights on the family Christmas tree was President Grover Cleveland. The year was 1894.

• President Benjamin Harrison had one of the first White House Christmas trees. It was lit with candles. The year was 1889.

• Did you know that George Washington paid 18 schillings, a lot of money

at the time, for someone to bring a camel to Mt. Vernon for the

Christmas holidays? Ok, Mt. Vernon isn’t the White House but I liked this

fact. Interestingly, the tradition of having a camel come to Mt. Vernon

during the holidays continues to this day!

• In 1834, President Andrew Jackson’s children had fun at the holidays

including having snowball fights in the White House...with snowballs made

from cotton.

•Traditionally, the official White House Christmas tree, is the one placed in the White House’s Blue Room. The tradition of an official tree at the White house began with First Lady Lou Henry Hoover(1929).
In 1997, there were thirty-six trees decorated for the holidays, and in 2012, there were 54 decorated trees!

• The holiday tradition of a gingerbread house, in the White House, began with First Lady Patricia Nixon, in 1969. Did you know that the White House gingerbread house is made from about 150 pounds of gingerbread dough? More than 250 pounds of white chocolate are used for decorating.

• Hanukkah is often celebrated around this time of year. In 1979, President Jimmy Carter became the first president to honor the Jewish

  holiday of Hanukkah, by lighting a National Menorah. The tradition continues each year. In 1993, President Bill Clinton lighted the first menorah in the White House. President George H.W. Bush hosted the first White House Hanukkah Party in 2001.

• President Benjamin Harrison dressed up as Santa Claus for his grandchildren!

  QUESTIONS:

  • If you had to create a theme for the official White House Christmas tree, what would you select and why. Draw and picture of your tree.

  • Which do you think is more environmentally friendly, a REAL or ARTIFICIAL tree? Give 2 reasons for your opinion.

  
  

  Teacher Page: Extension Activities:

  1. The holiday season is a time of giving. Encourage students to “pay it forward”, doing an act of kindness for someone else.

  2. Read a short version of a Christmas Carol: https://kidsshortmoralstories.com/short- summary-of-charles-dickenss-a-christmas-carol-christmas-ghost-stories/

  3. Illustrate one of the facts learned.

  4. Teachers may wish to read this article to share with students on which type of tree is MORE environmentally friendly: https://earth911.com/home-garden/real-vs-artificial- christmas-trees/

  5. Share some Christmas customs from around the world:https://www.rd.com/article/ christmas-around-the-world-traditions/ Illustrate a custom.
  6. Words such as abuzz, flummox, the creeps,round the clock and whiz-bang are credited with Dickens. Other words that Dickens helped to popularize include, kibosh, butter-fingers,boredom,messiness,squashed,bah humbug,and tousled. Have students create creative sentences using several of these words.

  • Check out my webquest on Charles Dickens! A Christmas Carol is probably the most popular holiday story.Have your students learn about Charles Dickens, one of the most famous writers of all times! 8 informative web questions. Additional activities/ links,too.https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Charles-Dickens-A- Webquest-200480 Also have a Reader’s Theater Script on Charles Dickens. https:// www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Charles-Dickens-A-Readers-Theater- Script-3286350

  Check out my webquest: Holiday Traditions from Around the World: During the holidays is a great time to share with kids the many traditions which have been shared with different cultures. Learn the history behind some popular holiday traditions with this webquest. There are 14 information packed web questions!

  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Holiday-Traditions-from-Around-the-WorldWebquest-2864257

  Illustrations from: WPclipart.com

It's the time of Year to Learn about Charles Dickens!

 

With this being the time of year for the story, A Christmas Carol,  it's a great opportunity to learn about its author,Charles Dickens. One of the most famous writers of all times,Dickens also wrote Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield and more. 

Today, a person who is very tight with money, is often called a scrooge, after, the main character in A Christmas Carol. Did you know that several other words and phrases were coined by Charles Dickens?

Words such as abuzz, flummox, butterfingers,boredom,messiness,squashed,bah humbug,and tousled were popularized by Dickens. The author is also credited with using phrases such as “the creeps”, “round the clock” and “whiz-bang”.

FREE DOWNLOADABLE VERSION: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Charles-Dickens-A-Freebie-7358479

Interesting Facts about Charles Dickens:

1. In addition to a canary(named Dick), dogs(including Mrs. Bouncer), Charles Dickens had two pet ravens. Both were named Grip. The first was stuffed and now resides in the Philadelphia  Free Library. 

2. A paw of a Dickens’ cat, Bob, became a letter opener after it died. You can see the letter opener on display at the New York Public Library. 

3.Someone said that if you counted all the words which Dickens used in his writing, it was an amazing 4.6 million different words! 

4. Charles Dickens may have had epilepsy. He also may have had obsessive-compulsive behavior making him comb his hair hundreds of times a day or to touch something several times for good luck.

5. Phrases including “Merry Christmas!” and “Bah! Humbug” became popular after reading Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

6. Did you know that Charles Dickens created 989 characters for his different books?

7. Hans Christian Andersen was a good friend of Dickens. Interestingly, after 5 weeks of being a guest of Dickens’ home, Andersen was encouraged to leave when Dickens wrote on the mirror in Andersen’s room, “Hans Andersen slept in this room for five weeks, which seemed to the family like AGES”.

8. A “new”treat called the lollypop was featured in several of Dickens’ books.

Activities: 

 1. Illustrate a quote of Charles Dickens and write a brief paragraph  explaining what you think the quote is saying:

A. “The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.” 

B. “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” 

C. “Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” 

D. “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else.” 

E. “There is always something for which to be thankful.” 

2.Reading an installment book was popular during the time of Charles Dickens? You had to wait for the next part of the book to be released to the public. In the USA, people had to wait sometimes weeks for the ship to bring the next installment of one of Dickens’ books from England! Would you have enjoyed reading an installment book? Why, why not?

3. Dickens got lots of his ideas for his characters from people he met in his life. Who might be 3 people you'd use in a story that you have met? Why would you use these people in your story?

Resources of Interest:

1. Read samples of some of Charles Dickens’ books at this link: http://realreads.co.uk/category/authors/charles-dickens/ Of the book summaries, which do you think you’d like to read the most, and why? 

2. Short Video on the life of Charles Dickens:https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=childhood+of+Charles+dickens+for+kids#id=1&vid=902af18becc093cd49fd0b056aebc4a3&action=click

Resources of Interest:

1. My webquest on Charles Dickens includes 9 fun/informative questions to learn about Dickens. Additional activities/links,too. 

 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Charles-Dickens-A-Webquest-200480

2. In addition to a webquest, I have a Ms. Bie Ografee Reader’s Theater Script on Charles Dickens. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Charles-Dickens-A-Readers-Theater-Script-3286350