Grade 2 Health and Social Studies- Celebrations!

Where the evermore prevalent theme in today's urban schools is "inclusiveness," I delivered an enlightening lesson about a variety of Celebrations and the Food at which is served and eaten at them to a grade 2 class this week. This was a good opportunity for everyone in the class to learn about other's traditions which are passed from generation to generation as well as to share their own traditions. I used a collaborative Think-Pair-Share strategy to encourage the students to share their celebrations and to talk about the food at which it is served. Then we disscussed the many Celebrations as a group while I recorded their ideas on Anchor Charts. With some help from previous lessons in Social Studies they knew about almost all of the Celebrations I would have liked to have covered except Kwanzaa. It was a successful lesson where I received positive feedback from the Principal.

Please contact me if you would like a copy of the activity which I tried to upload but due to the pics it wasn't possible. The following foods were highlighted:

                                 

Diwali:   Mithai                                               Halloween:   Pumpkin Pie

               Barfi                                                                      Candy

Kwanzaa:    Sweet Potato Pie                         Chinese New Year:  Dumplings

                    Benne Cake                                                                  Fish

Eid:   Savayya                                                 Birthdays:   Cake

          Chicken Tikka                                                           Ice Cream

Chanukah:  Latke                                            Weddings:   Feast

                   Beef Brisket                                                     Personal Tastes

Christmas:   Turkey

                     Eggnog

 Definitions:

Diwali – mithai (sweatmeals) laddoo (flour & sugar & coconut sweet in ball shape), barfi (condensed milk & sugar with fruit flavour like mango or coconut)

Kwanzaa – Sweet Potato Pie, Benne Cake (Sesame cookies), Southern Fried Okra

Eid – Savayya (breakfast of toasted fine vermicelli noodles), Dates, Chicken Tikka, baked masala fish

Chanukah -  Latke ( potato pancakes), Sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts), Beef Brisket (roast), Vegetable Kugel (vegetable caserol)

Christmas – Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, eggnog, shortbread

Halloween – Pumpkin Pie, Candy

Chinese New Year – Dumplings, Fish, Prawns

Birthdays – Cake, ice cream, pizza

Weddings -  Feast, Personal Tastes (depending on person’s culture)