TeachersFirst: New Year's Day Resources

TeachersFirst's New Year's Day Resources

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New Year's Resolutions Grade 5 to 12 - Goalsguy Learning Systems, Inc.- 5584

Celebrate New Year's Resolution Week in your classroom with this site that offers a brief history of New Year’s observances, good luck traditions practiced around the world, a list of common resolutions, and a resolution contract, which can be easily adapted to grade level. A list of famous people born on New Years Day and New Years songs round out this mix.

Be aware: there are some minor advertisements at this site. There is also a short interactive countdown activity that requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Have students use this site as a starting point in creating their own New Year's Resolutions. Have cooperative learning groups research the various holidays in December and January. Challenge students to create a multimedia presentation (video, PowerPoint, or blog) to share their findings about the holiday. Have a "World Celebrations" day and have students share information about the holiday (such as customs, food, significance, and any other pertinent information).

New Year’s Customs Worldwide Grade 4 to 8 - TOPICS Online Magazine- 4822

Happy New Year! Come to this site to learn more about New Year's celebrations from around the world. One country believes that if you sleep on New Year's Eve - your eyebrows will turn white! Can you figure out which one? Come to this site to explore many traditions, read personal stories (written by students), view video clips of New Year's celebrations, take an online quiz, and more. Some of the activities at this site require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Around the New Years holiday, share this site with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students read through the various country celebrations and choose their favorite and least favorite customs. Have students write a short story or blog entry describing why they made the choices that they did. Have cooperative learning groups explore this site together and take the online quiz.

New Years Resolutions Grade 3 to 8 - developingteachers.com- 6763

This detailed lesson plans gives high beginning and intermediate ESL students or general social studies classes opportunities to learn about American New Year’s customs, share experiences about their cultures’ New Year’s practices, practice skimming for answers, practice asking questions and responding to other students’ oral descriptions. Although the plan can be easily adapted for students just beginning to learn about English and American culture, plenty of vocabulary and listening practice about a topic that’s interesting to every culture ensures everyone will learn something!

In the Classroom:
Students can improve listening skills while learning about American holiday customs. Use this lesson as an opportunity for the class to find out about New Year customs in other cultures.

New Year's in America Grade 3 to 6 - Jerilyn Watson- 5544

This online quiz focuses on New Year's traditions in America, but tests knowledge of grammar and word choice. The quiz has about forty questions (all related to New Year's and grammar). This is a great activity for ESL and ELL students or elementary students practicing grammar skills. This site does require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Use an interactive whiteboard or projector and take this quiz together. Or use this website as a learning station during your Language Arts or Social Studies class. In younger classes (or beginning ESL or ELL) allow students to work with a partner. Challenge students to create their own quiz on New Years (or another holiday) that incorporates grammar practice.

Chinese New Year Grade 5 to 8 - - 5630

Gear up for the Year of the ox with this informational site about the Chinese New Year. Learn about the animals in the Chinese zodiac, the significance of dragons in Chinese mythology, several "special" facts about various years, and how the date of the New Year is determined. Get some great ideas from this site for activities in your classroom.

In the Classroom:
Share the "what's special about..." section with your students on an interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students judge which year was the most special and write journal entries or blogs about WHY.

New Year Traditions Grade 4 to 6 - Australian Media Pty. Ltd.- 5543

Learn about New Year's celebrations around the world. Click on the name of a country to read a brief synopsis of its customs and traditions. Includes links to New Year's-inspired recipes, poetry, and songs. Some of the songs provide lyrics only, while others have sound. A few of the links require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Play one of the New Year's songs in the background while your students use this site for research about specific countries.

New Year's Resolutions Grade 4 to 12 - Vocabulary University- 9908

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Come to this site to find some word puzzles, writing exercises, a wordbank with 20+ words, class activities, and more. Several of the puzzles are printable. This site does have some minor advertisements.

In the Classroom:
Share these word puzzles on your interactive whiteboard or projector. Have students create word puzzles about their own New Year's resolutions. Share the resolutions and word puzzles on a class wiki. This site could even be useful at the beginning of the school year (New School-Year Resolutions)!

Countdown to the New Year Grade 1 to 3 - CineGroupe Sagwa, Inc.- 6331

Celebrate the Chinese New Year with this collection of interactive games that also teaches students about the special cultural traditions that are part of this holiday. The activities on this site are based on The Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan (and Sagwa on PBS). You might want to introduce this book to your students before turning them loose to explore. The main site Sagwa does include other interactives and video clips of the show. Some of these activities do require Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Read The Chinese Siamese Cat to your students, then share this site using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Set this site up as a learning center during your language arts class. List this site on your class website or in your newsletter for students to explore at home with their families.

Holidays Grade 1 to 3 - Manatee School District- 9544

Need some information or class ideas about Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Yom Kipper, or New Years? Check out this interactive, easy to follow website. Each holiday has an individual page with several links to photos, historical information, vocabulary definitions, reference information, and more. There is also a Read feature available with each paragraph. This allows students to hear the paragraph read aloud (a great feature for non-readers and ESL or ELL students). Most holidays also include an online quiz.

At the time of the review, the link on the Yom Kipper page to Hear the Sound of a Shofar was being updated. All of the other many links and information worked perfectly. This site requires Flash. You can get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Save this site in your favorites to share during the holiday seasons. Assign research groups to investigate the holidays listed at this site. Have students report their findings to the class. Create a class wiki for students to share holidays they celebrate and holiday traditions that they follow.

Calendars of National Days and Festivals Grade K to 5 - Woodlands Junior School- 8284

This informative and resourceful website provides information about numerous holidays. Although this website was created for use in the United Kingdoms, it provides a great deal of knowledge about holidays celebrated in many countries throughout the world. Some of the specific topics include New Years, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Christmas, and other holidays. Use this website to help your students gain a better understanding of numerous holidays in other cultures. This website provides information about the history of holidays, how the holidays are celebrated and much more.

In the Classroom:
As you study other cultures, be sure to include this resource for students to research the celebrations there. Or include the link on your teacher web page with the title "Every Day is a Holiday?" asking students to use the holiday calendar to become more be aware of different cultures. Instead of reporting on a current event from the newspaper, give them the option of reporting on a holiday that occurred this week in another part of the world.

Celebrating Yom Kippur Grade 4 to 12 - Council of American Hebrew Congregations- 3790

The Council of American Hebrew Congregations offers a brief explanation of this high holy day at the start of Jewish the new year, along with a description of customary holiday observances.

In the Classroom:
Share this information for students to use in comparing religious traditions in different cultures. Create a comparison/contrast "map" to promote cross-cultural understanding using a free online tool such as bubbl.us, reviewed here. Student groups can make their own maps or work together as a class on interactive whiteboard.

nrgBalance Grade K to 12 - Penn State Hershey- 9674

This informative website offers teachers, students, and parents ideas about how to get fit and be healthy. The focus of the site is 1-2-3-4-5: 1 hour of physical activity, 2 hours (or less) of screen time (TV or computer), 3 meals a day, 4 or more glasses of water daily, and 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables each day. There are also links to help you stay healthy during the holidays, contests, the Learning Center with several webcasts (with full screen options), and more! This site requires Adobe Acrobat and Flash. You can get both from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
Share the webcasts in your health and physical education classes using an interactive whiteboard or projector. Try some of the contests as a class. Challenge students to make one of the five suggested changes in the 1-2-3-4-5 project. Why not try one of the changes each month from January through May? Have students create a class wiki to keep track of their successes (and failures) during the challenge. At New Year's, this is a great site to share for resolutions!

Download a 12 Sided Calendar Grade 4 to 10 - Ole Arntzen- 8976

This interesting web activity enables students to create and print calendars in either PDF format or PostScript format. Students can mark holidays and birthdays in the PostScript format. Once the calendar is printed, the website provides explicit instructions about how to fold the paper into a 12 sided calendar. This website is a fabulous tool to reinforce geometry skills, calendar math, following directions, and reading. The files are available in PDF format and require Adobe. Get it from the TeachersFirst Toolbox page.

In the Classroom:
What a fabulous craft to complete at the beginning of the calendar year (January). Take your class to the computer lab and have the students fill in the blanks to print their calendars. Then use an interactive whiteboard or projection screen to share the instructions for folding the calendar.