ASSURE Method

Teaching holidays

Analyze Students

This class is made up of 20 students 11 of whom are boys. All are between ages 9 and 11. There are 2 Muslims, 3 Jewish students, and 2 African Americans. The majority are white and familiar with Christian holidays. Most students like to express creativity, and seem to go beyond (in terms of learning; they will do research on their own in order to add elements to an art of craft) when given projects that give freedom to create. They also do well in groups, as long as I pick groups, otherwise they will organize in a way such that two groups just goof off.

State Objectives

Students (in groups) will explain an American holiday (which will be assigned to them) traditions and explain the activities often associated with their assigned holidays by listening and participating in discussion, searching Wikipedia for its history, watching YouTube videos, and making a poster that represents their holiday (which will be presented and explained to the rest of the class) with 88% accuracy by the end of the unit.

Select Media, Methods, and Materials

Students will be placed into groups and each group will be assigned one of the following holidays: Independence Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, or a birthday (as celebrated by any or all of the students in a group). The class, as a whole, will go through the holidays, one by one, and we will discuss what we think it’s about and/or how it is celebrated in their household. Students will work in groups and search Wikipedia and other approved websites to research the history of their holiday. I will provide a few video links to some educational videos for each group so they can learn more about the history and some of the traditions. Students will then make a poster with printed or hand-drawn pictures, facts, traditions, and any other information they feel is important for the class to know. Groups will present and explain their posters to the class.

Utilize Media and Materials

Wikipedia/Google, YouTube, Poster

Require Learner Participation

Students must participate in the poster-making process.

Evaluate

Students will be evaluated by the effort, quality, and accuracy of their posters.