Course: Title of Unit: Title of Lesson:

Social Studies Significance of Ethnic and

Cultural Celebrations Cultural Celebrations
Grade Level: Approximate Time
3rd Frame:
3 – 30 Minute Lessons
Lesson Summary
In this lesson, students will learn about the significance of ethnic and cultural celebrations. First, students will
brainstorm a list of celebrations and the teacher will record examples on chart paper. Then, they will read the lesson
in the textbook related to cultural celebrations and add on to their list. From there, they will sort and categorize the
various celebrations. Next, students will pick a celebration of their choice that they would like to learn more about in
order to share with their classmates. Students could generate questions to ask a family member or use resources
from 1Link to gather more information. Students will communicate their understanding by completing a task that
they will use to share about a celebration.
TEKS
3.10A explain the significance of various ethnic and/or cultural celebrations in the local community and
other communities 
3.14A gather information, including historical and current events and geographic data, about the community using a
variety of resources;  
Teacher to Teacher Notes
If generating questions to ask students does not work for your class or if you want to do something in addition to that,
students could go to World Book Kids or Britannica School from 1Link to learn more about the celebration.
Materials needed:
Pearson Book
1Link (World Book Kids or Britannica School)
Chart Paper and Student Journals
Procedures/Activities
Engage
 Think-Pair-Share: Why are celebrations important?
Learning Experience
 You can start by brainstorming examples of celebrations and recording them on chart paper. They can span
from national celebrations to ethnic celebrations to religious celebrations, etc. Then you can read lesson 3 in
the textbook from pages 300 – 305. After you read the lesson, you can add to your list and then sort and put
the celebrations into different categories.
 Then, teachers can inform students that they will pick a celebration that relates to their culture to learn more
about it and to share with the class. Students could learn more about that celebration by asking someone in
their family some questions. As a class, co-construct a list of general questions they could ask. You will want
to emphasize that they should for sure ask about why that celebration is important to their family. Students
can have questions written down in their journal and then ask a family member after school one day.
Students could also take a picture of an artifact or something else they have at their home that relates to the
celebration. Students could add that picture to a media album in the teacher’s Schoology course.
Structured Practice
 To communicate their understanding, students can share about a celebration from their culture. You could
give them a choice about what they create, but before they start, you should co-construct success criteria
about what they should include. A simple task would be to use the four-box graphic organizer where they
could draw visuals to describe the celebration and to explain the importance of it.
Closure
 To reflect on their understanding, students should share about their celebration with the class or with a
partner. Students should provide feedback to one another based on the success criteria.
The lessons are designed to be adapted and/or expanded on by teachers. Teachers also have the flexibility to use the Pearson book, other district resources, or create their own lessons
that are aligned to this concept, the instructional model, and the standards. Contact Daniel Legreid, Elementary SS Curriculum Coordinator for questions