Mount Aloysius College

Education Department
Lesson Plan Format

I. Heading

Lesson Title: Holidays Around the World: Interactive Notebook

Teacher Name: Ms. Skolyak
Date Lesson is Taught: October 12, 2022
Subject/Discipline: Language Arts
Grade Level: Fourth
Number of Students: 21
Allocated Instructional Time: 1 hour
Multiple Intelligences Addressed: Interpersonal, Visual-Spatial
Pennsylvania Common Core Standards or Early Learning Standards:
Standard – CC.1.2.4.D: Compare and Contrast an event or topic told from two different points
of view
Standard – CC.1.3.4.H: Compare and Contrast similar themes, topics, and patterns of events
in literature, including texts from different cultures
Standard – CC.1.4.4.G: Write opinion pieces on topics or texts

II. Rationale and Background

The students are familiar with how to compare and contrast. They are also familiar with writing their
own opinion pieces on certain topics.

The purpose of this lesson is to inform students about the various different types of holidays that are
happening around the world. The purpose of this lesson is to also help students improve their skills in
comparing and contrasting similar topics.

III. Lesson Objectives

The Learners will be able to construct their own interactive notebook about the holidays around
the world. (CC.1.2.4.D)
The Learners will be able to describe various holidays from around the world. (CC.1.3.4.H)
The Learners will be able to organize the different holidays based on where they are located
on the map. (CC.1.3.4.H)

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 The Learners will be able to compare and contrast two different holidays from around the
world. (CC.1.3.4.H)
The Learners will be able to author an opinion paragraph on their favorite holiday. (CC.1.4.4.G)

IV. Materials

Teacher Materials: Interactive Notebook Printouts (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_-

cgeyOrfeCaXJonI4w135GqYO44lAwMP75zGb7UzHY/edit) , Around the World Holiday Video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrkZNItK0gY),
Student Materials: Notebooks, Pencils, Markers/Crayons, Glue, Scissors

V. Procedures

A. Introduction, Motivation, and Setting the Stage

1. To activate the student’s prior knowledge and grab their attention, I will write the word
holiday on the board in a circle. I will define it as “A special day to remember or
celebrate something”. The students will then be asked to raise their hands and share
what they know about some of their favorite holidays from any time of the year.
2. In this lesson, Students will be able to construct their own interactive notebook, describe
various holidays from around the world, organize the different holidays on a map, and
compare the aspects of these holidays.

B. Lesson Body
1. Tell the students that we are going to learn about various holidays that occur around the
world. Tell them that they are first going to watch a video about the Holidays, then we
are going to create an interactive notebook.
2. Next, play the video for the students. (five minutes)
3. After the video, pass out the cover worksheet that goes with the interactive notebook.
For this, have the students decorate each picture with crayons or markers. Then, have
the students cut each of them out and glue them to the first page of the notebook. Allow
five minutes for students to decorate the cover page. While the students are coloring,
play holiday music from around the world.
4. Once students have completed their cover page, pass out the pages with different
holidays. Each student should have one page for each of the following holidays:
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Diwali, Chinese New Year, and St. Lucia Day.
There are six total flaps included in this activity, each of them having four layers. Have
the students cut out the four layers for the first holiday and glue them together, using the
area above the dotted line as a guide for the glue. Have the students decorate the top
flap with the holiday title. Glue the completed flap inside the second page of your
notebook. Last, read each flap out loud as a class.
Repeat this for each of the six holidays in this activity. By the end, students should have
three holidays on each page of their interactive notebook.
5. Once students have finished the first two pages of their interactive notebook, pass out
the mapping sheet. Have the students cut out the ‘Holidays Around the World’ banner
and glue it to the top of the third notebook page. Then, cut out the square containing the
world map and glue it underneath the title banner. Give the students five minutes to
work with their desk partners and fill in as much as they can on the map. After five
minutes, come together as a class and fill in the rest of them.

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 6. Once the mapping page is done, pass out the compare and contrast sheet. Have the
students glue this page to the fourth page in their notebook. Next, have them find a
partner and choose two of the holidays that we talked about to fill out the graphic
organizer. Allow fifteen minutes for students to complete this section of the activity.
7. Finally, have the students write a one-paragraph opinion piece about which is their
favorite holiday and why. This can be written on the last page of the interactive
notebook.
Students will be doing guided practice while we are constructing their interactive notebooks
together. They are also doing independent practice when they are working with partners to
complete this activity.

C. Strategies for Differentiated Instruction

Enrichment:
1. Have the students compare and contrast one of the holidays we learned about today to
a holiday that they celebrate at home.
2. Remove the word bank on their mapping activity.
3. Invite the students to create a bulletin board highlighting the various holidays discussed
in class to display in the hallway.
Support:
1. Provide a question sheet for the opinion paragraph at the end.
2. Label the areas of their map for the mapping section of the activity.
3. Invite students to do the writing part of this activity with a small teacher-led group
English Language Learner
1. Highlighting keywords throughout their activity
2. Adding more photos to explain the different holidays
3. Shorten the assignment by removing the mapping and writing portion of this activity

D. Closure/Conclusion

Once the students are finished, come back together as a class and have the students get with
a partner to share their compare and contrast sheet. Then take volunteers to share with the
entire class. We will then summarize all of the holidays as a class and go over our objectives
again to make sure they were achieved.

E. “If-Time Activity”
1. If the lesson is finished early, students will complete a holiday around the world word
search.
2. If students finish their independent work early, they will get with a partner who is also
finished and talk about what they have completed.

VI. Communicating with Families/Homework Assignment/Independent Practice

In order to stay in touch with families, I will have a google classroom where I post weekly
updates and different things that we are doing throughout the school and classroom. I will also
have a weekly newsletter that will be more specific in telling what we are doing each day that
week. I will also use the remind app to inform parents about what the homework is for each
night.

VII. Evaluation
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A. Student Assessment

Students will be assessed by asking them to reflect on the holidays that were learned and
choose a specific one that they liked or are curious about. The students will then complete two
sentences explaining their stance.
I like the holiday of _____ because _____.
I want to learn more about the holiday of _____ because _____.

B. Reflective Practice/Self-Evaluation

Reflect on your teaching experience and answer these questions:

1. What were two strengths of the lesson?

2. What are two areas of the lesson that need improvement?
3. What would I do differently, if I were to reteach this lesson?
4. What biases, if any, existed in the materials, activities, language, or interactions with
children?
5. Did anything surprise me?