Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Thousands of Teacher-reviewed Resources!

Celebrate the December Holidays

This week, we are sharing resources related to Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Discover resources that feature historical information about the holidays and several classroom use suggestions for students in all grades. 

Grades K-12

All About the Holidays

Learn about the history and significance of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza through this video collection from PBS Learning Media. This resource includes information about holidays in other seasons as well.

Grades 4-12

Christmas/Holiday Traditions

As part of their extensive site for vocabulary, roots, and more, MyVocabulary.com has added a themed area for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and other holidays—a great way to introduce your students to holiday-related vocabulary words.

Grades K-6

Torah Tots

Teach your students about Jewish traditions and holidays through games, coloring pages, and music. Share the Jewish calendar and Jewish history in world cultures or world language class. Share this link on your class site for families to explore.

Grades K-6

HanuKat: Celebrate Hanukkah and Passover with the Kids

Discover stories, activities, songs, recipes, and more that teach students about Hanukkah and Passover. The activities section contains many different crafts, such as Design Your Own Dreidel, coloring pages, and origami.

Grades 3-8

Chanukah - Hanukkah

Learn all about Hanukkah—the eight-day Jewish festival of lights. Sections include Chanukah basics, how-to, The Chanukah Story, videos and songs, recipes, and a special area for young children.

Grades K-12

Christmas Resources

Find historical information and research, “educationally fun” ideas to recognize Christmas in your lessons, and some neat ways to correlate your lessons in language arts, art, social studies, and other subjects to the Christmas holiday.

Grades K-6

Official NORAD Santa Tracker

Roll your cursor over the buildings to select a library and learn about Santa, his sleigh, and holiday traditions. Visit the music stage to listen to traditional holiday music or choose the theater to watch movies about Santa and the NORAD tracker.

Grades K-6

Santa's Village and Tracker

Google's annual Santa's Village features a Santa tracker for Christmas Eve, holiday games, educational resources like coding games, and a visit to the North Pole. Try out Santa Selfie, Gumball Tilt, Build & Bolt, and other games!

Grades K-8

Kwanzaa

Enjoy the many ideas and activities for learning about and celebrating Kwanzaa on this site. Learn important terms through an interactive quiz, learn to make a pasta necklace or chain, and see ten decorations that will put you in the mood for Kwanzaa.

Grades 6-12

Kwanzaa History

Click the image to start “The Story Behind Kwanzaa,” a short video you can use as an introduction to the holiday. On this page, you'll find information on the history of Kwanzaa, descriptions of the principles, and instructions for Kwanzaa observances.

Grades K-8

Kwanzaa

Explore the history of Kwanzaa in detail and view descriptions of the meanings of its symbols. There are also links to wallpapers, greetings (e-cards), music, recipes, books, and details about the seven days and the feast.

This Week at TeachersFirst

We wish all of the teachers that we serve a happy and healthy holiday season! We hope you take time to relax and refresh while away from the classroom. Our winter 2023 book study begins in January and is now open for registration. Check out the Infusing Technology blog and give your input on our weekly poll.