Hot Topic – Holidays around the world

Right now shops are gearing up for the Christmas rush, and you and your students are probably looking forward to your Christmas and New Year holidays. Elsewhere around the world, people celebrate on different occasions. This Hot Topic takes a look at some of the other important holidays around the world.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, meaning ‘Dedication’, is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It is celebrated around December, and it lasts for eight days.

During that time, Hanukkah candles shine in the window to brighten the night. Family and friends come to help light the candles in the hanukiyah (menorah, or candelabrum), to eat latkes (pancakes) and sufganiyot (doughnuts), and play games of dreidel.

In 2005, Hanukkah takes place from December 26 – January 2.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, which is also known as the Lunar New Year, is a major holiday celebrated internationally in areas with large populations of ethnic Chinese.

Chinese New Year consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day, celebrated on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, and ending with the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the month.

While the Chinese and other east Asian countries use the same Gregorian calendar as New Zealand for day-to-day events, they also use a lunisolar calendar for dating their traditional holidays. A lunisolar calendar indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. The Chinese calendar runs on a 12 year cycle, with each of the 12 years being named after a type of animal. 2005 was the year of the rooster, and after  Chinese New Year on January 29, it  will be the year of the dog.

Diwali

Diwali, a celebration of light and life, is held over five days in October or November, according to the Hindu calendar. Homes are decorated, sweets are distributed by everyone, and thousands of lamps lit.

Although the Indian population is very diverse and has thousands of festivals, Diwali is the most celebrated, and is comparable in some ways to Christmas in New Zealand, as is it is a time when everything in India comes to a standstill except family life, feasting, and shopping.

In 2006, Diwali will be celebrated on October 21.

Ramadhan

For over one billion Muslims throughout the world, Ramadhan is a special month of the year. Ramadhan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.  It’s a time when Muslims all over the world fast and refrain from other pleasures from sunrise until sunset.

Ramadhan is a time for inner reflection, devotion to God, and self-control. The sighting of the new moon at the end of Ramadhan heralds the celebration of Eid ul-Fitr.

In 2006, Ramadhan will be from September 23 until around October 24, depending on the moon.

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Resources on TKI

Celebrations
This ESOL unit intended for level 1, new entrants-year 3, looks at special events people may share within their communities by focusing on multicultural customs and traditions in the Pacific, Asia and Europe.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/esol/esolonline/classroom/units/celebrations/ home_e.php
 
Why Celebrate?
In this level 3 unit intended for year 5-6 students explore a variety of events that people all over the world celebrate such as New Year, a wedding, a harvest or other festival, and learn about how they have similar purposes.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/celebrate/ index_e.php
 
Holidays & Celebrations from Around the World
Holidays and Celebrations from Around the World is from TOPICS Online Magazine, for learners of English. This page contains personal accounts of celebrations by students from around the world. Search by country or by the holiday index which includes New Year, Valentines Day, Independence Day, Christmas, Halloween, and All Saints Day.
http://www.topics-mag.com/internatl/holidays/festivals.htm

Holy Days
From the BBC religion and ethics section, this website gives information about the holy days celebrated by Christians, including Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/

Making the Holidays Special
In this lesson from The New York Times, students examine ways in which holiday television specials reflect some of the religious, historic and cultural themes of the holidays on which they focus. Students then create their own holiday television specials in groups, each focusing on a specific winter holiday.
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20011221friday.html

Têt Trung-Thu - Vietnamese Harvest Festival
This page has information about the Têt-Trung-Thu or Mid-Autumn Festival in Vietnam, a day for a family holiday and celebrations. Includes links to information about festivals in other cultures.
http://www.familyculture.com/holidays/tettrungthu.htm

Cakes and Candles
This is a level 1 unit intended for years 1-2. It looks at the ways different groups celebrate birthdays and some of the traditions associated with this celebration in children's lives.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/socialscience/curriculum/SSOL/cakes/index_e.php

Celebrating Matariki - Teachers' Notes
This page provides teachers' notes for a report from School Journal, Part 2, Number 2, 2005, that provides information about how Matariki, the traditional Māori New Year, is celebrated. Includes an overview, suggested teaching purpose, features to consider, readability, sharing learning outcomes with students, a lesson framework, revisiting the text, and associated websites.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/literacy_numeracy/professional/teach_matariki_e.php?part=2

Christmas Cards and Packaging - TKI Hot Topic
This Hot Topic, published on 14 November 2001, gives some alternative ideas for Christmas celebrations, and collects websites on cards, packaging, and Christmas craft.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/hot_topics/packaging_e.php

Christmas and New Year Celebrations Around the World
This is an integrated series of activities that fit within the New Zealand curriculum. These activities involve researching, comparing, and contrasting Christmas and New Year celebrations around the world using ICT. This unit of work was developed for the wickED website.
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/wick_ed/themes/celebrations.php

Please note: These links were valid when this page was posted. However the Web is very volatile, and TKI has no control over outside websites. Please let us know if you find anything inappropriate, if you find a broken link, or if you have an update for a link by emailing links@tki.org.nz. Te Kete Ipurangi recommends that teachers view all websites we link to before using them with students.

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