English Webquest
Webquest
WINTER HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD WEB QUEST
INTRODUCTION:
Each year in December, people all over the world celebrate Christmas. But this is not the only holiday observed at this time. All over the world other holidays, such as Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, St. Nick’s Day and the Chinese New Year are observed and celebrated.
While some holidays stem from religious origins, others are observed through government declaration as a national holiday. Whatever the reason, people celebrate these holidays in many different ways.
TASK:
Your job is to visit various websites to find out as much as you can about these other winter holidays. You will choose the holiday you find most interesting and complete a data sheet on it.
PROCESS:
- Read through all of the questions on the data sheet.
- Select an internet site and begin reading about one of the holidays offered
- Choose the holiday you like best and begin to complete the data sheet on it
- You may write your answers on lined notebook paper and staple it to the data sheet
INTERNET SITES:
CHRISTMAS:
http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/
http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/worldxmas/index.htm
http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm
http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/egypt.shtml
http://www.soon.org.uk/en/articles/christmas/around-the-world.html
http://www.history.com/topics/christmas-traditions-worldwide
http://italian.about.com/library/weekly/aa120600a.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/christmas
KWANZA:
- http://www.tike.com/celeb-kw.htm
- http://childfun.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21
- http://www.harperchildrens.com/holiday/kwan3.htm
- http://members.tripod.com/~Nancy_J/kwanzaa.htm
- http://www.chron.com/cgi-bin/auth/story/content/chronicle/food/97/12/22/microwave.html
- http://www.boulder.lib.co.us/youth/holidays/kwanzaa/
- http://www.teachersfirst.com/20/getsource.cfm?id=7846
HANUKKAH:
- http://www.infoplease.com/spot/hanukkah.html
- http://www.marlo.com/hanukkah.htm
- http://www.godwithus.org/holidays/hanukkah_traditional_jewish
observance.html - http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Hanukkah/Detail.aspx
- http://www.joi.org/celebrate/hanuk/history.shtml
- http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/HAN_HEG/HANUKKAH.html
- http://www.teachersfirst.com/20/getsource.cfm?id=7835
CHINESE NEW YEAR
- http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html
- http://www.c-c-c.org/chineseculture/festival/newyear/newyear.html
- http://www.infoplease.com/spot/chinesenewyear1.html
- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/chinesenewyear/
- http://www.chinapage.com/newyear.html
- http://holidays.kaboose.com/chinese-new-year/chinese_new_year.html
- http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/chinese.html
SAINT NICHOLAS DAY
- http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/around/stnicholas.html
- www.billanookps.vic.edu.au/German/saint_nicholas.htm
- http://www.santas.net/stnicholas.htm
- http://www.stnicholascenter.org
- http://www.wf-f.org/st.nicholas.html
- http://stnicholas.kids.us/Brix?pageID=465
- http://www.christmaslore.com/make_sure_you_celebrate_christmas_and_st
nicholas_day_this_d.html#more
WEB QUEST DATA SHEET
1. When and where did this holiday originate, or begin?
a. Why was it started?
b. Who created it? Is its foundation religious or governmental?
2. Where is this holiday typically celebrated?
. What are the dates of celebration?
3. Describe and then tell me as much as you can about two traditions commonly practiced for this holiday (ex. putting stockings by the fire or cookies and milk out).
Tradition 1
Tradition 2
4. What is the high point of this holiday celebration? Is it a mass, a family gathering or meal etc.
a. Describe what it is like.
Are gifts exchanged for this holiday? If so, what are the gifts like?
. Are they store-bought, handmade, food items etc.
a. Who typically gives and receives the gifts?
Are there any special symbols or decorations associated with this holiday? If so, what are they?
. Why are they used?
a. How did they come to represent this special day?