Around The World Through Holidays: Cross Curricular Readers Theatre

Our school likes to have cross-cultural celebrations rather than focusing on the traditional celebrations. This book helped us do just that. It is a great resource. My students are 4th graders and it was appropriate for them.

Jan.-New Year's, Feb.-Fastelavn (Denmark), Mar.-St. Patrick's Day, April-Passover, May-May Day, June-Dragon Boat Festival, July-Independence Day, Aug.-Obon, Sept.-Homowo (Ghana), Oct.-Divali, Nov.-Ramadan, Dec.-Las Posadas. Personally, I have used the book more for its details. Besides a script, each holiday also includes background info, follow-up activities, suggestions on how to actually throw a party in your classroom for that specific holiday and suggestions for further activities. These activities include recipes and crafts and detail how each one is curriculum-related (i.e. National Anthem of Mexico -Literacy and Music).

Around The World Through Holidays: Cross Curricular Readers Theatre is an amazing resource for elementary classrooms. A literacy and geography lesson sprinkled with math, science, art and history in each of the twelve plays. The author, Carol Peterson, begins with background information about a specific holiday. She then introduces a reader's theatre connected to the holiday. As if that weren't enough, she includes a plethora of cross curricular activities connected to each holiday. Some of the holidays covered are Passover, Ramadan, the Indian Festival of Lights and Las Posados. Each month brings a new country and a new holiday and endless opportunities for learning and fun!

Readers Theatre is a great way to involve kids in drama, without the pressure of memorizing lines and facing stage fright. Peterson's plays are organized around holidays, one per month, that celebrate different cultures around the world. January is a round-up of New Year's traditions from all over the globe, February is Fastelavn from Denmark, March is St. Patrick's Day, March is Passover, May is May Day, June is the Dragon Boat Fesitval from China, July is Independence Day, August is Obon in Japan, September is Homowo, a Ghanian festival of thanksgiving, October is an Indian festival of lights, November is Ramadan, and December is Las Posadas from Mexico. After each mini-play are a bevy of related activities that cover art, literature, science, history, and math. The author clearly has done her homework and is very respectful of the different beliefs presented, but also keeps a light, kid-friendly touch throughout. All in all, a very valuable teacher and parent resource. It's a great companion to her earlier book, Jump Back in Time.