History of Hanukkah and Making a Menorah Lesson Plan

State Standards Addressed:

8.1.3. Historical Analysis and Skills Development

D. Understand historical research.

· Event (time and place)

· Facts, folklore and fiction

· Formation of a historical question

· Primary sources

· Secondary sources

Conclusions (e.g., storytelling, role playing, diorama)

Interdisciplinary Connections:

History, Fine Motor Skills

Lesson Objectives:

1. Students will be able to identify how many nights of Hanukkah there are and why there are that many.
2. Students will be able to construct a menorah out of the materials provided.
3. Students will be able to understand why Hanukkah is important to Jewish people.

Methods Used to Implement the Lesson:

Read aloud, group discussion, and individual work

Resources:

-Book On Hanukkah by Cathy Goldberg Fishman

-Paper plates

-Construction Paper

-Crepe Paper

-Scissors

-Glue

-Copies of the "All About Hanukkah" paper

Introduction:

Most of the children may not know that Hanukkah just started, but they may know it happens around Christmas time. So to introduce the holiday I will read the book On Hanukkah to teach the students how Hanukkah is celebrated and why it is so important to the Jewish people.

Content:

1. After reading the book I will review some of the ways the family in the book celebrated Hanukkah is celebrated.
2. Show the students the menorah they will be making and ask them why there are eight candles on the menorah. Make sure they answer in some way about how the menorah in the Temple burned for eight nights, which became the miracle of Hanukkah and that is why it is important to the Jewish people.
3. Now the students will make their own menorah with the materials provided and following the directions. Each student will get their own materials and bring them back to their desks.
4. After they have the materials all students will fold the paper plate in half and cut on the fold. Once all students have done this together, I'll instruct the students to cut out 8 small candles, 1 large candle and 9 flames from the materials on their own.
5. Once they have cut everything they can glue the flames to the top of the candles and glue all the candles to the paper plate and then the paper plates together. They can use the model to help them along.
6. After the menorah is constructed the students will be give an "All About Hanukkah" paper to glue to their menorah to remind them what the holiday means to Jewish people. If the students have time they can color their menorah.

Summary/Closure:

After all the menorahs are put together, we will read the "All About Hanukkah" paragraph to review why we made the menorah. And to remind students that Hanukkah has just started and will go on for eight nights.

Evaluation:

-Did the students understand the importance of the menorah?

-How did the review of the importance of Hanukkah go? -Were the students able to construct the menorah easily?