Yep, we all love Mother’s Day. If you are a mother or not, we all have one or had one, so this is a great week to stop and take a moment to reflect on all our moms sacrifice and do for us. You are likely looking to do something similar in your classroom as well. So, even though it is testing season, you squeeze in a quick lesson on this holiday. But, what if you could actually make it educationally valuable as well?
This year, I decided to take a different approach to my Mother’s Day lesson plan. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the cute crafts, the painted hand prints, the homemade cards, but let’s go a little deeper. So, here is what I did.
First, I researched how the holiday got started. Did you know it was started by a woman, Anna Jarvis, who later tried desperately to get it removed as a national holiday? Did you know it was Woodrow Wilson who officially declared it a national holiday in 1914? All cool facts, that also allowed me to revisit some names we had learned earlier in the year.
Second, I wondered if Mother’s Day was celebrated in other places and how? I learned that although Mother’s Day is a US holiday, it is definitely celebrated world wide. Some of the traditions and customs are very similar to what we may be familiar with here, but some were totally different. Did you know in Thailand they celebrate Mother’s Day on the birthday of the current queen? Right now, they celebrate in August. Did you know that in Ethiopia, they celebrate motherhood in general in the fall with a huge feast? Again, this gave me a chance to pull out a globe and maps and re-explore places we may have talked about in earlier lessons.
Of course I had to add some of my common tools that students have gotten so fluent with, like circle maps, spelling, and even a writing prompt.
Circle map 5 different spelling sheets
So, I ended up with a good full 2-3 days worth of material that may not have produced a cute card or painted hand print, but was truly engaging, meaningful, and (dare I say) even rigorous. Plus, the kids LOVED it!!
Want to add this to your plans for Mother’s Day? Click HERE or on the image below to check out my Mother’s Day unit over in my store.
And, because I don’t know how to write a blog post without a freebie, I created this Mother’s Day Bingo game that uses some of the facts the students learned from the story. Just click the button below to download 8 BINGO boards and calling cards (in color and BW).
