Grade Level: 3, 4

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/Holidays/Specific Holidays
• Social Studies/Country Studies
• Language Arts/Writing

Duration: 40 minutes

Description: Students will compare and contrast the holidays of Songkran (a Thai holiday) and Easter. Students will write a cinquain poem about one of the holidays.

Goals: NCSS Standards :

1. I. Culture - Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
2. III. People, Places and Environment - Interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes and photographs.
3. V. Individuals, Groups and Institutions - Give examples of and explain group and institutional influences such as religious beliefs, laws and peer pressure, on people, events, and elements of culture.

1. Students will be able to describe elements of the Thai holiday of Songkran.
2. Students will compare and contrast the holidays of Songkran and Easter.
3. Students will be able to write a cinquain poem about one of the holidays.

Materials:

• vocabulary visual aids (teacher-made)
• map transparencies of Asia / Thailand
• overhead projector
• Clip Art (Visual Aids)
• Cinquain Worksheet (Easter)
• Cinquain Worksheet (Songkran)
• Vocabulary Quiz
  Handouts in .pdf format; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  
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1. Songkran - beginning of a new solar year
2. Wat - where food is offered to the monks
3. Nagas - mythical serpents

Procedure:

Anticipatory Set:
Inform students that they will be discussing similarities and differences between Songkran and Easter. Ask students to share Easter customs; list students' response on the board. Show the map transparency of Asia. Ask for a volunteer to point out Thailand on the map.

Lesson Focus:
Provide a brief overview of the main elements of Songkran, utilizing vocabulary and other visual aids.

[ Author's Note: As far as the visual aids go, I punched out the letters of each vocabulary word and glued them onto construction paper. Then I attached them to the board using magnets. Then I wrote the definition after each word. These are easy and cheap to make!]

Show the map transparency of Thailand and explain that other countries surrounding Thailand also celebrate this holiday. Ask students to help make a list of Songkran customs on the board. As a class, compare and contrast Easter and Songkran using a Venn diagram.

Inform students that they will be writing cinquain poems. Students have the option of writing a poem about Easter or a poem about Songkran. Distribute a cinquain poem worksheet to each student (depending on their choice) and go over the directions. Students will be allowed to work on the poems for about 15-20 minutes. Students may work next to a friend if desired or at another location in the room. After the allotted time is up, students will return to their seats. Students who are finished will be able to take turns using the classroom computer(s) to type their final copies while other students work on their poems at their seats. After students have printed out a final copy of their poem, they can decorate the printout with any art supplies found in the classroom. Any students wishing to share their poem with the rest of the class will be allowed to do so. The decorated poems will be displayed on a bulletin board in the classroom.

Closure:
Separate the vocabulary words from the definitions and mix them up. Have three student volunteers put each word/definition combination together correctly.

Assessment: Observe students' participation during class discussions. Give students a short quiz on the new vocabulary words that were discussed during the lesson. Collect students' poems and assess them on how well students followed the directions.