Winter Holidays Around the World Unit Activities Social Studies Mini-Lessons

Are you an upper elementary teacher looking to find quality TEKS- and CCSS-aligned Winter Holidays Around the World activities that cover important holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, and more? Looking for minimal-prep and engaging lessons and activities to teach social studies concepts to your 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade students? Look no further!

This three-week Winter Holiday Unit introduces students to diverse cultural traditions and celebrations from around the world while strengthening reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Each day highlights a variety of holidays through engaging passages, mini-lessons, and discussion activities. Students will compare traditions, explore common themes like light, food, and giving, and reflect on how celebrations connect to history, culture, and community. The unit is designed to be flexible, offering opportunities for independent practice, creative projects, and whole-group learning, all while making the holiday season meaningful and inclusive in your classroom.

This resource includes teacher lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, a task card review game unit quiz, and more. Each lesson includes PowerPoint slideshows (both editable and non-editable), as well as student digital activities of the notes, practice activities, exit tickets, task cards, a unit project, and a unit assessment.

This unit correlates to both the CCSS Common Core State Standards and the current TEKS Social Studies standards (adopted in 2024). It includes EVERYTHING you need to teach about Winter Holidays Around the World – just print & go!

This unit covers the following topics:

• Lesson 1: Diwali
• Lesson 2: Día de los Muertos
• Lesson 3: Hanukkah
• Lesson 4: Las Posadas
• Lesson 5: Christmas
• Lesson 6: Kwanzaa
• Lesson 7: New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day
• Lesson 8: Three Kings Day
• Lesson 9: Winter Holidays Task Card Review Game
• Lesson 10: Winter Holidays Quiz
• Lesson 11: Winter Holidays Project Menu

What’s included in this resource?

• 3-week pacing guide and overview
• Scope and Sequence
• 11 teacher lesson plan guides
• 8 slideshows (editable and non-editable versions)
• 1 task card review game with student recording sheet options
• Guided notes for Lessons 1-8 (2 versions: fill-in-the-blank and highlighted words)
• 8 practice activities
• 8 exit tickets
• Digital versions of student activities
• Unit Assessment
• Unit Project Menu and Rubric
• Answer keys for all student activities

What makes this Guided Social Studies Curriculum Smart and Simple?

✅ The social studies daily lessons and activities are bite-sized and can easily be implemented in 30-45 minutes.

✅ Each social studies unit has everything you need to simply teach social studies – easy-to-follow lesson plans, guided notes, practice activities, exit tickets, and more!

It’s everything you need to implement engaging social studies lessons that students love and teachers enjoy (because it’s comprehensive and easy to prep)!