Grade: 4th

Subject: Social Studies

Topic: Multicultural Series (Chinese Lunar New Year)
Time: 45 minutes
Goal: Students will understand the traditions of a different culture and see their importance.
Objective: Students will know various forms of cultural traditions and why these traditions are
important in the way they construct knowledge of the world.
Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (oneon-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on
others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3: Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support
particular points.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.6: Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g.,
presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g., small-group
discussion); use formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
Materials:
-

Video (for presentation of Chinese New Year information for discussion purposes)
- Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp_tRQ_QVJw
Sheets of paper (for paper lantern activity)

Procedure:
Students will be called to the front of the room. I will begin by telling them a folktale about a
dragon (Nian) and how the early settlers of a village learned to thwart his presence during the
lunar new year of their calendar (this is how the traditions came about and how they
Once the students have heard this folktale, I will immediately move into the video prepared for
them about the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival celebrations (both are tied together).
Before showing the video, I will briefly prepare the students to note important things that they
see (symbols, colors, traditions) worthy of being discussion points. After doing so, I will make
small comments through the video (not to distract, to point out some ideas to model the concept).
Once the students have watched the explanation, I will have them return to their seats to discuss
some of the unique ideas that are practiced during this celebration in China.

After the students are finished discussing, I will close by redirecting their attention towards the
Festival of Lanterns. This is the part of the celebration (of the Lunar Calendar New Year) where
closure is brought to the entire celebration. Traditions include constructing paper lanterns with
specific symbols and colors that stand for good fortune.
The students will have the opportunity to construct their own lanterns. I will reiterate the
importance of color choices and symbols to illustrate on their lanterns. This will allow the
students time to differentiate in how each lantern will signify something important to them.