Explorica is very proud of our new resource for teachers: our 2018-19 Around the World classroom calendar!
The calendar features a new country and an international holiday or event for you to celebrate with your students each month. Download a new page each month on this blog (and subscribe!), hang it up in your classroom, and talk to your students about how the holiday reflects the country’s history and culture.
This February, we’re featuring the Chinese New Year. Observed in China and worldwide, the Chinese New Year is the Lunar New Year, observed on the new moon between January 21 and February 20. Each year is also assigned an animal — February 5 marks the year of the pig. The pig is the last of the 12 animals in the zodiac cycle, due to its reputation as the slowest of the bunch.
Millions of people travel home each year to celebrate, usually with firecrackers (said to ward off the mythical beast Nian), gifts of money in red paper envelopes, red decorations, and traditional foods like dumplings.
Questions to ask your students:
What is the difference between a solar and lunar new year?
Find the zodiac sign for the year you were born. What does your animal signify?
Why do you think the new year is called the biggest human migration each year?
Check out last year’s blog post for more tips for celebrating the Chinese New Year in your classroom!