Hanukkah

Objectives:

• Students will be able to explain the history of Hanukkah and why it is celebrated.

• Students will be able to describe Hanukkah traditions and how Hanukkah is celebrated.

Suggested Grades:

3rd Grade - 4th Grade - 5th Grade - 6th Grade

Lesson Procedure:

Print the reading comprehension passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt:

Each December, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah. The eight-day festival is also known as the Festival of Lights, the Feast of Dedication or the Feast of the Maccabees. The celebration of Hanukkah began in 165 B.C., when the Jews, under a leader called Judas Maccabee, took back the Temple of Jerusalem from the Syrians. About three years earlier, the King of Syria had taken over the temple and dedicated it to the worship of the pagan god Zeus. The pagans did not allow the Jewish people to practice their religion.

Continued...