Lesson Plan 

Issues Topic: The December Dilemma: To what extent should religious observances and holidays be
acknowledged and/or celebrated in public school classrooms?  

Group Members: Lindsay Johannesson, Trevor Peeters, Dani Vanee

Learning Objectives:
Students will:
 Be able to think critically on a teachers role/responsibility with regards to acknowledging
different traditions and creating a safe environment for students with diverse backgrounds 
 Be able to demonstrate both positive and negative effects of including religious education in the
classroom, as well as appropriate and inappropriate ways acknowledge different religious
holidays 
 Recognize tools and methods for fostering inclusivity and community (cultural responsivity,
classroom-specific group activities, etc.)
 Be able to provide possible solutions to problems that may be associated with the celebration of
religious holidays in the classroom
 Understand that incorporating religious holidays/celebrations into the classroom is a multifaceted
issue with no definitive solution

Assessment:
 Demonstrate a deeper understanding of the complexities of addressing religious observances and
holidays in a diverse classroom
 Think critically and constructively on their own stance on the issue
 Consider the potential challenges and successes of different approaches to acknowledging
holidays and religious observances in the classroom

Materials:
 Google Slides presentation
 Zoom whiteboard functions and breakout rooms
o For introductory game
 Zoom chat features 
o For chat waterfall activity 

Introduction: 
 Introduce members and present the title 
 Introductory game - “Snowman” (3 minutes)
o The class will be divided into three breakout rooms, each led by a member of the
presenting body
o The students will race to guess the hidden word associated with the “December
Holidays” theme
o The first team to guess correctly will call the remaining students back to the main room
for corroboration--Christmas is the December holiday most are familiar with; how might
that affect how public school classrooms acknowledge religious holidays?
 Pose the research question (1 minute)

Body:
  Discuss the role and responsibilities a teacher of the public school system has on matters of
religious observation in the classroom (3 minutes)
o Differentiation between acceptance and endorsement of certain student’s religious
practices; the importance of being unbiased 
o Religion may only be presented as part of a secular educational program
 Should instill understanding, tolerance and respect for a pluralistic society
o Focus attention on classroom solidarity and community building through inclusive
practices
 Guided look at an example of handling holiday acknowledgements in the classroom (4 minutes)
o Videos (approx. 2 minutes)
 How cultural responsivity in the classroom may be a tool in fostering inclusivity 
 Consider the tensions that may arise from year to year with this approach
 Students as ambassadors for their beliefs and traditions
 To what extent is this appropriate?
 Towing the line between celebrating and isolating diversity in the
classroom
 Three possible paths for dealing with diverse classrooms (3 minutes)
o Celebrating the majority holidays (eg. Christmas)
o Keeping classroom activities intentionally secular and seasonal-themed 
o Fostering an open narrative for the learning and acceptance of a wide variety of holidays
and observances

Resources Used:

[ms_frazzled]. (2020, December 15). Re: Holidays in the classroom. [Video]. TikTok.
https://www.tiktok.com/@ms_frazzled/video/6906545275448380677?
lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1. 

[ms_frazzled]. (2020, December 15). Reply to @hannahelkins.crystals. [Video]. TikTok.

https://www.tiktok.com/@ms_frazzled/video/6906551164683226374?
lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1. 

Presence for the holidays: A newspaper for members of the national education association. (1997). NEA
Today, 16(4), 20. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.uleth.ca/trade-journals/presence-
holidays/docview/198832447/se-2?accountid=12063. 

Russo, C. J., & Mawdsley, R. D. (2001). December dilemmas: the celebration of Christmas in American
Public Schools. Education & the Law, 13(4), 381–387. https://doi-
org.ezproxy.uleth.ca/10.1080/09539960220120110.

Closure:
 Chat waterfall assessment activity (5 minutes)
o What point of the presentation resonated with you?
o Invite students to read each other’s responses
 Open up the room for a guided discussion - elaboration on their own answer or in
response to another student’s
 Reiteration of the research question (1 minute)
 Leave students with the notion that there is no definitive answer to handling the December
Dilemma in public school classrooms
o How might they use this information to begin to develop accommodations in their own
classrooms?