Chinese New Year Research Activity – Updated for 2025 Year of the Snake

Description

FAST FACTS ABOUT THIS CHINESE NEW YEAR RESEARCH ACTIVITY

• Recommended for: Grades 4-7
• Lesson Duration: 3 lessons (about 45 minutes each)
• Formats: PPT or Google Slides; PDF
• Editable: YES, all text is editable
• Updated for 2025, The Year of the Snake

IMPORTANT NOTE

This lesson focuses specifically on Chinese New Year as celebrated in China. I lived in Shanghai for six years and learned a lot about this celebration in that time. This lesson mentions Lunar New Year (celebrated outside China), but this research activity focuses on how China celebrates.

STUDENTS WILL NEED:

• pen or pencil
• computer and/or library books for research (multiple internet links included in the lesson planner)
• each group will need one of the four Research Guides
• crossword puzzle for early finishers

WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS CHINESE NEW YEAR RESEARCH ACTIVITY:

• 4 Research Guides in the following categories: Symbols and Luck, Food and Drink, Chinese New Year, and Chinese Mythology
• Crossword puzzle for early finishers – includes larger print version
• Detailed, step-by-step directions for teachers with prep instructions, divided by Days 1, 2, and 3
• Answer Keys to all

DAY ONE:

• Students watch a 3-minute video introducing Chinese New Year
• Students select from the four research topics (listed above)
• Students start research. Several links are included that will answer all of the questions in the Research Guides.
• The links were last checked on December 12, 2024 to ensure they are all working properly and to replace broken links.

DAY TWO:

• Students continue research in groups.
• Early-finishers can work on the crossword puzzle.

DAY THREE:

• Students share what they learned in an Inside-Outside circle. Directions for Inside-Outside circles are included with the lesson plan.

ACCESSIBILITY

All parts of this Chinese New Year Research Activity are optimized for readability.

Here’s how:

• uses only two fonts (Arial and KG Blank Space Solid)
• Arial font is one of 8 accessibility fonts recommended by the British Dyslexia Association. It is also pre-loaded on most school computers.
• all pages feature black text on a solid white background
• no cursive fonts, fancy fonts, or random capitalizations
• lots of white space on every page
• Crossword puzzle includes a larger-print version, with the puzzle on one page and the clues in a larger font on a separate page.

MORE LUNAR NEW YEAR LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES: