As a teacher it is important to create an inclusive classroom. This applies to all teachers, whether you teach preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, or secondary.
For preschool and elementary school teachers, one of the best ways to create an inclusive classroom is to incorporate books that address various themes – including different holidays. During the winter months, the two most popular holidays are Christmas and Hanukkah.
While you may be familiar with popular Christmas books for kids you may not be as familiar with books about Hanukkah, which is why we are here to help! If you are wondering what is a good read aloud for Hanukkah, keep reading to find out.
Hanukkah Bear Read Aloud
Our favorite book to teach students about Hanukkah is Hanukkah Bear by Eric Kimmel. In this wonderful holiday book, kids get to learn about Hanukkah as they follow the story of Bubba Brayna and the bear she befriends.
Hanukkah Bear Summary
Bubba Brayna is an elderly woman who mistakenly thinks a bear is the rabbi who is coming to celebrate Hanukkah with her. Despite the bear’s attempts to communicate that he is not the rabbi, Bubba Brayna remains oblivious. So, rather than let Bubba Brayna celebrate Hanukkah alone – the bear joyfully joins in the festivities of lighting the menorah and eating latkes.
The humor that Kimmel uses throughout the story helps students to connect with the characters and engage with the lessons about Hanukkah. The humor in the story arises from the bear’s continued efforts to try and show Bubba Brayna his true identity, while she continues to believe he is her rabbi.
One of the funniest parts is when the bear finds himself dressed as a rabbi. Beyond just imagining what this may look like, your students will get a good laugh from seeing the illustration that shows the bear dressed as a rabbi.
Whether your students are familiar with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah or learning about it for the first time, the story of the bear and Bubba Brayna is a wonderful story to help them explore this important holiday. The combination of humor and history wrapped up in this warming tale is the perfect winter read for kids.
Reading Activities for Hanukkah Bear
While this book is delightful to read on its own, we know that as a teacher you need a bit more than just a book to read. That’s why we developed a read aloud to use as a reading companion for Hanukkah Bear.
This read aloud is designed not only to help young readers dive deeper into the text but to dive deeper into their literacy skills. The students begin by engaging with text based comprehension questions during the first read. Then, they revisit the text over several days as they explore various literacy practices.
Want to know exactly what literacy skills they will practice? Take a peek below!
How to Teach Hanukkah Bear
This read aloud has everything you need to teach Hanukkah Bear in depth, but don’t just take word for it. Let us show you not only the various reading activities you have access to but also HOW to implement them in your classroom!
First things first, we suggest using this read aloud over the course of 3 to 5 days. To support this schedule, we provide a lesson plan for each of the first three days of learning. In addition, we provide extra learning activities that can be used for days 4 and 5.
Below is a quick overview of the types of literacy activities students will explore in the first three lessons.
Day 1 Lesson Plan
Before reading questions
Story sequencing comprehension activities
Day 2 Lesson Plan
Character response comprehension questions
Craft and structure questions
Day 3 Lesson Plan
Words and illustrations questions
The questions for each of these areas of learning are designed to be explored as a whole class. Therefore, you provide your students with guided support from you as the teacher while also getting an opportunity to quickly assess their understanding.
While many of these are written as questions there are also several activities. For example, on day 1, students will demonstrate their understanding of events in the story by matching pictures with events in the story. This can be completed in a digital or printable format.
Beyond the first three days of learning there are additional activities that you can choose to use. These learning activities cover additional literacy skills and provide additional opportunities for students to revisit the text and demonstrate their understanding.
Here is a quick look at these additional reading activities in the Hanukkah Bear Read Aloud.
Extra Lesson Plans
- Modeled writing
- Craft
- Retelling puppets
- Vocabulary
PreK Hannukkah Bear Read Aloud
In addition to the read aloud available for first and second graders, there is also a PreK read aloud. This Hanukkah Bear read aloud for preschoolers includes the same types of learning activities as the one described above.
Just like the original read aloud, this PreK read aloud can be taught over the course of 3 to 5 days. However, we know that many preschool teachers only see their students once or twice a week.
Therefore, while a first or second-grade teacher may use this read aloud over the course of one week – a preschool teacher may need two weeks. Moreover, a preschool teacher may choose to not complete any or all of the additional learning activities.
You know your classroom and your students best – so choose what works for your classroom!
How can I teach my students about Hanukkah?
While reading is one way to teach your students about Hanukkah, it is not the only one. In addition to incorporating books about Hannukah, you can also have students research this holiday through non-fiction texts.
Our Hanukkah Learning Quest is the perfect learning activity to help kids dive deeper into this holiday. Throughout this informational quest, students get to explore Hanukkah by reading and listening to informational texts and completing digital learning activities.
In addition, you can pair this quest with our other Holidays Around the World Learning Quest to further build your inclusive and culturally aware classroom.
If you want to cover the full month of December, you can easily pair these Hanukkah Bear with with our other December themed read alouds. This will give you a ready to teach read aloud for every week of the month!
