This Christmas in Italy resource can be used as a stand alone unit or as part of a larger holidays around the world unit. It covers Three Kings Day, which is also known as Epiphany, and includes everything you need to teach your students about this special winter holiday, including Three Kings Day facts and resources.
Italy is a popular choice when doing a Christmas around the world or holidays around the world unit. Christmas in Italy is similar to Christmas in the United States; however, there are some interesting differences that make it an interesting place to explore with elementary students during the month of December. Learn more Three Kings Day Facts below!
What is Christmas in Italy Like?
Below is a short excerpt from the non-fiction reading passage and student mini-booklet that can be found in the Christmas in Italy unit. It includes tons of Three Kings Day facts for kids! Read it below!
“In Italy, the Christmas season lasts for three weeks. The celebrations start eight days before Christmas with Novenas. Novenas are special prayers said daily.
A week before Christmas, children dress as shepherds. They go door to door singing songs and playing music. In return they are given money. People enjoy a large feast on Christmas Eve. Many go to church…”
Why You Should Teach about Christmas in Italy
The month of December is a great time of year to teach students about the different holidays and celebrations that take place around the world this time of year. Students are already thinking about the upcoming holidays, so it makes sense to use this excitement to engage them in their learning. There are so many different ways to tie this topic into your curriculum – especially social studies and literacy standards!
The Christmas season in Italy is a particularly interesting topic to explore because it has many similarities to how Christmas is celebrated in the United States, which many of your students will be familiar with. At the same time, there are some components that are a little bit different, which makes it interesting to compare and contrast the two.
5 Christmas in Italy and Three Kings Day Facts
Here are some Christmas in Italy and Three Kings Day Facts:
- In Italy, the Christmas season lasts for three weeks.
- A week before Christmas, children dress as shepherds. They go door to door singing songs and playing music. In return, they are given money.
- People enjoy a large feast on Christmas Eve.
- Many people go to church on Christmas Eve.
- Children wait for a visit from “La Befana.” In Italian folklore, she is an ugly witch on a broomstick. It is believed that she comes down chimneys and fills stockings and shoes with gifts for the good children and gives pieces of coal to those who have been naughty.
Christmas in Italy Unit
This Christmas in Italy unit is available as an individual resource, as well as part of a larger holidays around the world bundle. Learn more about it below!
What’s Included?
This Christmas in Italy resource includes the following:
- resource overview that identifies all of the printables included in the product
- teaching ideas that offer suggestions for how to implement the resources in your classroom
- organizational tools to help you keep track of the resources you add to this thematic unit
- book suggestions to help you find relevant read alouds you might like to use as part of your unit
- close reading passage for both teachers and students to learn facts about Three Kings Day in Italy
- printable book for students to use to learn about the holiday
- two-column notes graphic organizer so your students can organize their ideas and the research they collect
- top-down web graphic organizer so your students can take the information they collected and transfer it into a paragraph framework
- cover pages that students can color in or design their own illustration
- geography map to help students make sense of where the country is in relation to themselves
- flag bunting that looks great displayed on a bulletin board
- flag coloring page that pairs well with the writing project and makes a great bulletin board
- postcards so students can show what they learned in a fun and creative way
- travel scrapbook so students can show what they learned in a fun and creative way
- travel journal so students can show what they learned in a fun and creative way
- art project to engage your students in a fun learning experience based on an academic topic
- recipe for students to bring home, share with their families, and enjoy a hands-on learning extension
- digital version of the product so students can access the materials in school and at home
5 Reasons Why You Will Love It
- This Christmas in Italy resource includes a bunch of activities, so it’s a great value!
- Many of the Christmas in Italy resources are completely print and go, which saves you lots of prep time.
- You can customize the Christmas in Italy unit to fit your needs by selecting which included activities you implement.
- The Christmas in Italy activities are open-ended, which makes it easier to differentiate and make modifications. It also enables you to use this in multiple grade levels.
- This Christmas in Italy unit is a great way to keep students engaged during a month where that can feel extra challenging!
How to Implement a Christmas in Italy Unit
Below are suggestions for how to implement a Christmas in Italy unit.
1. Activate Schema
Locate Italy on a Map
Like all lessons, you will want to begin by activating student schema and engaging them in their learning. You can do this by:
- Locating Italy on a map.
- Discussing Italy’s climate.
- Inviting students to participate in mapping activities that help them understand where your students are in relation to Italy and the rest of the world.
This Me on the Map project has long been the most effective way I know to teach students where they are located from a global perspective.
Many teachers use it as part of a map skills unit at the start of each school year, but it also works so perfectly as an introduction to your Christmas Around the World or Holidays Around the World lessons.
Read Picture Books Related to Italy
Learn about Italy by reading aloud fictional picture books that take place in Italy and non-fiction books teaching about Italy and Three Kings Day facts.
Our favorite book for this is The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie dePaola. We loved it so much that we added them to our Starts With a Story collection. Learn more about holidays around the world picture books!
The Legend of Old Befana
The Legend of Old Befana is the story of an old woman living in a small Italian village. Befana is not friendly and the people in the village do not like her very much. She spends her days baking and sweeping her house, steps, and walkway.
One night, Befana is awakened by a bright light outside, it is a star. The star shines so brightly that Befana cannot sleep. The next day as Befana sweeps the walk, she sees an amazing procession of people. She learns that they are in search of the new Baby King that was just born. Eventually, Befana decides that she too will go in search of the king. She bakes treats too, and brings her broom to sweep for the tired mother.
Befana runs as fast as she can to try and catch up to the group. However, she never finds the king. To this day, Old Befana spends each night running from house to house looking for the Baby King and sweeping children’s rooms.
Check out these The Legend of Old Befana activities!
2. Engage in the Activities from the Christmas in Italy Unit
The Christmas in Italy Unit includes tons of activities to choose from. Read through the resource overview and list of teaching ideas included in the unit to determine which activities you’d like to implement.
Read the Christmas in Italy Texts and Complete the Note-Taking Activities
This unit includes a close reading passage and printable book that your students can read to learn Three Kings Day facts. There is also a two-column notes graphic organizer and a top-down web graphic organizer that students can use to collect information about the holiday.
Analyze a Map of Italy
This unit includes a map to help students make sense of where the country is in relation to themselves. Our Me on the Map activities is a nice compliment to this activity.
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Make a Travel Journal, Scrapbook, or Postcard
Having students create a travel journal, scrapbook, or postcard will invite them to show what they have learning in a fun and creative way.
Send Home a Traditional Italian Recipe
Send home a traditional Italian recipe for students to share with their families and continue their learning at home.
Make a Christmas in Italy Craft
Take some time to do a craft with your students to represent the country you are focusing on, Italy. It is so hard to fit in creative activities, but a winter celebrations around the world unit is a perfect time to incorporate fun hands-on learning experiences.
Here is what we made when we studied Italy! Check out these directions for how to make this craft and get ideas for other holidays around the world crafts!
3. Assess Students Using the Resources from the Unit
There are tons of different ways to assess students during and at the conclusion of your Christmas in Italy unit. You can use the graphic organizers, classroom observations, and class discussions as informal assessments. You can use the postcard, travel scrapbook, and travel journal as formal assessments. You can decide what works best for you and your class of students!
Holidays Around the World Unit
What is Included?
You can get the Christmas in Italy unit on it’s own or as part of the popular cost-savings holidays around the world bundle, which includes the following winter celebrations around the world:
- Australia
- Brazil
- China
- France
- Germany
- Mexico
- Italy
- Israel
- Holland / The Netherlands
- Sweden
- Spain
- The United States
- Christmas
- Chinese New Year
- Boxing Day
- Diwali
- Epiphany
- Hanukkah
- Kwanzaa
- Las Posadas
- St. Lucia’s Day
The bundle also includes the following bonus materials:
- Access to a digital portal for easy planning
- Passports and country stamps
- Luggage craft activity
- Boarding passes
- Travel map
- Compare and contrast countries with Venn diagrams
- Craft ideas
- Scrapbook cover
- Recipes
Check Out These Other Related Resources
In addition to the winter celebrations around the world resources spotlighted above, a study about Christmas in Italy lends itself to a variety of other complementary projects like travel brochures, an animal research project and crafts.
1. Travel Brochures
You could have your students create travel brochures by researching the country. It’s a fun and creative way for students to share the facts about Christmas in Italy they learned. This can be done in class or as a homework assignment to complement what you are doing in school. These printables travel brochures make it super simple!
2. Animal Research Projects
You could have your students learn about the wildlife native to Italy. This print and go animal research resource packet can be used over and over again through the school year because it was designed to be used when researching any animal.
If you need ideas specific to Italy, I suggest:
- Spider monkeys
- Cacomistles
- Axolotls
- Mexican Prairie Dogs
- Vaquita Porpoises
- Coatis
3. List of Christmas in Italy Books
We’ve curated a list of picture books for each of the countries. Check out all of the holidays around the world books on our list!
4. List of Christmas in Italy Videos
We’ve curated a list of videos for each of the countries. Check out all of the the holidays around the world videos on our list!
5. List of Holidays Around the World Posts
This post is part of a series designed to help teachers and homeschool families teach kids about the winter celebrations around the world. Other posts can be found below as well as the links to my other posts that you may find helpful in the month of December.
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I also encourage you to visit this article to learn how to manage a holidays around the world learning experience in your classroom. It will help you with planning and teaching lessons about Christmas in Italy, as well as a comprehensive holidays around the world resource. Your students will love learning about Christmas in Italy and Three Kings Day facts!
