“It’s the holiday season so hoop-de do and dickory dock!” Welcome to December! With Thanksgiving being so late this year, Hanukkah and Christmas really seem to be creeping up on us rather quickly. I flipped through my lesson plans for this week and couldn’t believe I already had holiday crafts and songs on the agenda! Today, I’ll share with you one of our Hanukkah-themed music lessons. This lesson incorporates singing, history of the holiday, counting, story retelling, fine motor skills, and shows different ways to sing in a group.
One of my favorite songs about Hanukkah is a song I used to teach and perform with 3rd graders in my last public school assignment called Eight Days of Hanukkah.
For this activity, you will need:
Paper
A stock image of a temple, men, menorah oil, menorah, heart, scrolls (Torah), music notes, prayer hands
Glue
Marker
Process
The song opens with a clarinet, a woodwind instrument. This video shows lyrics and shows viewers cues when either all girls, all boys, or all performers sing. These are concepts that can be introduced after the lesson and can be amended to fit your “class,” whether your class be a true class or your family at home during a homeschool activity. Listen to the song before discussing the lyrics. Use the images in the retell.
1 is for the TEMPLE walls…
2 is for the MEN who fought…
3 is for the OIL they found…
4 is for the miracle that came their way. It burned for eight days (MENORAH)
5 is for the HOPE AND FAITH (heart)…
6 is for the TORAH SCROLLS…
7 is for all the SONGS (music notes)…
8 a PRAYER and Amen.
With the child, cut and paste the images onto paper. For writing practice (if age appropriate), the child can write or trace numbers and or words under the images. Discuss the lyrics again with the images before listening to the song again. Point to the images as you sing along now. During the song, counting along using your fingers would be helpful to younger children also.
Once you’ve gone through the song a few times and everyone feels comfortable, it’s appropriate start introducing singing in parts as the video above shows. You don’t have to divide boys and girls, but rather person by person.
We hope you enjoy this activity! Be sure to let us know how your children enjoyed it, as well!
