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The holiest of all holidays are those Kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart, When the full river of feeling overflows;-- The happy days unclouded to their close; The sudden joys that our of darkness start As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Use these lesson plans (created by educators for educators) to explore the theme of holidays with your students in your classroom:

Exploring Cultural Rituals - (General Reference,) In this lesson, students investigate rituals and customs of various cultures and then explore their own cultural rituals through interviews with family.

Exploring Community Through Local History: Oral Stories, Landmarks and Traditions - (Grades 9-12,) Students explore the local history of their own community to learn the value of local culture and traditions as primary sources.

Is there an historical fiction title (or two) that you always read to (or with) your students when teaching about United States holidays? Are there invaluable reference books that you use when working with this theme? Staff from The Library of Congress have generously donated favorite titles for the holidays theme. We hope you will contribute your favorite titles to our growing bibliography!

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Create your own collaborative lesson plans using material related to this month's theme assembled from The Learning Page Collection Connections:

Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885 - (Summary and Teaching Resources) In the History section of this connection, War Stories: Memories of the Civil War in Song lists songs commemorating civil war soldiers.

African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920, Selections from the Ohio Historical Society, The - (Summary and Teaching Resources) This connection references a poem about a Thanksgiving turkey in the Poetry section of Arts and Humanities

America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets - (Summary and Teaching Resources) This connection includes songs about and for soldiers of the Civil War.

Washington as It Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959 - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Search this collection using the term "holidays."

Quilts and Quiltmaking in America, 1978-1996 - (Summary and Teaching Resources) The History section provides an example of searching on the word Christmas.

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress - (Summary and Teaching Resources) President Lincoln's papers would be great to review on President's Day!

I Do Solemnly Swear...: Presidential Inaugurations - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Read through inaugural information available for President's Day.

Words and Deeds in American History: Selected Documents Celebrating the Manuscript Division - (Summary and Teaching Resources) Find letters from our Presidents and information about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous I have a dream speech.

We'll Sing to Abe Our Song Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War, from the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana - (Summary and Teaching Resources) A wealth of sheet music about our 16th President.

These terms may be useful when searching for items related to this theme in the American Memory collections.