Special Features

Introduction:

The modern Mother's Day holiday was created by Anna Jarvis as a day for each family to honor its mother. Mother's Day was first proposed in North America by Julia Ward Howe, author of "The Battle Hymn of The Republic." Howe, distraught over the devastation wrought by the US Civil War, made a public appeal for mothers everywhere to protest battle. She called for an international Mother's Day, to encourage peace. Despite Howe's passion, Mother's Day didn't catch on for another 30 years. (Read the full history of this May celebration in the United States and how the holiday is celebrated in other countries at - Wikipedia.org)

Videos:

• This is a WikiHow video on creative ways to celebrate Mother's Day
• SqoolTube offers these simple K-6 craft idea videos for kids to make as Mother's Day gifts
• YouTube hosts this 5-minute Mother's Day English lesson focusing on family and culture
• Here are some Mother's Day craft instructables to show Mom how much you care
• Daily DIY Network offers these Mother's Day science project "instructables"
• Learn the Chinese symbols for "Mother's Day" in this free video on Chinese words and phrases

Lesson Plans:

• Here's a fun collection of Mother's Day activity ideas (
  
• When I was young, I remember my Mother... starts this Mother's Day Card idea
  
• Here is a crafty Mother's Day necklace idea
  
  

• This is a sampling of some of our lessons on Family:
  • This lesson is on family diagrams
    
  • This lesson looks at the roles of different family members
    
  • Here's a computer lesson idea where students create a family tree with photos
    
  • Here's a family lesson plan with many aspects including a family tree and interviewing family members
    
  • This lesson on immigration looks at family history and origins
    
  • Here's another idea for creating a family tree on construction paper
    
  
  
• The following is a collection of brief ideas for boosting Family Involvement:
  
  • Here's an overview of the activities for Family Involvement
    
  • Here's a collection of the letters to send to parents regarding the family involvement activities
    
  • This one tries to help with Adult Reading Buddies
    
  • This part is for developing a "Family Command Post"
    
  • Here you can create a Home Book Bag for taking projects home to be done with the family
    
  • This portion is called Science Discovery Days
    
  • This one involves celebrating different cultures' holidays
    
  • Called Curriculum Night, this idea gets parents into the schools
    
  • Here are some miscellaneous ideas for Family Involvement
    
  
  
• Create Mother's Day e-cards here
• Here's a brief idea for creating Mother's Day Word Art with Microsoft Word
  
• Students make sweet smelling paper flowers in this Valentine or Mother's Day idea
  
• Students create Mother's Day Cards with poems in this lesson idea
  
• This idea is for writing "Valentine" Poetry, but it could be used for Mother's Day or Father's Day as well
  
• This lesson creates a simple shoebox lid shadow box with potpourri and craft stick flowers
  
• Create a Mother's Day memory with this flower pot idea
  
• This idea suggests Mother's Day interviews
  
• "Let's Give a Medal to Mama" is a medal presentation idea complete with a song
  
• In this writing exercise, students create a Memory-A-Day box as a gift for someone special
  

Additional Resources:

• Learn about Mother's Day Around the World at this kid-friendly site
  
• This Mother's Day celebration site is full of poems, quotes, Momisms, tributes, stories, games and crafts for younger and older children
• EdHelper.com offer a Mother's Day themed book unit for K-2 and lots of coloring pages, math worksheets, foreign language conversations, writing prompts, and many other activity and puzzle printables
  
• This is a picture-oriented ESL Mother's Day site
  
• Here HowStuffWorks.com answers the question "Who came up with Mother's Day and why?"
  
• Surf-the-Net Kids collected, described and rated the best Mother's Day poetry sites here for your convenience
  
• Here are some great Mother's Day math problems from The Franklin Institute
  
• Carnations have long been associated with Mother's Day and in this science project, kids can make them bi-colored.