1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading: Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.

2. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?
© Stephen Chung/Alamy
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?
Tonight in London’s Trafalgar Square, they’ll party like it’s 5775! (Actually, it’s been 5775 on the Hebrew calendar since Rosh Hashanah began at sunset on September 24.) To celebrate the Festival of Lights, aka Hanukkah, several Jewish organizations and synagogues in England join together to light a giant menorah in the middle of London’s iconic market plaza. The menorah, currently the largest one on display in Europe, stays lit for all eight nights of the winter festival.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?1
Web Search/Thinking
Find the story of Hanukkah online. Who are the major characters in the story and what are some words you would use to describe them? 2
Find the story of Hanukkah online. How would you divide the events that occur into a beginning, middle, and end? 3
Find the story of Hanukkah online. What is considered the miracle of Hanukkah? What do you think is the central message of this miracle? 4
What is a menorah? Why does it have nine candles? 5
If we think of a menorah as a literary symbol, what do you think it symbolizes?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?1
Web Search/Thinking
Find the story of Hanukkah online. Who are the major characters in the story and what are some words you would use to describe them? 2
Find the story of Hanukkah online. How would you divide the events that occur into a beginning, middle, and end? 3
Find the story of Hanukkah online. What is considered the miracle of Hanukkah? What do you think is the central message of this miracle? 4
What is a menorah? Why does it have nine candles? 5
If we think of a menorah as a literary symbol, what do you think it symbolizes?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?1
Web Search/Thinking
Find the story of Hanukkah online. Who are the major characters in the story and what are some words you would use to describe them?
(Possible queries: “for kids, story of Hanukkah”, “characters in the story of Hanukkah”).
Students should first read a short summary of the history behind Hanukkah (For example, the one found here: They should then identify some of the major characters and describe them based on their actions in the text. For example, they may identify the king Antiochus and Judah Maccabee as two major characters. Students should then develop character descriptions based on the story. For example, they may call King Antiochus strict and tyrannical based on the idea in the text that he “said that Jews should give up worshipping Yahweh and worship the Greek gods instead.” They may call Judah Maccabee “persistent” and “resourceful” based on the idea in the text that he “got a group of people together to fight back. These people got more people to join, and they soon had an army”.

8. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?2
Web Search/Thinking
Find the story of Hanukkah online. How would you divide the events that occur into a beginning, middle, and end?
(Possible queries: “for kids, story of Hanukkah”, “history of Hanukkah for kids”).
Students should first read a short summary of the history behind Hanukkah (For example, the one found here: It may help for them to talk through what happens in the story in their own words in order to try and highlight the major turning points and divide it into a beginning, middle and end. Answers will vary. For example:
Beginning: Long ago, Judea was ruled by the Syrian king Antiochus, who said that Jews should give up worshipping Yahweh and worship the Greek gods instead. They decided to do something about it. A man named Judah Maccabee got a group of people together to fight back. These people got more people to join, and they soon had an army.
Middle: They fought back. For three years, the Jews battled the Syrians for control of Judea. Finally, the Jews won.
End: They cleaned the Temple of Jerusalem, removing all Greek symbols and restoring the Jewish symbols. To help celebrate, Judah and his followers lit an oil lamp. The supply of oil was very low, but this lamp stayed lit for eight days.

9. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?3
Web Search/Thinking
Find the story of Hanukkah online. What is considered the miracle of Hanukkah? What do you think is the central message of this miracle?
(Possible queries: “for kids, story of Hanukkah”, “miracle of Hanukkah for kids”).
Students should first read a short summary of the history behind Hanukkah (For example, the one found here:
Jewish troops were determined to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. But to their dismay, they discovered that there was only one day's worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days. This is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil that is celebrated every year when Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days.
Students should then interpret what they think the message of this miracle is. Answers will vary. The fact that the oil burned for eight days instead of one may be a sign that they did the right thing in fighting and is sign of their success and a sign of their hope.

10. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?4
Web Search/Thinking
What is a menorah? Why does it have nine candles?
(Possible queries: “for kids, what is a menorah?”, “for kids, eight nights of Hanukah”).
From
The Macabees wanted to rededicate their temple by lighting the "eternal flame," but they only had enough consecrated oil to burn for one day. Miraculously, that little bit of oil lasted for eight days until more purified oil could be found. Today, Jewish families light candles or burn oil in a candelabra called a "menorah" for the eight days of Hanukkah, adding one candle each day. The special "helper candle" used to light the rest of the candles each night is called the Shamash. On the first night, the Shamash plus one other candle are lit. On the second night, the Shamash plus two candles are lit. This process is continued on through the eight nights. The eight-day lighting of the candles commemorates the eight-day miracle of the oil.

11. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?5
Web Search/Thinking
If we think of a menorah as a literary symbol, what do you think it symbolizes?
(Possible queries: “for kids, what is a menorah?”, “for kids, what is a literary symbol?”).
Students may find it helpful to first look up the definition of a symbol. From
A symbol is a person, place, or thing comes to represent an abstract idea or concept -- it is anything that stands for something beyond itself.
Students should then look up the history behind the menorah in order to figure out what it may symbolize. (For example they can read the description of a menorah found here:
Students should think about how the menorah has come to represent more than just nine candles. Students should understand that the symbolism here is based on the menorah’s history. Answers will vary. For example: Because the Macabees only had oil to burn for one day, and it burned for 8, menorahs today have come to symbolize this victory of the Jewish people, the value of hope and fighting for your beliefs.

12. Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?
Students should be able to describe, generally, what the story of Hanukah is. They should understand that the Syrian King outlawed Jewish beliefs and symbols, and a group of Jews, led by Judah Macabee, fought back and won. They wanted to rededicate their temple by burning a flame, and although they felt they only had enough oil to burn for one night, it lasted for eight. This is considered the miracle of Hanukah and people today represent this miracle by burning candles on a menorah (one candle to represent each of the nights). Students should understand from this story that flame and light are very important to Hanukkah's history, and represent triumph and hope. This is how Hanukkah has become known as the festival of lights.