school projects

Cedar Ridge Elementary Breaking Up Christmas

Introduction

Curriculum integration

Writing assignment:
My Traditions

Traditions narrative

Imaginative narrative

Blue Ridge Elementary
Family Night with Wayne Henderson

Central Elementary
Dulcimer Residency
and Family Night

New Hope Elementary
The Badgett Sisters
and Qulting

Shoals & Westfield Elementary
Square Dancing

Students dancing to the music of the Smokey Valley Boys at Central Elementary's Breaking Up Christmas party.

TEACHERS AT CEDAR RIDGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL decided to explore a local holiday tradition with students. The school is located in the Round Peak community. In the 1920s, residents gathered in homes for all day "house parties" during the two weeks after Christmas. Furniture was moved out of the house to make way for players and dancers. This tradition, called "Breaking Up Christmas," waned in the days of World War II and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during the 1970s. Teachers used the CD Blue Ridge Mountain Holiday: The Breaking Up Christmas Story to introduce students to the history of the tradition and as a springboard for exploring the students' own family traditions.
     The Smokey Valley Boys, featuring Verlen Clifton, Paul Sutphin, Benton Flippen, and Frank Bode, came to the school to talk with the students about their remembrances of Breaking Up Christmas parties in their childhoods. Questions from students were interspersed with the band playing tunes for fourth graders who jumped up to flat foot dance. Students designed invitations to their Breaking Up Christmas party for parents and for fellow students (available here in PDF format).
     After this experience, students wrote imaginative narratives of attending a Breaking Up Christmas party in 1920.