This Jewish Holidays Worksheet gives 4th graders a short passage about Hanukkah and Rosh Hashanah, then five sentences and two written responses to complete. Answer key included for fast, no-prep practice.
Eight nights of light
Fourth graders learn that Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights, celebrated for eight nights, usually in December. It remembers a time over 2,000 years ago when a small group called the Maccabees won back the Temple in Jerusalem. The story says there was only enough oil to light the Temple lamp for one day, but it burned for eight. Families light one more candle on the menorah each night, using a helper candle called the shamash, play dreidel, and eat foods fried in oil like latkes and jelly doughnuts. The click comes when kids count the candles and figure out why a Hanukkah menorah has nine branches.
Fourth graders are ready for the history behind a holiday. These moves add some math and reading too.
Have kids read about several Jewish holidays and fill in when each happens and what it remembers. Then zoom in on Hanukkah. Seeing it next to Passover and Rosh Hashanah helps kids understand it as part of a bigger calendar.
Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.
Try it withJewish Holidays WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Model night one: one candle plus the shamash. Then ask, "How many candles do you need for all eight nights?" Kids work it out (44 in all, counting the shamash each night). It is a great patterns problem with a real reason behind it.
Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Teach the four Hebrew letters on the dreidel and what each one means in the game. Kids play a few rounds and tally which letter lands most. Then talk about whether every side has the same chance.
Why it works: playful practice with a clear goal keeps kids practicing longer, and simple learning games have been shown to build real skills (Ramani and Siegler, 2008).
Hanukkah is an eight-night Jewish holiday called the Festival of Lights. It remembers the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the story of oil that lasted eight days instead of one.
Hanukkah starts on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev. Because the Hebrew calendar is based on the moon, it falls on different dates each year, usually in late November or December.
Eight candles stand for the eight nights, and the ninth is the shamash, or helper candle, used to light the others.
The four Hebrew letters, nun, gimel, hei and shin, stand for a phrase meaning "a great miracle happened there." In the game, each letter tells you whether to take, give or do nothing.
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