Diwali

Welcome
to the Teacher Page of Diwali,
the Festival of Lights. This page was created to teach a class of seventeen (17)
students at Primary School level, Standard Four (4). The lesson will be 40-45
minutes long and hence should be to the point. This is because of the age group
that is being taught, that is an average of 9.5 – 10.5 years, and taking into
consideration their attention span and the fact that they are preparing for
Secondary Entrance Examinations. The students also had basic previous knowledge
of the festival Diwali.

At
the end of the lesson the students should be able to give the meaning of the
word Diwali through discussion with peers, identify symbols and customs
associated with Diwali and have appreciation and tolerance for other people’s
religion and the importance of Diwali.

          We recommend that the teacher get the students as involved
as possible into the celebration. This may include dressing in the specific
cultural wear, partaking in the customs such as lighting deeyas, and sharing
the traditional delicacies and sweetmeats of the season. The students should
also be encouraged to participate in the prayer, as we are a multi-cultural
society and should display respect and appreciation for all religions at all
times as well as, we pray to one God in many different forms.

           We also recommend that teachers allow students
to assist their peers of foreign religions in learning about the festival. It
will be better for students to understand from important religious festival and
because of this it is a delicate subject to teach. This is the reason for our
Webquest’s creation, to assist teachers with covering their syllabus.