Lammas: Creation Stories & Harvest
Third grade explores how different cultures explain the world's beginning. These ancient stories connect us to human wisdom across time.
Teaching Note: We study religious texts as literature and cultural wisdom - exploring what they teach, not as doctrine. This comparative approach honors all traditions.
UU Principle Focus
7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence
Weekly Lessons
Week 1: Welcome & Creation Stories
🕯️ Hearth Circle
How do different cultures explain how the world began? What do these stories have in common?
📚 Language Arts
Introduction to creation stories. Read Turtle Island (Iroquois). Journal: How I imagine the world began
✖️ Math
Review multiplication 2s-5s. Place value to 1000
🌱 Science
Earth science intro - what is our planet made of?
✏️ Form Drawing
Circle forms - the earth, wholeness
🧶 Handwork
Clay work - forming earth from clay
📖 Story
Turtle Island (Iroquois creation)
🌍 Stories from Around the World
Pagan:
Pagans honor Earth as sacred Mother who provides all we need
Abrahamic:
Genesis says God creates earth and calls it 'good'
Connection:
Both teach Earth is precious and we should care for it
📺 "Just Can't" Day
Videos:
- Creation Stories for Kids
- StoryBots: Earth
Shows:
- Planet Earth Jr clips
Audio:
- Native American Stories
Week 2: Creation from Many Cultures
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Every culture has creation stories. What does this tell us about humans?
📚 Language Arts
Compare Norse and African creation stories. Venn diagrams. Write similarities
✖️ Math
Multiplication 6s and 7s. Word problems
🌱 Science
Layers of the earth - crust, mantle, core
✏️ Form Drawing
Layered forms - concentric circles
🧶 Handwork
Continue clay - add layers
📖 Story
Ymir and the Frost Giants (Norse)
🌍 Stories from Around the World
Pagan:
Norse believed world formed from ice and fire, with giant Ymir
Abrahamic:
Hebrew tradition: God spoke and light appeared
Connection:
Both show creation from something powerful beyond understanding
📺 "Just Can't" Day
Videos:
- Norse Mythology for Kids
- Layers of Earth
Shows:
- How Earth Was Made
Audio:
- D'Aulaires' Norse Gods
Week 3: Hebrew Creation Stories
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Hebrew stories are ancient wisdom. What can we learn without believing literally?
📚 Language Arts
Read Genesis creation as literature. Days of creation. Compare to other stories
✖️ Math
Multiplication 8s and 9s. Fact fluency
🌱 Science
Day and night, seasons - why earth has cycles
✏️ Form Drawing
Light and dark forms - contrast
🧶 Handwork
Beeswax modeling - sun, moon, stars
📖 Story
Genesis 1 (as literature)
🌍 Stories from Around the World
Pagan:
Pagans celebrate sun's journey - solstices are holy days
Abrahamic:
Genesis: sun rules day, moon rules night
Connection:
Both recognize importance of light, darkness, seasons
📺 "Just Can't" Day
Videos:
- Superbook: In the Beginning
- Day and Night Explained
Shows:
- Seasons and Solstices
Audio:
- Bible Stories for Young Readers
Week 4: Garden Stories & Stewardship
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Garden stories teach about caring for earth. How do we tend our garden?
📚 Language Arts
Read garden stories from different cultures. Discuss stewardship. Write about caring for nature
✖️ Math
Division introduction - sharing harvest equally
🌱 Science
Gardens and ecosystems - how gardens work
✏️ Form Drawing
Garden forms - paths, beds, borders
🧶 Handwork
Plan a garden - draw and design
📖 Story
The Garden Story (Genesis 2-3 as myth)
🌍 Stories from Around the World
Pagan:
Celtic tradition honors the Green Man who tends wild places
Abrahamic:
Adam and Eve are given the garden to 'tend and keep'
Connection:
Both traditions call us to be caretakers of nature
📺 "Just Can't" Day
Videos:
- Garden Stories for Kids
- How Gardens Grow
Shows:
- In the Garden
Audio:
- Secret Garden (abridged)
Week 5: Lammas Harvest Celebration
🕯️ Hearth Circle
Lammas celebrates first harvest. What have we harvested - crops, skills, knowledge?
📚 Language Arts
Write your own creation story. Share with family
✖️ Math
Multiplication/division review. Harvest math - bushels, dozens
🌱 Science
Harvest time - grain crops, how bread is made
✏️ Form Drawing
Wheat and grain forms
🧶 Handwork
Bread baking, grain crafts, harvest altar
📖 Story
Share original creation stories
🌍 Stories from Around the World
Pagan:
Lammas (Lughnasadh) honors first grain harvest with bread and feasting
Abrahamic:
Hebrew Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) celebrates wheat harvest
Connection:
Both traditions give thanks for the harvest that sustains us
📺 "Just Can't" Day
Videos:
- Harvest Celebrations
- How Bread is Made
Shows:
- Farm Life
Audio:
- Harvest Stories
🌾 Lammas Celebration
- 🟡 Bake bread and share with community
- 🟡 Create harvest altar with grains and vegetables
- 🟡 Share creation stories from your heritage
- 🟡 Visit a farm or farmer's market
- 🟡 Make corn dollies or wheat weavings