Dear Subscriber First Name,

In today’s newsletter, we have some ideas about celebrating the Ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, and we have an announcement about our new topic.

Saturnalia was celebrated in Ancient Rome on the 17th of December and could last for two weeks. During the Saturnalia season, everything was topsy-turvy. The servants became the masters and a mock king was appointed. There are lots of fun ways to celebrate Saturnalia in your classroom, along with some engaging history lessons.

Here are five ways you can celebrate Saturnalia in your classroom.

1. Traditional Greeting: From the beginning of Saturnalia until Christmas break, use the seasonal Saturnalia greeting of Io Saturnalia.

2. Swapping Roles: During Saturnalia Romans swapped roles, so why not have your students teach you a class? Split your students into around 15 groups and each group teaches a short lesson about one of the Ancient Roman gods or goddesses and thinks of a related test question. At the end, the class compiles a test for the teacher.

3. Festive Clothes: Encourage your students to wear colorful clothes during class, or wear something colorful over their clothes like a scarf or a shawl. Romans wore special colorful clothes over their tunics, called synthesis, during Saturnalia.

4. Candles and Figurines: Ancient Romans gave small gifts during the Saturnalia season. These gifts were often wax taper candles called cerei or terracotta figurines called signillaria. Students could decorate LED tea lights with washi tape, stickers, wrapping paper scraps or markers and take them home to give as a gift or they could make small clay sculptures as gifts.

5. Mock King: Cut a piece of paper into enough squares so there is one for each student. On one square, write Saturnalicius princeps. Each student draws a piece of paper and the student who draws this square is Mock King or the Lord of Misrule. During Saturnalia in Ancient Rome, the Saturnalicius princeps could make mischief by giving silly orders and causing chaos, but you could give them a choice of silly options to choose from like “tell the teacher to stand on one leg” or “sing Jingle Bells for the class”. You can select a new mock king each day of Saturnalia.

New Topic Announcement

We're excited to announce the launch of our latest topic: Mesopotamia!

The Mesopotamians were an ancient civilization who lived for thousands of years in the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (an area that is now Iraq and portions of Syria and Iran). These rivers surrounded the region, providing fertile soil for crops and water for daily life, an ancient oasis between the dry, arid Arabian desert and the Zagros Mountains.

Dive into the cradle of civilization with our illustrated resources designed to engage and enlighten your students. So far, we've published three resources in our Mesopotamian collection:

1. Who Were The Mesopotamians? Uncover the lives, innovations, and contributions of the people who shaped our world.

2. Epic of Gilgamesh Journey through the pages of this ancient tale, unlocking key vocabulary for enhanced comprehension.

3. Code of Hammurabi Explore one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes in history.

Coming Soon - Ancient Mesopotamian Inventions: This month, we will publish "Ancient Mesopotamian Inventions," an exciting addition to our Mesopotamian series. Delve into the ingenious creations that laid the foundation for modern civilization.

Why Mesopotamia?

• Enrich history lessons with engaging narratives.

• Explore cultural and historical aspects through interactive activities.

• Foster vocabulary development with highlighted key terms.

Visit our Mesopotamia category to explore these resources and more.

Stay tuned for future updates, and as always, happy teaching!

Best regards,

Christa Galloway