Guy Fawkes Night Lesson Plan

1. Have students learn about the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in England. Ask them to investigate Guy Fawkes, one of its main conspirators, and find out about how Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night, and Fireworks Night) became to be a national holiday and how it is celebrated. Why is there a bonfire? What do the fireworks represent? What other countries celebrate this holiday?
2. Ask students to create a Guy Fawkes nighttime celebration scene. They can use construction paper crayons on dark paper for the background, paper cut-outs for the bonfire and other features, and glitter glue for embellishment.
3. Have students present their art and discuss some of the facts they learned about Guy Fawkes Night.

SS: Culture: Create, learn, share, and adapt to culture.

SS: Time, Continuity, and Change: Read, reconstruct, and interpret the past. Imagine the future. Place oneself in various times and spaces and reflect on change.

The Gunpowder Plot was conceived in 1605. Have students investigate life in England at that time. Who was the king? Who were some notable writers and composers? What were the fashions?

Have students investigate how other countries celebrate Bonfire Night. For example, in Canada the event is held as a way to burn fallen leaves and old branches, and in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines there is "bamboo blowing" in which kerosene is ignited in hollowed out bamboo to mimic the sound of cannons.