Joyous Kwanzaa! Introduce your students to the historical and cultural roots of this African and Pan-African “first fruits” festival.  

Immerse Your Students In Holiday-Specific Vocabulary

We hope that a more expansive vocabulary inspires students to become hungry for language. As a result, your students will become thoughtful, articulate speakers and writers who can communicate their ideas effectively and with confidence. 

Our Kwanzaa word wall includes words that will be immediately recognizable AND stretch your student’s language skills and vocabulary. 

Your download includes the following vocabulary words: 

Africa African American culture celebration community family festival harvest

holiday hope joyous karamu kente kinara Kwanzaa heritage mishumaa saba

mkeka Pan-African people struggle The Seven Principles tradition ​​unity

Keep reading to find out how to add your own list of words.

What Else Can You Do With This Kwanzaa Word Wall? 

Word walls are a fantastic way to expose students to the growing world of language. 

Check out all the ways you can present these words to your students during your English Language Arts lessons: 

🌍  Daily Oral Language and spelling word of the week exercises

🌍  Identifying phonemes—blends, digraphs, vowel teams, silent final e

🌍  Counting syllables 

🌍  Recognizing parts of speech (noun types, verbs, adjectives)

🌍  Creative writing activities

🌍  Alphabetical ordering

🌍  Games like Charades, 20 Questions, Swat, etc.  

You can use your word wall before, during, and after reading with your whole class, small groups, or individualized instruction. 

Before You Download

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource.

For more information about Kwanzaa, the Official Kwanzaa Website is a helpful resource. 

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Looking for more ways to incorporate the season’s celebrations into your ELA lessons? We’ve got more word walls to explore: