Bring Yom Kippur Activities Into Your Classroom

Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. It marks the end of the Ten Days of Repentance that begin with the Jewish new year, called Rosh Hashanah. In 2025, the holiday is happening on October 1–2.

Whether you have students who observe this holiday or you’re looking to introduce your students to other customs, cultures, or religions, we have a collection of Yom Kippur activities you can use across subjects to build background knowledge and add more diverse perspectives to your curriculum. 

• Practice ELA skills through a Yom Kippur lens
• Learn more about Judaism and its holidays in social studies

[Practice ELA skills through a Yom Kippur lens](id-ela)

You don’t have to create Yom Kippur activities that are separate from your learning goals and skills practice. Use these lessons to help students practice important ELA skills with Yom Kippur content:

Synthesize information texts about Yom Kippur

Teach students how to evaluate information from multiple sources, connect ideas, and combine them with background and prior knowledge to create a better understanding or help them form new opinions about Yom Kippur. Try it with these resources:

• An article that explains the history and significance of Yom Kippur
• An article that explores the concept of religious fasting across denominations
• A comic writing activity that helps students demonstrate their understanding of the holiday and its importance.

Analyze multimedia about Yom Kippur

Much of the information we encounter each day comes from a variety of sources, like books, videos, podcasts, and more. You can help students learn how to analyze messages across multimedia channels using Yom Kippur resources like:

• A video that explains what Yom Kippur is and why it matters to people in the Jewish faith.
• An article that explores the history, significance, and customs of Yom Kippur.
• A media comparison note catcher that helps students collect the main idea and key details from each resource to see their similarities and differences.

[Learn more about Judaism and its holidays in social studies](id-ss)

Yom Kippur is one of many Jewish holidays celebrated throughout the calendar year. Students can learn more about the people who celebrate them and why by using these social studies activities:

Teach students about Judaism

People of the Jewish faith have many customs and traditions that they celebrate throughout the year and their lives. Students can learn more about the motivation behind these celebrations and what they look like with articles on topics like: 

• The branches of Judaism.
• How the Book of Genesis in the Torah and the Bible tells a shared Jewish-Christian origin story.
• What happens at a bar mitzvah and why they’re so important in Judaism.

Compare and contrast Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are called the Abrahamic faiths because of the belief that all three religions descend from Abraham. 

They have unique cultures and holidays that are important to the followers of each religion. Students can explore how these religions and their holidays are similar with the following activity:

• First, ask students to read articles that compare the three religions, their holidays, and their customs.
• While reading, ask students to complete a triple Venn diagram and include key details about each religion and how they’re similar or different from each other. Try customizing the graphic organizer with your AI-powered assistant, Luna!
• Finally, ask students to complete a long-form informational writing assignment that uses the texts and their notes to answer the question “Why do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share some common traditions and values?”Assign this prompt on Newsela Writing so students can get real-time feedback on their drafts!

Cover all the fall holidays in your classroom

Yom Kippur is just one of many holidays celebrated during the fall. With Newsela’s suite of subject products, you can access various content and resources—like news articles, primary sources, literature selections, and interactive videos—to help you teach about all of them!

Not a Newsela customer yet? Sign up for Newsela Lite for free and start your 45-day trial. You’ll get access to our premium content and activities for everything you need to teach about every holiday this spring.