Holiday+Celebrations

Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa, etc. the holiday season is a time when people look forward to celebrations, time with family and friends, sharing good food, vacations, giving gifts, decorating, giving thanks, etc. Many of us also look forward to traditions that make our holidays special and give us memories that will last a lifetime. The defintion of the word "tradition" on the [|Miriam Webster Online Dictionary]website is: [|an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom)"] One famous holiday tradition that you may be familiar with is the White House Christmas Tree. Each year a tree is selected and delivered to the White House to be decorated and displayed in the Blue Room. This year a beautiful Douglas-fir from Lehighton, Pa., was presented to the First Lady and her two daughters in a ceremony at the North Portico on November 26th. It will be the official White House Christmas Tree for 2010. Click[| here] to read about that tradition.

So how will you celebrate your holiday this year? Is your family starting a new tradition or keeping old ones? What are you most looking forward to? Do you have family or friends coming home for the holidays or are you heading somewhere special to celebrate? Will your family decorate your home or cook a special meal?

Your assignment is to write a paragraph describing what traditions makes the holiday season special for you and your family. Perhaps it is baking cookies with your grandmother or going to Bright Nights with your cousins. Remember to use descriptive words, explain why these traditions are special to you, how being a part of these traditions makes you feel. You might also want to explain how/when the traditions were started-- did your mother or father celebrate any of these traditions when they were your age?

Please take time to think about your answer, write a rough draft using paper and pencil, review it to make changes and check for spelling and grammar before posting your response on your GROUP PAGE using the discussion feature. Make the paragraph interesting! Remember to be creative with your writing. Your story should flow with a beginning, middle and ending. Use adjectives and your five senses to make your story come to life. And as always please write comments on your classmates entries. **Happy Holidays!!**

Below are some fun and interesting websites that share information on holiday traditions.

[|The Earth Calendar] is a pretty cool site that is a day book of holidays and celebrations around the world. You can click on the "Today" button to view what and where holidays are being celebrated on this day. You can also use the tabs at the top of the book to navigate by specific catagories.

[|Celebrate Winter Holidays] is a wonderful site from [|Scholastic] that shares information about how children from around the world celebrate the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Images were found on [|Google Images].
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