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1 Suggested levels for Guided Reading, DRA, Lexile, and Reading Recovery are provided in the Pearson Scott Foresman Leveling Guide. Family Traditions and Celebrations by Megan Litwin Genre Narrative nonfiction Comprehension Skills and Strategy Draw Conclusions Author s Purpose Summarize Text Features Headings Glossary Scott Foresman Reading Street ì<(sk$m)=bddbfe< +^-Ä-U-Ä-U ISBN illustrated by Nicole Wong

2 Reader Response 1. Why do you think it needs to be dark outside for Ashley and her family to watch the Fourth of July fireworks? 2. Summarize the customs that Daryl s family observes during Kwanzaa. Make a web like the one below to help you organize your ideas. Family Traditions Kwanzaa and Celebrations by Megan Litwin 3. What is the illustrated difference by Nicole between Wong a custom and a tradition? Use the glossary in this book to help you answer. 4. Which of the holidays in this book do you or your friends celebrate? Compare and contrast your customs and traditions with some of those you found in this book. Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois Parsippany, New Jersey New York, New York Sales Offices: Needham, Massachusetts Duluth, Georgia Glenview, Illinois Coppell, Texas Ontario, California Mesa, Arizona

3 Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions. Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education. Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R), Background (Bkgd) Illustrations by Nicole Wong ISBN: Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue, Glenview, Illinois Celebrations are important to our lives. They are a way for us to spend time with our families. Many people look forward to certain holidays because they know they will get to see relatives they have not seen for a long time. Celebrations are also a way to remember important events of the past. Many parents use celebrations to teach their children about family traditions and customs. Many families have special events, games, or foods that have been passed down from family members of the past. It is fun to think that, years ago, one of your ancestors might have celebrated in the same way you celebrate today! V

4 Birthdays This is Jenny. Jenny is celebrating her eighth birthday. Birthdays are important in her family. If you are in Jenny s family, young or old, your birthday always calls for a party! Aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins gather for a special meal. Jenny is lucky that her relatives live nearby and can easily come over to visit. It is a tradition in Jenny s family that the birthday person gets to pick what to eat for dinner. He or she also gets to pick the flavor of the birthday cake. Yellow cake with pink frosting is Jenny s favorite. Jenny s family loves singing Happy Birthday to the birthday person. Jenny closes her eyes tight and makes a wish. Then she opens her eyes and blows out all eight candles! Jenny s cake has eight candles because she is eight years old. Her family uses one candle for each year until a child is sixteen years old. Then they start using just one candle shaped like a number. It would be very hard for Jenny s father to fit thirty-nine candles on his cake! 4 5

5 6 Thanksgiving Meet Ryan. One of his favorite holidays is Thanksgiving Day. Many people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day as a way of showing they are thankful for all that they have. On this November day, Ryan s parents rise early to begin preparing the meal. Ryan and his brother play football outside with uncles and cousins. Other family members gather inside and tell stories. By four o clock, a delicious feast is ready. In Ryan s family, it is the custom to serve turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn, cranberries, and homemade rolls. After dinner, they eat traditional Thanksgiving desserts of apple pie and pumpkin pie. Ryan s family also observes special customs during Thanksgiving dinner. Before eating, someone is chosen to give thanks for the food. This year it is Ryan s grandmother. She gives thanks for all of their blessings. Ryan s family also has the custom of breaking the turkey wishbone. At the end of the meal, two children hold the V-shaped bone. Each child makes a silent wish. Then each holds onto one end and pulls until the bone snaps. The child who gets the larger piece is supposed to have his or her wish come true! 7

6 Hanukkah This is Alison. Her family celebrates Hanukkah, a very old Jewish tradition. Hanukkah means Festival of Lights. Alison s family celebrates Hanukkah to remember a miraculous event in Jewish history that happened more than two thousand years ago. During Hanukkah, Alison s family lights a menorah. A menorah is a special candleholder with places for nine candles. Alison, her brother, and her parents all take turns lighting one candle on the menorah each night. Alison loves this event. Last year, she made her very own menorah out of clay. Hanukkah lasts for eight days and nights. Some of Alison s friends, who also celebrate Hanukkah, exchange gifts on all eight nights. In Alison s family, it is the custom to pick just one day to give gifts. Alison likes this custom because it makes that day special. On the last night of Hanukkah, Alison s family hosts a family dinner. They eat latkes, a traditional potato pancake. Alison s grandmother makes the latkes and serves them with applesauce. 8 9

7 Kwanzaa Kwanzaa is an African American celebration that is very special to Daryl and his family. It was begun in 1966 to help African Americans focus on family and goals and remember that their ancestors came from Africa. Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means first fruits. It refers to the harvest. Kwanzaa is a seven-day feast. Each day, Daryl s mother reminds the family of one important goal, such as responsibility or faith. Daryl s job is to light a candle for each day s goal. Daryl s favorite goal is kuumba, or creativity. Daryl loves this idea because he is very good at making things. His mother talks about the goal of kuumba on the sixth day of Kwanzaa. Each child in Daryl s family gets a gift on each day of Kwanzaa. The custom is to give a small gift, such as a piece of fruit, each night. On the last day, the children get a bigger gift. Daryl likes to make the gifts he gives. This year Daryl made a necklace out of all kinds of pretty beans for his little sister. He chose beans to match the colors of Kwanzaa. Black represents the people, red represents their struggle, and green represents the future. The family celebrates the last day of Kwanzaa with food and music. Daryl s favorite part is when his grandfather and grandmother get up to dance

8 Fourth of July In the summer, many American families celebrate their freedom on the Fourth of July, the day the United States declared its independence from Britain. It is the custom of Ashley s family to visit her grandfather s cottage for this celebration. The cottage is next to a lake. Each Fourth of July, Ashley s parents pack a large picnic basket with sandwiches, fruits, juices, and other snacks. They load it all into the car and then drive to Grandpa s. The whole family has a picnic on the shore. The children play games or go swimming. Once it is dark, the traditional Fourth of July fireworks begin. Ashley and her family watch the fireworks sparkle across the water. Ashley loves hearing her family tell which fireworks are their favorites. Ashley s family also plays a little game during the fireworks. They try to guess which fireworks will come next. What color will they be? Will they be loud and quick, or the kind that gently shimmer to the ground like fairy dust? Watching the fireworks every year with her family is the best part of Ashley s Fourth of July celebration

9 Family Reunions Some celebrations are shared by lots of families in the United States. Others are unique to just one family. One custom some families share is a family reunion. Peter s family has a family reunion every four years. In the summer, his whole family gathers from near and far. Peter looks forward to each reunion. Peter has cousins who live on the other side of the United States and even some who live in other countries. They don t get to see one another very often. At family reunions, they have the chance to play together. Everyone in Peter s family is happy to be there, and the day flies by. Another reason Peter likes family reunions so much is the food! His aunts and uncles prepare all the favorite family recipes. Peter s mother says that those recipes have been in the family for years. Peter loves to help his mother bake, and he feels proud that members of his family are such good cooks. Everyone at the reunion enjoys the good food and sits around catching up

10 At family reunions, everyone takes pictures. By the end of the day. Peter s face hurts from smiling so much! Peter likes to look through these photographs after the reunion. Peter s favorite picture is one of him, his dad, and his grandfather. It was taken at a reunion many years ago. In the evening, some of Peter s older relatives tell funny stories about when his dad, his aunts, and his uncles were children. Peter loves to hear these stories, and he tries to remember them. Someday he might need to tell them to his baby sister! Coming Together Family celebrations are important to our lives. They are a way to share time together, and they also help us keep family traditions and customs alive. Special activities or events are repeated each year, and soon they become a part of the celebration. Each family is unique and so is their way of celebrating. From birthday parties to Hanukkah, every family does something a little differently. The customs in this book are just a few of the many customs that families in the United States take part in today. What is your favorite family celebration? 16 17

11 Now Try This A Family Celebration Place Mat Do you have a photo album or a special way to remember your family celebrations? Here is an idea you will like! Here s How to Do It! 1. Make a list of three special celebrations in your family. 2. Think of two customs your family carries out at each celebration. 3. Think of an image for each custom. Ryan, for example, might use a wishbone to represent Thanksgiving Day. 4. Get a blank sheet of white paper. Divide the paper into six equal squares. 5. Draw an image of each custom inside each square. 6. Share your family celebration place mat with your classmates. Compare your family traditions with theirs. Which ones are the same? Which ones are unique? 18 19

12 Glossary ancestors n. people from whom one is descended, such as grandparents, great grandparents, and so on. celebrations n. gatherings of people to remember special events. customs n. activities shared by people in a family or a particular place. festival n. celebration. traditions n. information, beliefs, and values handed down from one generation to another. unique adj. one of a kind. Reader Response 1. Why do you think it needs to be dark outside for Ashley and her family to watch the Fourth of July fireworks? 2. Summarize the customs that Daryl s family observes during Kwanzaa. Make a web like the one below to help you organize your ideas. Kwanzaa 3. What is the difference between a custom and a tradition? Use the glossary in this book to help you answer. 4. Which of the holidays in this book do you or your friends celebrate? Compare and contrast your customs and traditions with some of those you found in this book. 20