Special Days and Holidays Joan Acosta w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a bestofthereader.ca Best of the Reader series of books by Joan Acosta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada Licence. [email protected] Copyright 2013 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Contents Welcome . 4 Valentine’s Day . 5 Thanksgiving . 7 Halloween . 9 Diwali. 12 Vaisakhi. 12 Easter . 14 Hanukkah . 16 Norooz . 18 Christmas . 20 Ramadan . 24 New Year’s. 27 Remembrance Day . 30 Lunar New Year. 32 Answers for exercises . 35 3 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Welcome This e-book is part of a series To the teacher called Best of The Reader. The stories in the e-books are from The Westcoast Learners can read the articles Reader. It is a newspaper for adults and do the exercises individually, who are improving their English in pairs, or in groups. reading skills. The topics can be explored further through discussion or follow-up activities. To the reader Teachers’ Guide 4 You can use this book The Teachers’ Guide on this in a classroom, with a tutor, website has ideas on how to use or on your own. the e-books with students. 4 Each story has exercises to go with it. These exercises can help Acknowledgements you improve your English and The author gratefully acknowledges the financial reading skills. support of Capilano University for this project. 4 A special thank you to the learners and teachers You can check your answers who helped choose the articles for this book. at the end of the book. All of the material in this book first appeared in The Westcoast Reader (1982 to 2009). Some of the articles have been updated. Most of the exercises and activities for learners are based on material from Three reading levels The Westcoast Reader Teachers’ Notes (1982 to 2009). There are three reading levels Credits in this book. Here are the symbols Photos Front cover—Halloween: Northshore News (Victor Aberdeen); Valentine’s Day: for each level: The Vancouver Sun; Lunar New Year: Metro Vancouver (Jeff Hodson) The Vancouver Sun Northshore News field);Page 5—couple: , children: (Mike Wake- Page 7—iStockphotos (top) Thanksgiving ©SJ Locke, (bottom) food ©Cathleen Clapper; Page 9—top: The Vancouver Sun, bottom: iStockphoto ©SJ Locke; Level 1 Page 10: Edmonton Journal; Page 11: Northshore News (Victor Aberdeen); Page 12—left: The Vancouver Sun, right: The Province; Page 14: iStockphotos— crucifixion ©Wim Burger, kids ©Edyta Line, basket: St. Elias Church; Page 16: The Vancouver Sun; Page 18—table: North Shore News (Mike Wakefield), family: Babak Saberi; Page 20: iStockphoto; Page 21: choir: Central Coast Level 2 Children’s Choir, cookie making: iStockphoto, potluck: Corinna Ruhl, lights and students: The Vancouver Sun; Page 24: man praying: Muslim Times; architect: The Vancouver Sun; Page 27: iStockphoto; Page 30—ceremony, poppy: The Province, veteran: The Vancouver Sun, graves: eurosnaps.com; Page 32: The Vancouver Sun Level 3 Illustrations Page 6, 9 (flashlight, pumpkin),10, 16 (hanukkiah), 22, 27, 28: Nola Johnston; Page 5, 9 (ghost), 14, 15, 16 (dreidel), 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 30: Guy Parsons; Page 22: ©King Features Syndicate. Reproduced with permission—Torstar Syndication Services; Page 29 (rabbit) Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan); Religious symbols: iStockphoto 4 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Valentine’s Day How to say “I love you” French: Je t’aime Spanish: Te amo flowers Cree: Kisakihitin Cantonese: Ngo oi ney Russian: Ya tyebya lyublyu chocolate How do children celebrate? Young children gift give each other valentines. They often make cards at school. Valentine’s Day is on February 14. It is a romantic day for many adults. They buy cards, chocolates or flowers for each other. They say, “I love you.” 5 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Cards Some people send cards on Valentine’s Day. They also send cards for other occasions. Choose a word from the box to go with each card. Write the word on the line. 1 2 ________________________________ _______________________________ 3 4 ________________________________ _______________________________ 5 6 ________________________________ _______________________________ Easter wedding graduation Valentine’s Day birthday Christmas 6 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is the second Monday in October. Families and friends get together. They have a big meal. Turkey and pumpkin pie are popular at Thanksgiving. What’s for Thanksgiving dinner? mashed potatoes yams whipped cream stuffing gravy • • • • • • • • pumpkin pie green beans turkey n Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. 7 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Thanksgiving Write answers on the lines. 1. When is Thanksgiving? _______________________________________________________________ 2. What do many people do for Thanksgiving? _______________________________________________________________ 3. What foods are popular at Thanksgiving? _______________________________________________________________ Where do the words belong? Write these 18 words months food days in the correct boxes. October Christmas sister pie turkey Monday lunch uncle family meals holidays Easter July Thursday salad husband breakfast dinner Sunday May Thanksgiving 8 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Halloween Halloween is on October 31. Children dress up in costumes. In the evening, they go trick or treating. They visit neighbours and ask for treats. Most people give the children candy. Many people carve jack-o-lanterns for Halloween. Tips to keep children safe on Halloween Halloween is on October 31. 4 Remind children to look both Many children go trick or treating ways before they cross streets. in the evening. 4 Check all the treats Here are some tips to keep before children eat them. children safe on Halloween. 4 4 Make sure costumes An adult should go trick are short. Children can or treating with young children. trip on long costumes 4 Older children should trick and fall. or treat in groups. 4 Adults and older children should carry flashlights. 9 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a How to carve a jack-o-lantern seeds knife spoon 1 Cut out the top of a pumpkin 2 Take out the seeds with a sharp knife. with a big spoon. knife candle 3 Draw a face on the pumpkin 4 Put a candle with a marker. inside the pumpkin. Cut out the face with a knife. The Westcoast Reader 10/2004 10 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Carve a jack-o-lantern Here are six steps for carving a jack-o-lantern. Put them in the correct order. ____ Cut out the face with a knife. ____ Put a candle inside the pumpkin. ____ Cut out the top of the pumpkin. ____ Draw a face on the pumpkin. ____ Buy a pumpkin. ____ Take out the seeds. Same word has different meanings Sometimes a word can have different meanings. For example: 1. Children can trip on long costumes. 2. Ana took a trip to Mexico. Here are some words that can have more than one meaning. Match each word to one of its meanings. ____ 1. tip a. the sound a bell makes ____ 2. test b. a large stone ____ 3. watch c. to teach ____ 4. ring d. a clock you wear on your wrist ____ 5. train e. a useful idea or suggestion ____ 6. rock f. an exam ☞ Do you know other meanings for these words? 11 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Diwali Vaisakhi Diwali is a popular fall festival Vaisakhi is in April. It is an in India. It is sometimes called the important festival in parts of India. Festival of Lights. Some Sikh communities in Diwali marks the beginning British Columbia have parades of the new year for Hindus. Sikhs to celebrate Vaisakhi. also celebrate Diwali. Diwali traditions 4 Many people wear new clothes on Diwali. 4 They visit family and friends. 4 They share sweet snacks. 4 They decorate their homes with small oil lamps called diyas. diya A Vaisakhi parade This is a symbol This is a symbol for Hinduism. for Sikhism. 12 w w w . b e s t o f t h e r e a d e r . c a Finish the sentences Draw a circle around the correct answer. 1. Diwali is a _____ festival. 5. Many Sikh _____ wear turbans. a. spring a. men b. fall b. girls 2. Sikhs celebrate _____. 6. Diwali is sometimes called a. Hanukkah the Festival of _____. b. Vaisakhi a. Lights b. Food 3. People wear new _____ on Diwali. 7. Vaisakhi is in _____. a. clothes a. November b. hats b. April 4. Some Sikh communities 8. Diwali is the start of the new year in B.C. have _____ for Vaisakhi. for ________. a. art exhibits a. Hindus b. parades b. Muslims Missing letters Add the missing vowels (a, e, i, o, u) to finish each word.