This week Mrs. Ranney's class started
a new unit in Language Arts
called Celebrating Traditions!
called Celebrating Traditions!
A tradition is something that family, friends,
or another group of people has done for many years and continues to do on a regular basis.
* * * * *
or another group of people has done for many years and continues to do on a regular basis.
* * * * *
The story for this week is "The Keeping Quilt".
In the first story, "The Keeping Quilt," by Patricia Polacco,
the author retells the story of her family's handmade quilt. In the
story, a Russian immigrant mother and family arrive in the United
States. She plans to make a quilt from a basket of old clothes, telling
her daughter, "It will be like having the family in backhome Russia
dance around us at night." The quilt is passed along from mother to
daughter for four generations. It becomes a Sabbath tablecloth and a
wedding canopy. It even becomes a blanket for new generations of
children. "The Keeping Quilt" is a heart-warming story about one
family's tradition.
* * * * *
In the comment section, please
share a tradition your family celebrates.
It can be an annual party, a holiday, or any traditional event.
Please include details about: special foods, decorations, songs, and/or activities.
Your comment should be 4 to 6 sentences long.
Students: Your comment is due on Friday, October 11th!
Students: Your comment is due on Friday, October 11th!
Dear Class,
ReplyDeleteOne family tradition that I enjoyed when my daughters, Kari and Sarah, were young was our weekly outings to breakfast and the public library. Every Saturday, we would take turns selecting a place to go out to breakfast. We usually devoured omelets or pancakes with maple syrup!
Then it was on to the library. Kari and Sarah would choose the books they wanted to check out. Then they would take turns finding a book for us to read to them. The following Saturday morning, while we waited for our breakfast to arrive at the table, each of the girls would read one of the books out loud to their dad and me.
It warms my heart to recall this special tradition now that my daughters are all grown up. I am sure that it is one of the reasons they both love to read so much today.
Traditionally yours,
Mrs. Ranney
Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteOne family tradition that I thoroughly enjoyed when I was growing up was our annual trip to Pelican Lake, Minnesota. When school got out in June, my mother would pile my two siblings into our 1968 Chevy Bel-air wagon, and we endured the long 1,800 mile journey from California. At Pelican Lake, we fished for rock bass and walleye with my Uncle Paul. At night, we dined on Grandma Smillie’s delicious cooking. One of my favorite dishes was Hungarian goulash. After dinner, we coated ourselves with mosquito repellent and dashed outside to play Kick-the-can with the neighbor kids. This annual vacation was a tradition I looked forward to, and I cherish those memories today.
Your neighbor,
Mrs. Y♥llis
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteThere is a very important family tradition that I'd like to share. It's my Dad (Annsley's Grandpa Billy's) annual Chowder party. It is coming up this month on the 20th in Western NY!
I have many special memories of this event because it has been held every year since I was born. But, in fact, it started many years before I was born. The Getzville Fire Department had a recipe for chowder that my Grandfather (Grandpa Herby) loved. So, he decided to make it once a year and invite some close friends and family over to participate in the preparation and then to enjoy it. On the Friday evening of the Chowder Party Weekend, they would cut the vegetables and prepare the broth, on Saturday throughout the day they would add ingredients one by one in the manner in which they wanted them to cook. For example, potatoes were last so they would not be mushy. All throughout the day, the family would spend time together stirring the soup and telling stories. Soon the soup was ready and everyone enjoyed a relaxing evening.
After many years, my Grandfather passed away, but my Father took over and the party began to grow and grow over the years. Many more people began coming to the party every year and they would bring a dish to share. Some brought deserts, others brought appetizers, and some brought prizes. In the past 5 years, my Father has added a theme to the party. This year it is a CIAOder party because it is an Italian theme. There will still just be a few people on Friday night - only close friends and family. But on Saturday, my family will set up a sound system for music and is expecting 60 people to attend. They will make approximately 40 gallons of soup. On Sunday after the party, my father will package and deliver soup to those who could not attend or are needy. It is a very special time for our family and a tradition that I hope will endure time.
Sincerely,
Rebekah (Annsley's Mom)
Dear Class,
ReplyDeleteEvery year my family meets in Georgia to have a family reunion. We swim and float on tubes in the lake. We play games and perform concerts. We do not sleep in our own beds. Instead, we camp in a big room. Does your family meet in a certain place?
Sincerely,
Annsley
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteWe heard that tomorrow is your birthday. We wanted to wish you a very happy day. We hope you get to have some treats and that your birthday wishes come true! Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Jade and the Wolf family
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! I hope you like our special treat today! Do you have any special Birthday plans?
Your student,
Noah
Dear Mrs.Ranney,
ReplyDeleteI hope you have an amazing birthday. It was fun celebrating with you and the class today.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday!
Cheers,
Luc♛s
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteIn my family we celebrate two very important holidays that are Hanukkah and Christmas. My dad’s side of the family celebrates Hanukkah and my mom’s side celebrates Christmas. I like Hanukkah because I like the latkes and playing dreidel. Christmas is also fun because I like seeing my relatives and getting all the presents from Santa. My favorite food that is served during Christmas are my Grandma’s homemade tamales. I am so lucky to celebrate both. What do you celebrate?
Sincerely,
Anthony
Dear Mrs. Ranney's,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to wish you a happy birthday on my last blog comment. I hope you had a wonderful day and a wonderful evening with you family.
Sincerely,
Anthony
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday! I'm still working on writing about my tradition, but I wanted to tell you to have an awesome birthday!
Your student,
Colin
Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteOne tradition my family has is taking a big trip every other year. When my dad first became a grown up, he started going on big trips on his own or with his friends. He went to places where you can't drink the water and not everyone speaks English, like Morocco, Turkey, France, Greece, Spain, Japan, and Thailand.
As soon as he met my mom they also went on big trips, like to China, Mexico, France, Morocco, England and Portugal.
As soon as I was born, I started going on trips with my family too! When I was a baby I went to France, where I took my first steps, and we went to England and Morocco.
Now my whole family, including my brother, goes on a big trip every other year. Our last was to France and Italy. We were about to go to Tunisia, but bad stuff was happening there so we didn't go. Italy was better anyway.
I hope when I have children and grandchildren I will keep on doing the tradition.
Your friend,
Colin
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteFor my family tradition, we used to light candles every Friday. When we light candles, we hold hands and say the blessings. I liked to say the blessings because we all were here for our tradition. Now that you see what our family tradition is, I want to know yours. I hope we start it again soon.
Your student ,
Jacob
@Jade, Noah, Lucas, and Colin,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your birthday wishes! I had a terrific birthday, and everyone in our class helped to make it that way.
Celebrating birthdays is a wonderful tradition. One way I usually celebrate is to go out to dinner at a favorite restaurant and have a special meal, which is what Mr. Ranney and I did!
Next weekend, I will continue celebrating by having my daughter and my sister over to my house for dinner.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ranney
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteA tradition in my family is that we have special kiddush cups. Boys are given the cups at a Bris or a Bar Mitzvah. I received one for my Bris. A Bris is a special Jewish naming ceremony for a boy.
On Shabbat we use the kiddush cup for a prayer over wine. We do the prayer at night before we eat dinner. The kids do not drink wine, they get grape juice in their kiddush cups.
Cheers,
Luc✈s
Dear class and Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite family traditions is celebrating the Fourth of July.
We always go to a fun family parade during the day and then we have friends come over to swim and barbeque.
I love eating the traditional summer foods like hot dogs, burgers, juicy watermelon and crisp, sweet corn-on-the-cob.
At night we usually go to the Hollywood Bowl to listen to great music and watch amazing fireworks.
I love this holiday because it is America's Birthday and a great family tradition.
Cheers,
Blythe
Dear Blythe,
DeleteGoing to the Hollywood Bowl for fireworks sounds fun. I went to the website and saw a replay. It was beautiful.
Cheers,
Annsley
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteMy family has many traditions. My favorite is what we do on Channukah. On Channukah we like to eat latkes and sufganiyot which are donuts without a hole. They are filled with yummy strawberry jelly. It's my favorite.
Another tradition my family has on Channukah is to have dinner and light candles for each of the eight nights at a different family memebers home. The host for the night then gives out their gifts to all the kids.
I hope that this tradition gets passed on forever in our family.
Your student,
N✌ah
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteMy family's tradition is eating a bowl of steamed sweet rice with red beans and seaweed soup on our birthday. My great-grandmother prepared that food on her child's birthday. Our old generation believed that the red bean could help the young children keep away from the bad luck, and the seaweed helps clean the blood vessels. My mom prepared those 2 foods with other delicious food on my birthday, same as my brother's birthday. I have eaten them since my first birthday. I hope that when I grow up, I will be able to feed my child a bowl of sweet rice with red beans and seaweed soup on my child's birthday.
Sincerely,
M♥chelle
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteIn our family we have a tradition at Christmas time. On Christmas Eve we go to my grandma's house where we eat a dinner that always includes a traditional Italian pasta dish. My dad's side of the family is from Italy. My cousins Sarah and Jake always join us as we eat and then open up some presents. On Christmas we go to my other grandma's house where we eat our yearly feast of turkey, potatoes, stuffing and all the other good side dishes. We also open presents with her as well. This way, we are able to spend time with both sides of the family over the holiday.
Sincerely,
Kim
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteThe tradition that I have with my family is during the first day of spring we celebrate Persian New Year with the family. We dress up in spring clothes and go to my grandparents house to join all my relatives in the celebration. My grandma is a great cook. She makes the best traditional persian food like kabob, grilled fish and a stew I don't know how to pronounce. All my cousins are there and we play like crazy. We get new dollar bills for good luck.
For Chinese New Year, I go visit my other grandma and aunts and uncle. We go for Dim Sum and for the evening we have have a big feast with lobster, crab, duck and roast pig. At the end of the day, I get a red evelope with good luck money.
I have a lot of New Years to celebrate.
Your student,
Ayden
Dear class,
ReplyDeleteI have a menorah.A menorah is a candle holder. It is silver and blue. It is as big as my head or it might be a little bigger. But it is not really heavy. This menorah has been passed down from my great great great grandmother. She got it from Russia. We always keep it in a cabinet. When it is Hanukah we put it on a table. Then we put candles in it. Then we light it. On Hanukah my favorite food is challah bread. I really love and enjoy this tradition of gathering together for Hanukah.
Sincerely,
Nickolas
.
Dear Mrs.Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteI have many family traditions. My favorite is what my family does on Passover. On Passover my family has a special dinner with my cousins and grandparents. The boys help clean up the table, and the girls help wash the dishes.We all have desert that all the moms help make, we play a traditional game called find the Matza. Who ever finds the Matza first wins a little prize such as 1 or 5 dollars. After the game everyone settles down for a little break. The adults have coffee and the kids play another game.We say good night and the party is over.
Now that you know what I celebrate. What do you celebrate?
Your Friend,
Leann
Dear Mrs.Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteMy tradition is celebrating Hanukah. On Hanukah I celebrate with my family at my grandpas house. Before we eat we say a prayer called Kiddishand then we drink. My brother,sister and I have to drink grape juice but my dad,uncle and grandpa have wine. Then we eat Challah bread and Mazta ball soup. We get chocolate coins in a yellow bag,money and a Dreidle and we light the Menorah!
Your friend
G♥Gi
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteI have many family traditions. On Christmas Day I go to my Dad's fire station and we have yummy chicken, grape juice, and roasted potato's. We get to ride on the big red fire truck. It is super fun! I get to play fun games, such as tennis, golf, horse shoe toss , football, and soccer. I get to work out in the work out room with the firemen.
One more tradition to tell about. Once every year my family goes to Yosemite National Park. We hike many miles everyday, up hill and down hill. It is fun! Do you have any fun things you do during a tradition?
Cheers,
Cai♔i
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteMy family has many traditions. My favorite is celebrating Hannukah. Every year my whole family comes to my house for our Hannukah party. We put all of the presents under a Jewish star in our den. This star was also in my mom's house when she was growing up. The star is big and sits on a stand. It is silver with shiny lights and sometimes we decorate it. I love to play with my cousins and open all the presents.
Your friend,
Jade
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteMy family has a tradition of going to Veggie Grill every Saturday. We started doing it a couple of months ago. Sometimes we go with my grandparents or cousins. Other times, I go with my brother, dad, and mom. I usually order macaroni with oranges and cookies.
Cheers,
Maya
Dear Mrs.Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteI celebrate a lot of holidays but Christmas and Hanukah are my favorites! I like to make cookies at Christmas with my Grandma. I also like the latkes on Hanukah. I go to New York for Christmas because my dad's side of the family lives there! I do not go anywhere for Hanukah. The reason I like these holidays is because I get the most pesents! I hope my family will continue these holidays forever!
Sincerely,
Lexi
Dear Mrs. R♥nney and Class,
ReplyDeleteOne tradition that my family does is to go to my grandparent's house every Friday to celebrate Shabat. Once everyone arrive, my grandpa says the blessing on the wine and Challah, and then he passes them around for everyone to share. After that, all the kids eat dinner together. When we are all finished we watch TV for about one hour, and then we play hide and seek .It is very fun! Do you enjoy family gatherings?
Sincerely,
Elin☆r
Dear Mrs. Ranney and class,
ReplyDeleteMy favorite family tradition is visiting my Grandma in England. My mum, my sister and I go every summer for 6 weeks. When we are in England we stay with my Grandma in Liverpool. We always go on the ferry across the River Mersey and I get splashed with water! We also visit Penny Lane which is where my Grandpa was born. I love visiting my Grandma in England and I can't wait to go back next year!
Sincerely,
M❆lly
Dear Mrs. Ranney,
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite traditions is celebrating Sinhalese New Years every April. We often get together with friends and family at a festival at Woodley Park. During this festival we play traditional Sri Lankan games, dress up in traditional attire called Lama Saree and enjoy music and dancing. One of the things that I look forward to is eating Sri Lankan food and treats that is made for this special occasion, especially my Acha's (grandmother in Sinhalese) Milk Rice and Milk Toffee.
Sincerely,
Senuri
Dear Class,
ReplyDeleteA special tradition I share with my family is eating waffles on Christmas morning. First, I wake up and rush downstairs to look under the tree. Then, all my family opens presents together. After presents, we eat delicious waffles with syrup. I like this family tradition!
Your classmate,
Luc
Luc,
DeleteWe love making home made Belgin waffles. Last weekend we ate pumpkin waffles because it is Halloween time.
Cheers,
Bella
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteOne tradition that my family has is watching the Rose Parade every year. Usually we watch it on television, but sometimes we are lucky enough to have tickets and go see it in person.
We have to get up very early to see the parade (about 4:00 a.m.) and it is usually very cold, but it is worth it. We bring muffins and fruit for breakfast and lots of hot chocolate in a thermos to warm us up.
You can't really tell how big the floats are on television, but when you see them going past you on the street, you will realize that they are enormous! They smell wonderful, too, because of all the flowers on them. I also like to hear the marching bands and see the horseback riders doing rope tricks.
Whether we watch on television or in person, my family and I enjoy welcoming in the New Year with the Rose Parade.
Warmly,
Mrs. Minicozzi
Dear Class,
ReplyDeleteEvery Christmas my family and I go skiing. I usually go to New Mexico to ski. I go to skiing school. I like to ski with my family. I like skiing.
Bye,
Kenan
Dear Kenan,
DeleteIt sounds like you are a great skier. I love being in the snow. I learned to snowboard in Park City Utah over a Thanksgiving vacation. I fell a couple of times, but that is how you learn.
Is it hard to learn to ski? Did you ever have a big fall?
Sincerely,
Annsley
Dear Mrs. Ranny and class,
ReplyDeleteMy tradition is on every other Sunday. We go to this place called Temple Or Ami. First we go and we get our name tag. Then we go in the sanctuary and we sing songs and some times play games. Next we go in groups depending on your grade. In the classes we talk about life and we talk god. Then we go down the stairs and we have snack.After snack we go back in the sanctuary for a little while and talk some more. After that we go home and we enjoy th res of our day.
Your Classmate ,
Olivia
Dear Mrs. Ranney and Class,
ReplyDeleteOne tradition my family does is every Christmas we go to Argentina. What I do there is I meet my cousins and other relatives. During Christmas it is summer there while it is winter here. Sometimes we go to the beach. I have to speak Spanish while I'm there because most people don't speak English.
Sincerely,
Massimo
One of my favorite tradition is Halloween! I like halloween because we get to dress up. Watching scary movies all month is the best. It is fun to knock on doors and act like my character from my costume. Every single year my mom makes my costume by hand. Isn't that amazing? My dad and I always pick the costumes that go together. It is cool to be with my dad in character. This year we will be Wreck it Ralph and Vanolope Von Schweets and my mom will be Sgt. Calhoun. Last year we were all three monster high dolls. One year we were Aladdin and Princess Jasmine. Once we went to church dressed as Dorothy and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. When I was little we went trick or treating as Tinker Bell, Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Can you guess which one was me? Traditions are great because we do it every year and we get to remember.
ReplyDelete