Dear students, Happy Holidays!

During this Holiday Season different people celebrate different holidays. There are 4 major holidays in this season.

The winter holidays are:

Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year and Kwanzaa.

The Christmas season, also called the festive season or the holiday season (mainly in the U.S. and Canada)

Holiday 1

Happy Hanukkah!

This year, Hanukkah will start the evening of Saturday, December 24

and will end the evening of Sunday, January 1, 2017.

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday. Hanukkah is one of the most important celebrations in the Jewish calendar. It means the Festival of Lights. It is an eight-day holiday that takes place each year in November or December.

During this holiday people lit a special candelabrum with 9 candles called Menorah Hanukkah (or Hanukkiah) - eight candles to lit each day and additional candle called "Shamash" (usually in the middle) to have a light available for use. According to Hebrew (Jewish) calendar, it starts on the 24th day of Kislev - one of the months of Jewish calendar. 

During the festival families also say prayers, especially after meals. In Israel, schools close for a week to celebrate Hanukkah. Families exchange gifts and eat festive food. Latkes - potato pancakes, and fruit-filled doughnuts are the most traditional food, but there is also a custom of frying or baking food in olive oil.

Hanukkah is also a time for singing and playing games. There are more songs for Hanukkah than for any other Jewish celebration. Children play with dreidel. Dreidel is a four-sided spinning top.

Here is a video of one of the Hanukkah songs. The singer sings in Yiddish and Hebrew (both are Jewish languages) and English. Please, listen to the English words. Here are the lyrics. Please read, and if you would like, you can sing the song with the singer.

Oh Chanukah, Oh, Chanukah,
Come light the Menorah.
Let's have a party,
We'll all dance the Horah.

Gather round the table, we'll give you a treat,
Sevivon to play with latkes to eat.

And while we are playing,
The candles are burning low.

One for each night, they shed a sweet light,
To remind us of days long ago.
One for each night, they shed a sweet light,
To remind us of days long ago. 

The meaning of some of the new words you can see here:

Sevivon is the same word as dreidel. The only difference is that sevivon is the Hebrew word for the toy and dreidel is the Yiddish word for the same thing.

Horah is a circle dance.

The festival is to celebrate a miracle that happened in the Second Temple in Jerusalem. About 2000 years ago Syrian king took the temple from the Jews. A small group of people took back their temple.

Their leader Judah Maccabees decided to cleanse the altar by burning olive oil in a special candle holder. They only had enough oil to burn for one day, but miracle happened, and it burned for eight days and nights. Jewish elders declared an eight-day holiday to commemorate this miracle.

 Now, please watch the video about Hanukkah story. Listen carefully and try to understand everything.

So, you have learned about Hanukkah - what it is, and why Jewish people celebrate it.

Holiday 2

Merry Christmas!

Here is the song about Christmas - "We wish you a Merry Christmas". Here are the words, so when you watch the following video, you can sing the song together.

We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
We wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year.
Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin,
Glad tidings for Christmas
And a happy New Year!

We want some figgy pudding,
We want some figgy pudding,
We want some figgy pudding,
Please bring it right here!
Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin,
Glad tidings for Christmas
And a happy New Year!

We won't go until we get some,
We won't go until we get some,
We won't go until we get some,
So bring it out here!
Glad tidings we bring
To you and your kin,
Glad tidings for Christmas
And a happy New Year!

We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
We wish you a Merry Christmas,
And a happy New Year.
Glad tidings we bring.

So, now listen to this wonderful song and sing along. 

Please, continue singing another song. The words are here:

Dashing through the snow

In a one-horse open sleigh

Over the fields we go

Laughing all the way 

Bells on bobtail ring'

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight!

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way.

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

Jingle bells, jingle bells,

Jingle all the way;

Oh! what fun it is to ride

In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago

I thought I'd take a ride

And soon, Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side,

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

He got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot.

A day or two ago,

The story I must tell

I went out on the snow,

And on my back I fell;

A gent was riding by

In a one-horse open sleigh,

He laughed as there I sprawling lie,

But quickly drove away.

Now the ground is white

Go it while you're young,

Take the girls tonight

and sing this sleighing song;

Just get a bobtailed bay

Two forty as his speed

Hitch him to an open sleigh

And crack! You'll take the lead

Christmas is a religious and cultural holiday. On December 25th billions of Christians from around the world celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. People celebrate Christmas to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ.

For this holiday season people decorate Christmas trees,

attend churches,

share meals with family and friends on Christmas eve (evening, which is on the 24th),

wait for Santa Claus to arrive,

give each other gifts and open them on Christmas Day (the 25th).

The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas day (25 December). Children are very happy during this season.

The Christmas Story from the Bible (to read it, please, click here)

Here is a link to a North Pole. Please, click here to play. You will see the picture of the North Pole and different buildings and houses. Click on each of them, and it will take you to a different place. Please, read and have fun.

Here is one of many Christmas songs. Please, watch the video, listen and have fun.

So, now you have learned about Christmas and found out what kind of holiday it is.

Holiday 3

Happy New 2012 Year!

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar. A lot of people all over the world celebrate this winter holiday. It is often celebrated with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the New Year starts.

In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal. The Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Rat, Boar, Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Snake, and Ram are the twelve animals that are part of this tradition.

In 2012, the Dragon was welcomed back after the 2011 year of the Rabbit. The Year of the Dragon was marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity.

2013 is the year of Snake.

New Year is one of the favorite holidays of a lot of people from different countries. It is the most favorite holiday of many Europeans. People usually plan celebration of the New Year long before the New Year comes. They think about where they are going to celebrate it, who invite to for this celebration, what to cook, what to wear... They also think about New Year's entertainment -music, dancing and shows.

They cook and eat a lot.

They have big parties.

 

They drink champagne.

They watch different shows and have fun.

They dance and sing. 

They have fireworks.

Please, watch this video, listen to the song and sing along.

May your New 2012 Year be happy!

May your dreams come true!

May New Year bring you only good for you and your families!

May this year be prosperous!

Holiday 4

Happy Kwanzaa!

Kwanzaa is the African American holiday. About 18 million African celebrated it from December 26th to January 1st. Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday. It is a holiday to honor the values of ancient African cultures and history. It is a holiday to inspire African Americans who were working for progress. 

Kwanzaa is based on the year-end harvest festivals that have taken place throughout Africa for thousands of years. The name comes from Swahili "matunda ya kwanza," which means "first fruits of the harvest." 

The foundation of Kwanzaa is the Seven Principles, or Nguzo Saba.  

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa

• Umoja (oo-MOH-jah): Unity (Togetherness)
  
  Unity of family, community, nation and race.

• Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-goo-LEE-ah): Self-Determination (Independence, freedom)
  
  To be responsible for ourselves. To create your own destiny.
• Ujima (oo-JEE-mah): Collective work and responsibility
  
  To build your community together. To work together to help one another within your community.
• Ujamaa (oo-jah-MAH): Collective economics
  
  To build and support your own stores, establishments, and businesses.
• Nia (NEE-ah): Purpose
  
  To restore African American people to their traditional greatness. To be responsible to Those Who Came Before (our ancestors) and to Those Who Will Follow (our descendants).
• Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah): Creativity
  
  Using creativity and imagination to make your communities better than what you inherited.
• Imani (ee-MAH-nee):Faith

                                                                                    

       To believe in your people, your families, your educators, your leaders, and         the righteousness of the African American struggle.

This is a video about 7 principles of Kwanzaa.

Now, please, watch this video and listen to the Kwanzaa song.

Suggested menu for Kwanzaa:

Groundnut Turkey Stew

Barbados Pork Roast

Hoppin' John

Mixed Greens

Corn Bread

Sweet Potato Pie

Coconut Pound Cake

Traditional Elements of the Kwanzaa Table:

Mazao (mah-ZAH-oh) - Fruits and vegetables that  represents the product of unified effort.

Mkeka (mm-KEH-kah) - A straw place mat that represents the reverence for tradition. 

Vibunzi (vi-bun-zi) - An ear of corn for each child in the family.

Zawadi (zah-WAH-dee) - Simple gifts, preferably related to education or to things African or African-influenced.

Kikombe cha umoja (kee-KOM-beh cha oo-MOH-jah) - A special cup.

Kinara (kee-NAH-rah) - A seven-branched candleholder, which symbolizes the continent and peoples of Africa.

This is a video of Kwanzaa celebration at Luther College.

So, now you have learned about Kwanzaa too.

Finally, I hope you have learned a lot about winter holidays after reading this post. Check yourself to see if you remember different details about these holidays. Get ready to answer the following questions:

What kind of holiday is Kwanzaa?

Who celebrate New Year?

Does everybody celebrate Hanukkah?

Who celebrate Christmas?

What kind of holiday is it?

What do people do during Hanukkah?

How many principles are there in the foundation of Kwanzaa?

Can you name 2 of them?

What do people do on Christmas?

May You Have a Very Happy Holiday Season!

Click here to watch the video