December Writing Contest, Grades 3,4,5: “Holiday Traditions”

This was a writing contest at Stoddert held in December promoted by Mrs. Barr and Mrs. Moisan.  Students were asked to write about their favorite holiday tradition.  Here are the four winning entries.

Feliz Navidad!!
Gabriela Bermudez

In Puerto Rico they celebrate Christmas in a different way.  It isn’t even called Christmas!!  It’s called “Three Kings Day,” or “Dia de los tres reyes.” The Three Kings’ names are:  King Gaspar, King Baltazar, and King Melchoir.

The Kings have different gifts.  Gaspar’s gift is frankincense.  Baltazar’s gift is myrrh. Melchoir’s gift is gold.  Myrrh is bark from an African tree.  Frankincense is a gum used in temples and is burned inside to symbolize God.  And, of course, you know what gold is.

On January 5th kids go outside and fill boxes with grass or greenary for the camels. This is the eve of Three Kings Day.  The kids put grass in a different box. They put this other box under their beds for the night.

On  January 6th the children wake up and look under their beds.  Just like Santa Claus, if you were good, the Kings would come.  If you were bad or not asleep, they wouldn’t come…at all.  This is Three Kings Day.

Christmas in Argentina
By Magdalena Paz

Christmas in Argentina is a very fun holiday. There are a lot of things we do.  In this paper I will tell you what you do at Christmas in Argentina.

In Argentina we all walk to my grandmother’s house for Christmas. During the walk we sing a lot of Christmas songs. We love to see all the houses decorated for Christmas.

We eat all types of delicious foods.  My grandma makes a ham and cheese tart.  My mom makes a pineapple and whipped cream flan

We wait and wait, then someone yells, ”He came. He came!”  We run into the living room.

We sit in there for hours opening and playing with the toys that Santa brings us. We also eat the meringue that my grandma makes.  We play until my cousins have to go home.

I stay at my grandam’s home that night.  In Argentina we get presents from Santa the night of the 24th and family presents the next morning. We love to guess who it is from.

I love my Christmas tradition. We have so so so so much fun.  Christmas in Argentina is a very fun holiday.

Yalda
Fatemeh Samoei

Yalda means the birthday of the sun.  The night of Yalda is December 21.  It is the longest night of the year.  After this night everywhere in the world the days become longer and the nights become shorter.  The Iranian people believe that on this night light wins against darkness.  This holiday is also called Chelleh.

On this night the Iranian people eat fruit like watermelons and pomegranates, and they also eat mixed nuts.  The young people go to their grandparents’ house and the grandparents tell winter stories.  Everyone sits around a special table because it is a little bit cold outside and there is fire in the center.  The table is not like the table we eat on.  This table is called a korsi.  We put the mixed nuts and fruits on this table.  This holiday was first celebrated a long time ago.  So the night of Yalda is a very old holiday in Iran.  Almost all the children enjoy this night of Yalda.

I chose this holiday from my country because I love the night of Yalda in Iran.  The night of Yalda also means good over evil.  This winter holiday is not the same as Christmas and Santa coming.  In my country a lot of people don’t know about Santa.

On this holiday we like to watch dances and listen to music on the night of Yalda, and I like to go to my grandma and grandpa’s house and eat lots of fruit and nuts.  It’s a night about days becoming longer.

Sarah’s Favorite Holiday
Sarah Kersey

My favorite holiday is Christmas.  I love Christmas because it is a time of giving.  First we put up the Christmas tree, then we wait for Christmas to come.
On Christmas morning my brother and I wait until our parents wake up.  But it never takes long.  We always wake them up in the morning, then we open presents and play with them.

If we are good we will go to a movie.  We always go out to eat, then we go home.  We play with our toys some more.  Then after a long day, mom makes a really good dinner.  We may watch a movie, call our family members, and go to bed for a new day tomorrow.  If we are lucky my mom will make her special dessert.  We eat it all up.  My parents let me stay up much longer, but I crash around 3:00 am .