Thanksgiving Day By: Zaira S.

Thanksgiving Day
Over 360 years ago, in England, there lived some people called "Pilgrims", who were not happy with the laws of the king or the Church of England. The Pilgrims decided to leave England and, for a time, settled in Holland. At that time an English explorer, Captain John Smith, and other explorers and traders were charting new lands. Stories of their exploration had reached the Pilgrims in Holland. Hearing this, the Pilgrims decided to return to England to make plans to settle in the now world across the ocean. There they might really be free!Having obtained a ship called the "Mayflower" and ample provisions for a long journey, they ( 102 passengers and about thirty sailors) set sail from Plymouth Harbor, England, in the autumn of 1620, and headed west-ward toward the new world. The Pilgrims had plenty of courage.For 65 days and nights, over a vast and furious ocean, the Pilgrims journeyed in the season of westerly gales. The Mayflower was driven off course by heavy storms while heading for a settlement in Virginia and sought shelter in Cape Cod Bay at Provincetown( Massachusetts).Few moments of greater drama exist in American history than that morning in November, 1620, when the Mayflower still lay at anchor in Provincetown Harbor. In the great cabin of the Mayflower, the Pilgrims drew up an agreement. It was the first set of laws in America that said the majority should rule. It was called the Mayflower Compact. Forty-one ( 41) men signed the agreement. The pattern for democratic government in the new world was set!

In November 1620, the Pilgrims landed in America. They were cold, tired, and sick from their long trip across the Atlantic Ocean in their ship, the Mayflower. They needed houses, so they went to work and cut down trees. The winter was very cold. As a result, many of the Pilgrims died before the summer came. Their food was almost gone. Luckily, friendly Indians showed them how to catch fish and clams, and showed them where to hunt for deer. Most important of all, the Indians showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn, a new food for these Europeans. In the fall, the Pilgrims harvested their corn crop. They filled baskets with vegetables, and more baskets with corn for the coming winter. The Pilgrims were happy and decided on a special day to give thanks for their good fortune. The Indians joined them, and they ate together at long wooden tables. The ate turkey, venison (deer meat), clams fish, corn bred, cranberry sauce, and many fruits and vegetables. "Thanksgiving," as they called it , became a tradition, and when Abraham Lincoln became president , he made it a holiday for the whole country. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in November.- 102 the number of passengers known to have been aboard the Mayflower.
- 32 the number of children and other young people among the passengers.
- 2 the number of passengers who died on the voyage across the Atlantic.
- 2 the number of passengers of live children born on the ship before it reached Plymouth. (one baby at sea, the other while the Mayflower was anchored briefly in Cape Cod harbor. A third baby was stillborn.)
-0 the number of passengers cabin. In those days, merchant ships were not set up for comfort of passengers.They would have slept in hammocks or paid the ship's carpenter to build cabins or bunks for them.
- 65 the number of days it took for the Mayflower to sail from England to America.
- 41 the number of men who signed the Mayflower Compact, establishing laws in the New World. - 50 approximate number of Pilgrims who died of the "great sickness" and harsh conditions during the first winter in the new land.
- 3 the number of days the first Thanksgiving lasted in October 1621. Wampanoags and colonists shared venison, duck, turkey, clams, shellfish, corn pudding, pumpkin, dried berries and other local edibles.
- 9 the number of women teenage girls who prepared that three-day Thanksgiving feast for 140 hungry people.
- 35 million the number of Americans today who are direct descendants of the first Mayflower Pilgrims. That's 12% of our population.

Labor Day By: Denise H.

Labor Day Information

Hello, my name is Denise and I am going to talk to you about Labor Day. Now, September has one federal holiday, Labor Day. It honors all working people in the U.S. and Canada. It began with New York City parade in 1882 and is now celebrated on the first of September.

National Grandparents Day, which honors grandparents and the love they show to their children's children, is celebrated the first Sunday after Labor day. The Knights of Labor, a workers' organization, established this holiday in New York City in 1882. It was felt that working people should be honored. The group held a big parade. In 1887, the United States Department of Labor Day declared the first Saturday in June a legal holiday.

In 1893, Labor Day was changed to the first Monday in September, and it has been that way ever since. This holiday also marks the official end of Summer. Schools usually open later in the week. Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 5 in 2011) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.Fearing further conflict, legislation making Labor Day a national holiday was rushed through Congress unanimously and signed into law a mere six days after the end of the strike.

Ruben V

Play a joke on April Fools day before someone gets you first. Who played the first joke and the reason why the first day of April was designated still remains a mystery. Historians provide feasible explanations and professionals may be coming closer to discovering the origination of April Fools Day, however. Use the following guide to learn about the history of this day and learn about common jokes people play on April Fools Day.

The French History of April Fools Day Blame Pope Gregory XIII and a calendar if you find yourself the target of an April fools joke. Until the 1500s, the Julian calendar was used to mark the days. The first day of the year began around March 25Th on the Julian calendar. This date coincided with beginnings of spring and annual spring celebrations of light returning to the earth.

Easter By:Rodolfo D

Easter is cool and fun holiday. But its also a feast in the Christian liturgical year. It's called Easter Sunday. It is celebrated because this is the day Jesus rose from the dead.Easter is very important. Because it tells us when lent is over. Lent is a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.

I like Ester because it's fun and it's cool. I have lots of fun in Easter. Almost everybody in my family likes my likes it. But my little brother and little cousins like it because they get to pick eggs n get stuff like candy money stuff like that. Yeah Easter is cool. I hope everybody haves a great Easter.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

April Fools day by Andres G.

April fools' day. No one were and when this holiday exactly started. No one knows were it originated from. The only thing most people know is that it a day when everyone pranks everyone else. This holiday is celebrated through out the world in many different places. This holiday is also known as all fools day. This holiday has been celebrated for many years, and for many more years to come. This holiday is for funny jokes, hoaxes and political jokes.

In the medieval times, this holiday was known as festival of fools. This tradition was held on December 28. It was still celebrated with pranks, funny jokes, and hoaxes, in different Spanish countries. This holiday has been celebrated for a long time, even before the medieval ages, and before that. No one knows who were the first to celebrate this holiday. This holiday also has something to do with new years.

April fools is all about making funny jokes , and making pranks on everyone, only the ones you know. Mainly having a great time with your friends. Many people pull a prank on their parents, friends, and many other people that they might know of.

Not many people don't like any of the jokes or pranks their friends make. Some don't even like April fools day. Many people also get hurt in this pranks, some get injured, others might just feel harassed by this jokes and pranks.

Happy April Fools day!!!!!!

April Fool's Day By: Zaira S.

April Fool's day is the first of April. People do pranks on everybody and the jokers think its funny but the victims doesn't thinks it is funny.Fool's day is fun but its sometimes people are mean buy making jokes/pranks.Its very fun but pretty mean about making jokes because those people don't know how to make jokes.

If you have a boyfriend you can tell him you want to brake up with him APRIL FOOL'S DAY.People can make lots of jokes like there a spider on your head or things like that.People can be like mean ,nice by making the jokes. Your friends can even make lots of funny jokes.Parents can be make in jokes or pranks too.

April fools by:Elijah.R. and Alex.V.

April Fools Day is when people prank you or you prank them.And the fun thing about it is that when you don't know when it April fools day and they really believe that your shoe really untied or some other joke.But don't prank your mom or dad.

April fool day is on April 1st.April fools is when some people act crazy about pranks.Some of a good prank is putting a water bucket on top of the door and if a brother or sister come they will get SPLAT with water.If you get in a fight by your brother or sister tell them that it is April fools!

Sometimes referred to as All Fools' Day, April Fool's Day is a holiday but is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kinds of jokes and foolishness. The day is marked by the commission of good humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes.

St Patricks' Day by Rodolfo Dorantes

Saint Patrick's Day is a holiday that we celebrate here in the U.S. But it didn't come from us, it can from Ireland. They start celebrating the Holiday around the 9th and 10th centuries. It was being celebrated by the Irish in Europe.

Saint Patrick's Day was named after a saint. The saint name was Saint Patrick. Saint Patrick has a lot of history. We still don't know where he was born or when he was born. We think that he was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century. when he was sixteen he was taken by Irish raiders and made a slave. One day God came to Saint Patrick In a Dream. And told him to leave the island that he was in and go back to where he was taken. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

Saint Patrick's Day is a fun Holiday where you can have lots of fun. They do many thing on this holiday. In Chicago they do something very spacial they dye their river GREEN! Yeah they dye the Chicago River green. But Chicago don't just do that. They have many celebrations and parade. But the most known parade is the South Side Parade.

Saint Patrick'sDay is always fun. Because they do something very special anywhere you celebrate it. They do games, contest, parades, everything you can think of. They might eat Irish foods that you can enjoy. They probably have everything.

But when we celebrate it, we remember St. Patrick. And what he did. But it does not matter how we celebrate it. As long as we have fun doing it.

HAPPY SAINT PATRICk's' DAY!

St. Patricks day BY: Andres G.

St. Patrick's day, this holiday comes from Ireland. Irish brought their tradition here to the United States. St. Patrick's day is celebrated on March 17, every year. St. Patrick's day is named after Saint Patrick who died in the third century. That's why we celebrate his anniversary or, for his name. Many Irish go to church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. They do this because it is Christan season. Many people would dance, drink, and feast, but they would usually eat Irish bacon, and cabbage. The first parade took place not in Ireland , but in the United States. The parade took place in new york, while Irish were marching or, serving in the English military.



In 1803 New York Irish decided to unite their parades to form the New York st. Patrick's day parade. Till this day that parade was the oldest civilian parade and the largest of all of the United States of America. about 150,000 participated in the parade, and nearly three million line up against the 1.5 mile parade. Other places like Boston ,Chicago,Philadelphia, and Savannah also celebrate this parade, and have over more than 10,000 to 20,000 participants.



On March 17, people wear green to celebrate the tradition or they just wear green so they won't get pinched by other people that are wearing green. Many people all over, or across America wear green just not to get pinched or anything. People that don't wear green get pinched. Who ever is wearing green can pinch the person who is not wearing any green. Those who are not wearing green can not pinch any one else who is not wearing green. Wearing green is mostly like a tradition for America, Ireland ,and many other countries that celebrate St. Patrick's day.



Saint Patrick was not born a Irish, people don't exactly know when and where he was born. Many people say he was born about 390, or 379 A.D. Patrick was either born in Scotland, or in Roman England. Patrick's real name was probably Maewyn Succat. then people called him Patricius, and then later he was named Patrick. That's why we have St. Patrick's day.



So St. Patrick's day is mainly about wearing green and having parades, and many other activities.



Many Irish that live in the United States celebrate it by having parties, mainly just like they did in their hometown, and because it is part of their culture. St.Patrick's day is celebrated through out the world, from place to place.





That's mainly all about thew history of St. Patrick's day.


Happy St. Patrick's day!!!!!!!!

St. Patrick's Day By Ruben. V

Much of what is known about Patrick's legendary life comes from the Confession, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.

According to the Confession, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victorious gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more.
Wonder what LEPRECHAUNS are ?
Leprechauns are not real. They are make-believe little Irish fairies. A leprechaun looks like a small old man about 2 feet tall. He dresses like a shoemaker, wears a hat and an apron.


Leprechauns are believed to be aloof and unfriendly. They live alone, making shoes for other fairies. According to legend, the leprechaun posses a hidden pot of gold. You can track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker's hammer. If you can catch him, you can force him to tell the whereabouts of his pot of gold. However, you must be careful. You must keep your eye on him every second. If not, the leprechaun will trick you and disappear. Your hopes of find his pot of gold vanishes with him.


Have you ever wondered what is at the end of a rainbow ? Well, legend has it that the leprechaun's pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow !!

St Patrick's day by:Elijah R

St Patrick day is when people where green why because there was a man name Saint Patrick that the people say this"holy week is around march 17"that why they pick that day.If you did not know during St Patrick day that they even have a river in Chicago and they dyed it green!Did you know that if it fall on , say Thursday, the next day will be Friday and so on.

If you get pinch on St Patrick's Day is because you did not wear green on you.That is because Saint Patrick made it clear that " The Republic of Ireland is a tricolor green nation" so that is why they use green.The traditional pinching of a person who wears orange on St. Patrick's Day is a mild form of the violence that has so often occurred in the past as both factions have had St. Patrick's Day.

The shamrock is a symbol of Ireland. It is a three-leafed old white clover. The name shamrock is derived from Irish.Saint Patrick described himself as a "most humble-minded man, he thanked the Maker for having chosen him as the instrument of worship by multitudes around the world.

President Day By:Elijah R

President 's day celebrate the first president of the United States.It honors the presidents from George Washington to President Obama. They honor all the presidents and it is so important that they have a live T.V program to show the respect and admiration for their service and dedication.People like to celebrate and remember the presidents.

They have fun celebrating president's day when they have a new president and there will be a national day of remembrance.President day is held on 2/21

that was day it was chosen.The meaning of president day is the birthday for George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.The making of president day was 1796.

"Valentine's day" By Ruben.V

On Valentines day Every year, the fourteenth day of the month of February has millions across the world presenting their loved ones with candy, flowers, chocolates and other lovely gifts. In many countries, restaurants and eateries are seen to be filled with couples who are eager to celebrate their relationship and the joy of their togetherness through delicious cuisines. There hardly seems to be a young man or woman who is not keen to make the most of the day.



According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there were at least three early Christian saints by the name of Valentine. While one was a priest in Rome, another was a bishop in Terni. Nothing is known about the third St. Valentine except that he met his end in Africa. Surprisingly, all three of them were said to have been martyred on February the 14th.



Be on time for your date. It's real bad manners on your part to turn up late and let your date wait anxiously. It makes you seem rude and an insincere person to have a relationship with.

The Valentine's history By: Andres G.

This is history of valentines day. You give the person you really love some really nice things, examples are roses, hearts and many other things. Its a time when you set aside some things and give a special present to that special someone. We celebrate Valentines day every year on February the 14th. February is also the month of romance, and love. For people that don't have anyone to give a Valentines present. You can just give your friend(female or male)a present.

Many people send roses, other types of flowers, chocolate, and many another romantic gift. If you do this then, it is most likely like telling that person how much you really love them. Sometimes, it is not mainly about the gifts, you can also take that person to dinner, or take them to romantic site. That is why February is the month of romance. For males, you can take that special someone to a restaurant, or to the movies.

Valentines day was used to be called Saint valentines day. The only thing is that people shorten it to valentines day. Valentines day is mainly named after Christians saint valentine, and martyrs, and was established by Pope gelasius. In 496 AD. valentines day was deleted from the roman calender. Valentines day is when lovers express the love for each other by offering each other with gifts, and many other romantic things.

In our modern days people would use symbols such as the cupid, heart shaped figures, doves, and/or angels. Now in days people buy written valentine cards, but back in the 19th century, people made and wrote their Valentines cards.

According to legend a man named valentine sent his first valentines card while he was in prison, to a young lady. The card said "from your valentine". Valentine was a priest, a Christan priest. He served a roman emperor named Claudius II. Emperor Claudius forbidden for any men to get married, because he thought that married man wouldn't be good soldiers than the ones who weren't married. Valentine did secret weddings(marriage) for those who were in love. Claudius found out about this so a ordered that valentine sentence to death.

Well, that's mainly about the history of Valentine day. HAPPY VALENTINE DAY!

AND LONG LIVE LOVE .... !

Valentines Day by; Rodolfo.D

Valentine's Day was named after a saint name. His name was Saint Valentine. It was made a holiday by Pope Gelasius in 496 AD. Than it was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI.

Valentines is a day when people give gifts to people they love. It is celebrated on February 14. This day comes once a year so got to make it count. People give flowers, cards, stuff animals, etc. Anything to show love to the person they are giving it to. But some go past the stops to show somebody how much they mean tothem. But everyone is different.

When people give gifts to each other, it has to be different. One hing is for sure, they won't give the same things to each other. Also is because a person might be giving a gift to a girl, or a girl to a guy, So we have get something what ever you think they might like. Happy Valentines !!!!!

Some people do party's about Valentines Day. They do parades, costume contest, this fun stuff for people can have fun. They also do it for the children and 4 why we do celebrate Valentines Day.

Valentines is about this. Give gifts to your loves. Having fun with your family. To remember how valentines got started. and to always remember it. So Valentines Day!

Groundhog Day By:Andres Garcia Alvarez

Groundhog Day is a German tradition. When Germans came to Pennsylvania they continued its tradition. The Groundhog is known as a hedgehog or a badger. Many people use groundhog instead of hedgehogs. This animal can predict the weather just by looking at its shadow. If the groundhog sees its shadow then there will be 6 more weeks of snow.

The original Groundhog day was celebrated on February 2, 1886. Groundhog Day is celebrated through out the united states of America and in many other places. The very first groundhog day was made when a group of spirited hunters who dubbed their self's. They made a club called "The Punxsutawney Groundhog club." A member of the club used additional to proclaim Phil. The punxsutawney was the only official weathering groundhog. Phil's fame began to spread through out ht newspaper.

Most people also call the groundhog a woodchuck. Their are many people that call a groundhog by many other names. Every year many people celebrate groundhog day. They celebrate that day because people would want to see if there's going to be 6 more weeks of snow or not. Groundhog day is not a federal holiday, and nobody gets of work.

Why do we honor the groundhog on groundhog day? We celebrate it because many animals can predict the arrival of spring, according to ancient belief. That is how a groundhog and many other animals can predict the arrival of spring time. In some places they call groundhog day candle mas day accrued mostly between winter and spring. their are many people that don't believe that a groundhog can predict the weather. Even if they don't believe in it we still carry on the tradition, even though its not a federal holiday.

Many scientist have been working whether a groundhog can predict the weather or not for many years. Phil the one who came up with the idea about the groundhog, was 39% right. at the time. He was mostly right about a groundhog predicting the weather. groundhog day is a holiday, but isn't a federal holiday. Even though groundhog day is popular in punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, was a big attraction, because of the original groundhog day. Many people go their to look at its history of hear about it.Like many people, club members, news reporters and many other kind of people go their. Every year on February the 2th, Phil and his predicting see if the groundhog can see or not see his shadow. If the groundhog sees his shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter. If the groundhog doesn't see its shadow, the n spring is on its way.

Most people celebrate early in the morning, mostly like a morning festivals. They celebrate till the groundhog mainly comes out of its burrow.

Well that's mainly all about groundhog day, and all about its history, where its tradition came from.

New Year's Resolution by: Andres G.

New Year's Resolution is mostly about when people decide on many things they are going to do for the year. For instance , students decide on making better grades, or try hard enough to get good grades. Some students who come from other schools will try to make good friends and make better grades. If the student wasn't doing any good or making bad friends they will eventually move and start all over, just by trying to make better friends. Not many new students move just because they where doing bad at their old schools, they mostly move because many parents looking for jobs have to move from place to place, or they just didn't feel good where they lived.

Many people decide on trying to start a new year. So many people decide on trying something good just to start a new year. If a person is having a perfect year from the beginning of school, they might just decide on keeping it that way or making it better. Every one wants to have a good year students, teachers, parents, and many other people around the world. What kind of year do you want to have?

People that do smoking and drinking will eventually try to stop all of those thing so they can have a good year, but in less than a couple of months they might just go back to doing all of those things. The some thing goes for everyone else too. They will just forget mostly about trying to have a good year. Many people won't forget ,but some will. Many people have a new year's resolution,and not many people resolution is going to be the same as every one else.

My new year's resolution are : To be nice to all my friends and teachers, and help them with things they might need help with, and start talking like I used to, instead of being quiet. I just hope I don't forget about my new year's resolution. That's my new years resolution "goal". New years resolutions are mostly about some changing in one's lifestyle, and to set out goals for them to accomplish. Their are many examples of people changing their lifestyles. Many people will try to do different things, and some others will keep doing the same thing that they are doing, but they will try to make it even better. Examples of New year's resolution are: Volunteering, donate, taking more responsibility, helping others, help clean the environment, and many other things people would like to do.

Many people will try to do many things like trying to stop smoking, earn more money, lose weight, or get a healthy lifestyle, but before a month or two is over they will eventually forget about all things they tried to do, and go back to what they were doing. New year's resolution is also like making planes for the next year and letting go of the past. It is like making planes for your future. and figuring out if your plans are going to be different from the past years. A new year's resolution is also trying to be better at something or doing something that you might have not done before, and willing to try it for your self.

Their are many people that don't do any of the new year's resolution. The reason why they don't do any of the new years resolution is because they may not have heard of it, or they just don't do any of it. Some don't do it because they are doing good on how they are doing. Others may not know about new years' resolution is maybe because they have never heard of it or just don't have a clue on whats it about. Not many people do new years resolution. Some people might think that it's just acting like another person and not being themselves.

Well that's what New Year's Resolution is mostly about. A change of a life style or a change in helping others.

2011 Irina's resolutions

New year is celebrated on December 31 at 12:00 a.m children get to past there bed time people have party's with friends and family and have fun.

and when 12:00 a.m comes all the people all over the world say Happy New Year!!!!!

My resolutions for 2011 are

.get better grades .

.do better in school.

.keep getting good grades.

.make new friends.

. do all my home work.

.go on time to all my classes .

.do all my work.

.help keep my school clean.