LESSON 3: CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS
Students have read how three individuals from different Asian American cultures celebrate their New Year through family traditions, food
and celebrations.
READING COMPREHENSION
Make a list on the board including the following categories: Hmong, Japanese, Vietnamese and Individual Cultures. Give students 10
minutes to review the chapters and take notes regarding the cultural celebrations that were discussed. Ask students about the customs they
learned about in Chapters 1-3, and write down their answers.
Hmong
• Celebrating the New Year in November by attending the Seattle Center gathering or other private parties
• Preparing 30 dishes to be enjoyed with the family over three days
Japanese
• Performing Yukiyama, a New Year’s dance about Mount Fujii, or presenting an art form right after the New Year starts for good luck
• Enjoying foods including mochi and ozoni
• Cleaning the home to sweep out old spirits and welcome good energy
• Making new kimono to symbolize a fresh start
Vietnamese
• Welcoming the honorable first guest of the New Year because he or she sets the tone for the New Year
• Serving visitors tea and mú
’
t
• Children wish their elders happiness and good health and receive red envelopes with money inside
• Offering incense to ancestors and the Kitchen God who watches over the kitchen and family
INDIVIDUAL CULTURES
• What cultures are represented in class?
• Ask students what traditions they celebrate in their own families.
• Will they continue these traditions when they have a family of their own?
EXTENSION ACTIVITY: LOOKING AT YOUR HERITAGE
Ask students to write or illustrate a celebration or tradition from their own cultural, ethnic or religious community through a short story,
poem, collage or drawing. Have them try to answer the following questions with their story or poem. Or if a collage or drawing is created,
have the student prepare a short written or oral statement to answer the questions:
• What is the historical origin of the tradition, including when and why it began?
• If this tradition has originated in another country, has it changed in any way in order to be celebrated in the United States?
• Why is it important for your community or family to preserve this tradition?
• What background information would you explain to a friend from outside your cultural community if you were to invite him/her to join
you in the celebration of this cultural tradition, if any?
• Would you continue this tradition when you have your own family? Why or why not?
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