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Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a happy holiday for African-Americans. Kwanzaa began on December 26,

1966 and was started by Dr. o!lana "on Karenga. #e got the idea from a $ery old

African har$est celebration. %he word Kwanzaa means &first fr!its& in 'wahili, alang!age !sed in Africa. %his celebration lasts ( days starting on December 26 and

ending on )an!ary 1. *eople celebrate ( ideas on Kwanzaa, one each day. *eople sho!ld

!se these ideas all year to !nify the family, !nderstand their history, and li$e better li$es.

%he se$en ideas of Kwanzaa are+

moa oo-/#-ah0 meaning !nify,

K!ichag!lia oo-ee-cha-goo-33-!h0 meaning control of yo!r life,

ima oo-ee-A#0 meaning woring together and responsibility,

amaa oo-ah-A#0 meaning sharing money,

4ia 433-ah0 meaning ha$ing a p!rpose,

K!!mba oo--bah0 meaning to be creati$e,

5mani ee-A#-nee0 meaning ha$ing faith.

*eople celebrate Kwanzaa in big family gro!ps. irst they p!t a straw mat on the floor.%hen they place the Kinara ee-na-rah0, the se$en candle candlestic holder, in the

center of the mat. %he candles sho!ld be red, blac, and green. 4e7t they p!t ears of

corn on the mat. %here is always one ear of corn for each child. %he last thing they do is

place the gifts, !nity c!p, soil and water, and some fr!it on the mat.

/n the first day of Kwanzaa the leader says abari 8ani& which means &hat:s the

news;& %hen the other people in the room say the name of the idea of the day. or

e7ample on the first day they wo!ld say, &moa.& %hen someone might pray. %hen a

child lights the candles, one for the first day, two for the second day, etc. %hen they share

stories abo!t the idea of the day, and how they can !se it in their li$es. inally, theymight say a prayer to end

/n the last day of Kwanzaa there is a feast. amilies and friends eat, drin, sing, dance,

gi$e gifts and thin abo!t how they can !se the ideas of Kwanzaa to mae their li$es

better.

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Find the words you don't know. Look them up in the dictionary.

3nglish word 3nglish eaning

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Questions

1. ho celebrates Kwanzaa;

2. hen is Kwanzaa celebrated;

=. hat is the history of Kwanzaa;

>. hat do people eat on #an!ah;

?. hat are the special things !sed on #an!ah;

6. hy do people celebrate #an!ah;

True/False. If the statement is false, correct it.

1. A late is a game )ews play. %@

2. %he dreidel has nine candles. %@

=. )!dah accabee was a ing. %@

>. )!dah accabee had fo!r brothers. %@

?. enorah means hammer. %@

6. #an!ah is also called the esti$al of *otatoes. %@

(. %he miracle is that the oil lasted for 12 days. %@

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