Reading, Writing, And Research

On Birthday Celebrations Around The World

By Laurie Borst

As the school year came to a close last June, Hawley third grade teacher Lea Attanasio learned she would be moving up to fourth grade in September. She spent the summer preparing for the new curriculum she would be presenting during the year. The fourth grade curriculum included expository writing, which was a new instructional area for Ms Attanasio.

Like any good teacher, Ms Attanasio studied the topic and proceeded to created an instructional unit that would not only teach her students about narrative and expository writing but would include reading skills, research, computer and Internet skills, cultural comparisons, and geography.

While on the Internet, she came upon a “Birthday Celebrations” website that inspired her to use birthdays, a subject everyone knows about, as the theme to tie all the skills together.

Because she was developing a new unit, Ms Attanasio realized she would need resources the school did not have. She wrote a proposal and was awarded a $500 grant for materials from Connecticut Reading Association.

The students began their studies by choosing a country that they wished to learn about. They gathered information and began learning to put that information into an expository, or explanatory, piece of written work.

Once they had completed the “reporting piece,” the next assignment was to write a narrative piece based on what they had learned. Narrative writing, or storytelling, is the first style of writing students practice.

“As the work on this project began in the classroom, I felt it would be meaningful for the students to explore this multicultural theme within our own community,” she explained. “I contacted the Senior Center in Sandy Hook and in collaboration with Marilyn Place, the director of the center, we arranged interviews with Newtown seniors who grew up outside the United States.”

Volunteers

Eight seniors volunteered to speak to the students about customs and memories they have of childhood and birthday celebrations. These volunteers were Rose P. Lindmark, who talked about Italy, Olga Paproski from Ukraine, Chico Bierlot, who grew up in Japan, Ernestine Dillon from Germany, Gabrielle Aydronopoulos grew up in Venice, Phyllis Gives also from Italy, Josephine Pasqual from Spain, and Minerva Bianco from Colombia.

The class videotaped their guests’ presentations and the follow-up interviews. Ms Attanasio pointed out that during the presentations the students learned that Mrs Dillon had earned a PhD at the age of 69 and Mrs Aydronopoulos earned a PhD in her forties.

Chico Bierlot told the students about growing up in Japan. She was born in Saipan on November 30, 1925, and moved to Okinawa when she was young. She explained that in Japan, they do not celebrate birthdays, or Christmas.

Like many of the speakers, she described growing up poor, so poor that she made her own toys.

Mrs Bierlot showed the students artifacts of Japan including gita, which are Japanese shoes. Seaweed is a dietary staple and she had some seaweed crackers for the children to taste. She demonstrated eating with chopsticks, picking up the bowl to eat from it.

She explained to the children that there are three different kinds of writing in Japan. She only knows how to write two of the styles. She did not go to school and therefore did not learn the formal style. As a young girl, instead of attending school, she babysat for her cousin’s baby so her cousin could work.

Rose Parente Lindmark was born in Stamford on February 7, 1925. Her parents were born in Italy and when she was 2, she went to Italy with her mother for a time.

“We had very little,” she explained. “Maybe we got shoes for our birthday, then we could go to school.”

On her birthday, they would have a nice dinner, and maybe a cookie after, she told the class. Her first birthday cake was baked for her during the Depression. Her mother used marshmallow fluff for frosting.

She lived in an eight-family apartment house growing up. She did not speak English until she went to school.

The family celebrated Christmas Eve with a meal of 12 types of fish, one for each of the 12 apostles. The family went to midnight mass, and in the morning, there might be one present for each child. But they had no tree as they were too poor.

Olga Paproski’s parents came to the United States around 1912 and Mrs Paproski was born here. The family decided to return to Ukraine and while there, the Depression came. No one was allowed into the United States at that time.

Mrs Paproski described a close-knit clan, with extended family living nearby while they lived in Ukraine.

Birthdays were not celebrated. Instead, a person’s name day was observed. The name day coincided with saint a person was named for and that was the celebrated day. There was no cake, candles, or other birthday accoutrements. No little gifts, nothing special, Mrs Paproski related.

Her birthday is June 13 and happened to occur during the month of her namesake, St Olga Day in June.

The family eventually returned to the states. When she married and had children herself, she adopted American traditions for her children’s birthday celebrations.

St Nicholas Day is the Ukrainian Christmas. This is a religious holiday. Rarely are presents given. Christmas consists of three days of celebration, involving going early to church for three-hour services.

Easter is the happiest holiday in Ukrainian tradition. It celebrates spring when the sun comes up earlier. The traditional Ukrainian eggs are an integral part of this holiday.

Sharing Results

The students were eager to share what they had learned over this course of study.

Victoria Madden researched Canada where they eat meat pies and special stews with meatballs for the birthday meal. Dancing is part of some celebrations.

Rebecca Oberstadt said, “In Russia, they have pie instead of cake. The baker carves a greeting in crust. Presents are placed around the person’s bed.

“Instead of birthday spankings, they tug on the earlobe for the number of years old the person is.”

Nick LoTrecchiano studied the traditions of Norway. He described a special birthday game, fishing for frozen ice cream, which he explained was like bobbing for apples. Joey Santella found that in Malaysia, the foods are very similar to here. He explained that on birthdays special foods are enjoyed, like Satay, pieces of barbecued beef. Chicken and chocolate cake are also popular.

The unit wrapped in early February with an evening of celebration with food and festivities. The students focused on Russia, China, Australia, and Brazil and created displays with food and games representative of the country. Guests “visited” each country and received a party favor.

Samples of the students’ writing were on display and a PowerPoint presentation highlighted the many aspects of their studies.