American Holidays Exploring Traditions, Customs, and Backgrounds

American Holidays is a vocabulary development text for English language learners focusing on words which are associated with the traditions, customs, and backgrounds of the special days celebrated in the United States, including the most recently established federal holiday, Juneteenth. The key vocabulary is presented in twenty-three readings, each associated with a specific holiday. Grammar exercises, reading comprehension questions, and discussion prompts are also included in each chapter.

The late Barbara Klebanow, co-author of American Holidays (with Alan Headbloom and Barbara Klebanow) was a devoted teacher of ESL for adults in a hospital in Great Neck, NY training foreign doctors, and in the evening classes for adults at the Great Neck Public Schools. Alan Headbloom, co-author of American Holidays (with Alan Headbloom and Barbara Klebanow) , a lifelong educator, has taught language and linguistics from preschool to the workplace. Since 1992, he has coached expats and immigrants to the U.S. in companies large and small. He has also co-created a language learning app and hosted a Michigan television talk show, “ Feel Like You Belong.” Sara Fischer, PhD, co-author of American Holidays (with Alan Headbloom and Barbara Klebanow) has been involved in the education and services for English language learners for over 25 years in the NY City schools. For the past 10 years, she has been training bilingual teachers in the TESOL Program at Touro University.

1. An Introduction to Holidays in the US Part 1: The US Holiday Calendar 2. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (“ MLK Day” ) 3. Valentine’ s Day 4. Presidents’ Day 5. Mother’ s and Father’ s Day 6. Memorial Day 7. Juneteenth 8. Independence Day 9. Labor Day 10. Indigenous People’ s Day/Columbus Day 11. Halloween 12. Veterans Day 13. Thanksgiving 14. Christmas 15. New Year’ s Eve and New Year’ s Day Part 2: Additional Cultural Holidays 16. Additional Cultural Holidays, Part 1: Lunar New Year, St. Patrick’ s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Kwanzaa 17. Additional Cultural Holidays, Part 2: Special Months Celebrating Ethnic Heritage and Personal Identity Part 3: Religious Holidays 18. Christian Holidays: Easter, mention Christmas 19. Jewish Holidays 20. Muslim Holidays Part 4: Birthdays, Weddings, and Funerals 21. Birthdays 22. Weddings 23. Funerals Part 5: Appendices