United+States+by+Ms.+Mitchell's+Class

Christmas in Mars, Pennsylvania (United States) by Ms. Mitchell's Class





= **__About Us __** =

===We are students in 6th grade from Mars, Pennsylvania in the United States. We are 11 and 12 years old. Our class is very excited to be participating in this Christmas Project with all of you! We have 3 different classes participating from our school. Each class has about 25 students. We speak only one language…English! We do not start to learn other languages until Grade 8 when we are about 13 & 14 years old. At that time we have the choice of learning French, Spanish, and German. ===

=== Our hometown is pretty small. It is called Mars (like the Planet). We are a suburban town with some areas that are more rural. Some of the students in our school live on farms and some live in large neighborhoods. We have a model of a space ship in === ===  downtown Mars and it mys teriously moves to different places around Mars at different times. Even though we enjoy life in the suburbs, the city of Pittsburgh is only about 25 miles south of us which is a short drive away. We drive to the city to see sporting events, concerts, plays, and sometimes to go shopping. ===

===Our school is called Mars Centennial School which has 5th and 6th grades in it. There are ten 5th grade classes and eleven 6th grade classes. We go to school 5 days a week. Our school day starts at 9:00 am and ends at 3:20 pm. We have one special class every day like music, physical education, art, health, and library and have lunch for 30 minutes. The rest of the school day is spent learning math, reading, grammar, spelling, science, and social studies. Our class has 3 teachers. Ms. Mitchell teaches us math and computer lessons. Mr. Rossi teaches us science and social studies. Mrs. Goncus teaches us reading, grammar, and spelling. One thing we really like about our school is that we each have our own lockers in the hallway this year to keep our backpacks and books in. One thing we do not like about our school is that we have construction going on right now to build a new part onto the school. Because of the construction, it is noisy on one side of the school and we can’t have hot lunches for a few months until the cafeteria construction is finished. We also cannot go outside at all because of the dangers of the construction materials and machines. ===

===The kids in our class like to do many things when they are not in school. Some of the sports the kids in our class participate in are basketball, soccer, football, lacrosse, cheerleading, hockey, baseball, tae-kwon-doe, skateboarding, running, gymnastics, tennis, snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, wrestling, swimming, diving, and dance. As you can see, we all like and play different sports. Other than sports, some of the activities we do include playing in the school band or instruments at home, singing in the school chorus, participating in after school clubs, playing video games, drawing, watching TV, playing laser tag, baking, playing on the computer, making crafts, hunting, and hanging out with our friends. ===

**__Christmas in Mars, Pennsylvania, United States of America __**

===We kick off the holiday season on November 26th which is called Black Friday. On this day, many stores open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer sales to kick off the shopping season. The name “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Later a different explanation began to be offered, that "Black Friday" indicates the period during which retailers are making a lot of money, or "in the black”. ===

===We do not learn or talk much about the religious part of Christmas in school, but we do have many ways we celebrate like by singing holiday songs, making holiday crafts, and learning about how others celebrate. We will celebrate Christmas on December 25th. We will have a vacation from school from December 23 – January 2. During our break, we will spend time with family and friends. Families will put up Christmas trees, colorful glowing lights outside their houses, and other holiday decorations near the beginning of December. ===

=== === ===On December 24th, Christmas Eve, the children go to bed at night and leave cookies and milk by their stockings that hang by the fireplace for Santa. ===





= = ===Santa Claus visits during the night while the children are sleeping and leaves gifts for them under their Christmas tree. He then eats the cookies and drinks the milk left for him before finishing his journey around the world. Sometimes families also leave carrots or other snacks for Santa’s reindeer to eat. In the morning, families sit around the tree and exchange gifts with each other and open the gifts that Santa left. In the evening, families have a large meal. They usually have turkey or ham as their main dish and cookies or pie for desert. Other foods families enjoy include potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, fruit cake, and prime rib. === 

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= = = = = = = = = = = = =** __<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif;">Winter Weather in Pennsylvania __ **=

===<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">In Pennsylvania, December is very cold and often snowy, so the Christmas lights outside look beautiful. People have to wear very warm winter clothing such as thick coats, hats, gloves, and scarves. Since we usually get a lot of snow, people ski, snowboard, snow tube, and build snowmen outside. ===

===<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">The roads can get very icy and dangerous, so sometimes kids have to go into school late or sc <span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 36px;">hool may be closed. ===

===<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 36px;"> ===

===<span style="color: red; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">Merry Christmas from <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 24px; line-height: 36px;"> the 6th Grade Students at Mars Centennial School ===

<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">Teacher: Tammy Mitchell
===<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">email: <span style="color: #00b050; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-decoration: none;">teachertammy123@epals.com === ===<span style="color: #00b050; font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 170%;">or tmitchell <span style="color: #00b050; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; text-decoration: none;">@marsk12.org ===

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