A-Z Spring W☀️rd List

A – April (noun) 🌦️
The fourth month of the year, often associated with springtime weather. 

B – Bloom (verb) 🌸 🌹
To produce flowers.

C – Cherry blossoms (noun) 🌺
The pink or white flowers of cherry trees, commonly seen in early spring. 

D – Daffodils (noun) 🌼
Bright yellow or white trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom in early spring.

E – Easter (noun) 🐣 🐰
A spring holiday celebrating renewal and, in Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus. 

F – Flowers (noun) 💐 🪻
The colorful, often fragrant reproductive parts of plants that bloom in spring.

G – Garden (noun) 🌻 🌱 🥬
A space for growing plants, flowers, or vegetables.

H – Honeybee (noun) 🐝
A flying insect that collects nectar and helps pollinate plants. 

I – Insect (noun) 🪲 🐜 🪰
A
small animal with six legs, a body divided into three parts (head, thorax, and abdomen), and typically one or two pairs of wings.

J – Jump (verb) 🤸
To push oneself off the ground into the air using the legs. 

K – Kite (noun) 🪁
A lightweight object flown in the air on a string, often for fun on windy days. 

L – Lamb (noun) 🐑
A young sheep, often born in spring. 

M – Migration (noun) 🕊️ 🦆
The seasonal movement of animals, especially birds, from one region to another. 

N – Nest (noun) 🪺 🐣 🪹
A structure built by birds to lay eggs and raise young.

O – Outdoors (noun) 🌳 🌲 🌞
The open air or natural environment.

P – Picnic (noun) 🧺 🍷 🥪
A meal eaten outside, especially in a park or natural setting.

Q – Quack (noun/verb) 🦆
(Noun)
The sound a duck makes.
(Verb) To make the sound of a duck. 

R – Rainbow (noun) 🌈
Bands of colors in the sky caused by sunlight and rain.

S – Sunshine (noun) ☀️
 Light and warmth from the sun. 

T – Tulip (noun) 🌷
A brightly colored, cup-shaped flower that blooms in early to mid-spring. 

U – Umbrella (noun)
A tool used to protect yourself from rain or strong sun.

V – Vibrant (adjective) ✨ 🌸 🌈
Full of energy and life; bright and striking in appearance.

W – Warmth (noun) 🔆
A comfortable temperature, often associated with spring’s rising temperatures. 

X – Xylem (noun) 🌱
Plant tissue that carries water from the roots to the rest of the plant.

Y – Yellow (adjective/noun) 💛
 (Adjective) A bright color often seen in spring flowers.
 (Noun) The color itself.

Z – Zinnia (noun) 🌼
A bright, hardy flower that blooms in late spring and summer. 

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Daytime Holiday Party

Our daytime classes enjoyed a fun and festive holiday party this past Thursday! 🎉


Hello to all our students! Thank you for joining us and bringing such great energy to the day. 👋


Happy Holidays from each of our classes. 🧑‍🎄 🎅


A fun game of Kahoot! determined the order in which classes ate.

Congratulations to our Kahoot! winners! Thank you for bringing so much energy and festive fun to the game.


We had a fantastic assortment of foods for our potluck party, with something delicious for everyone to enjoy. 🌮 🍰 🥟


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Evening Holiday Party

Happy Holidays 🎉 from our E0, E101, E1, E2, E3, and E4 classes!


This past Thursday, our evening classes celebrated with a fun and festive holiday party!


We had a tremendous pot luck dinner. Pizza, pie, cookies, and more – we had it all! 🍞 🍕 🍰



Each of the classes performed a holiday classic for everyone to enjoy, bringing festive cheer for all to hear.  🎄


Happy Holidays to each of our classes….

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Weekend Holiday Party

Happy Holidays from our W1, W101, W2, and W3 weekend classes! We had a wonderful time on Sunday. We celebrated the holidays with delicious food, wonderful performances, and quality time with our friends and classmates.🎅 🎄

We had some tasty treats from all around the world 🥙 🍰 🥟

No party is complete without a game of Kahoot! The prize…….?

…… first in line for the food!


From singing holiday songs, to sharing things everyone was thankful for, the joy of the season was there for everyone.


Check out the performance below:

James’ W1 class performed “Jingle Bells”

Lynne’s W101 class performed ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland”

Erica’s W2 class performed a holiday poem

Nate’s W3 class performed the Wham! classic, “Last Christmas”


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Volunteering 🦃

Thanksgiving Luncheon at the Senior Center at 189 Allen Street

On Wednesday, November 25th, students from our CCR-P class volunteered to serve Thanksgiving lunch to seniors at University Settlement’s Senior Center, located at 189 Allen Street. Our students helped prepare the dining area, greeted seniors as they arrived, and served a hot holiday meal to more than 100 community members. They worked alongside staff and other volunteers to create a warm, festive atmosphere, and many seniors expressed their appreciation for the kindness and support. It was a meaningful opportunity for our class to give back to the community and to experience the spirit of Thanksgiving in action.

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It’s holiday time!


Winter Holidays Around the World

Winter is a special season. The days are shorter, the nights are longer, and in many places, it is cold and snowy. Around the world, people celebrate different winter holidays with family, friends, food, and traditions. Let’s look at some of the most popular winter holidays.


Christmas

Christmas is celebrated on December 25th in many countries. People decorate a Christmas tree, hang lights, and give gifts. Families often eat a big meal together. In some traditions, children wait for Santa Claus to bring presents. Popular Christmas colors are red, green, and gold.


Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that usually happens in December. It lasts for eight nights. Families light a special candleholder called a menorah. They eat foods fried in oil, like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts). Children often play with a small toy called a dreidel.


Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is celebrated in the United States from December 26th to January 1st. It honors African traditions and culture. Families light candles in a holder called a kinara. Each day represents a different value, such as unity, creativity, or faith. Music, dancing, and storytelling are also part of Kwanzaa.


New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day

All around the world, people celebrate the New Year on December 31st and January 1st. Many people stay up until midnight to welcome the new year. Fireworks, parties, and special foods are common. People also make resolutions—promises to themselves about things they want to do in the new year.


Vocabulary to Remember

  • Tradition – something people do again and again over many years
  • Celebrate – to enjoy a holiday or special event
  • Candle – a stick of wax with fire at the top for light
  • Meal – food eaten together at one time
  • Resolution – a plan or promise for the future


✨ Winter holidays bring light, joy, and warmth during the cold season. Even though traditions are different, the message is often the same: spending time with loved ones and sharing happiness.

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Black Friday

Friday, November 28th

Key Vocabulary:

  1. Traditionally (adverb) – in a way that is based on tradition or long-established customs.
  2. Marks (verb) –  to indicate or show something; to make a visible sign or impression.
  3. DoorBusters (Noun, plural) – Special promotional sales, often with deep discounts, designed to attract large numbers of customers, particularly during big sales events like Black Friday.
  4. Deals (Noun, plural) – Agreements or transactions, especially those involving discounts or special offers in shopping.
  5. Mayhem (Noun) – Chaos, disorder, or violence, often involving confusion and destruction.
  6. To mirror (Verb) – To reflect or resemble something closely.
  7. Brick-and-mortar (Adjective) – Referring to traditional physical businesses (such as stores or offices) as opposed to online or digital businesses.

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States – it’s also one of the busiest shopping days of the year. 

Around 2003, many stores began opening as early as 5 a.m. with “doorbusterdeals – deep discounts on select items. 

Its these huge discounts that cause the mayhem with people fighting over cheap TV’s and other discounted items.

In the early 2000’s stores extended their hours even earlier, opening on Thanksgiving night –  staying open through Black Friday. These sales were often called “Black Thursday”. However, these sales were somewhat of a failure, and stores slowly began returning to closing on Thanksgiving, opening instead on Black Friday.

As the internet became more popular, many people started shopping online and in 2005, Cyber Monday was born. It was intended to mirror the brick-and-mortar sales stores offered on Black Friday. Black Friday became so popular that in 2015, Amazon even held a Black Friday sale in July! 

Whether you’re looking for a new TV, a computer, or a pair of socks, it’s guaranteed you will be able to find a deal somewhere, either online or in person on Black Friday or Cyber Monday!

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