Reading Comprehension · Social Studies
New Year’s Day and Resolutions
A reading lesson about how New Year’s is celebrated around the world, the famous Times Square ball drop, and the tradition of making resolutions.
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Subject
Reading Comprehension
Grade Level
Grades 4–7
Format
Lesson + Printable PDF
Access
Full Member
Celebrating the New Year
The beginning of a new year is always a time for celebration. In the United States, like much of the world, we follow the Gregorian calendar and begin the New Year on January 1st. The night before, New Year’s Eve, is traditionally a night for parties and fun. Many people stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year. In some parts of the world, other dates mark the beginning of the year. For example, the Jewish New Year begins on Rosh Hashanah, usually in September. In China, the new year begins sometime between January 21st and February 19th.
In the United States, there is a long tradition of celebrating the New Year by watching the festivities in New York City’s Times Square. People all over the world tune in on New Year’s Eve to watch a sparkling crystal ball descend from a flagpole in Times Square from 11:59 p.m. on December 31st to the stroke of midnight. A ball first descended the flagpole in Times Square to ring in the year 1907. It was made of iron and wood and covered with 25-watt light bulbs. The original ball weighed 700 pounds and was five feet in diameter.
Over the decades, the ball has gone through many changes. By 1920, a lighter 400-pound iron ball replaced the original. In 1955, a 150-pound aluminum ball replaced it. In the 1980s, the ball was redesigned to look like an apple — the symbol of New York City. To mark the turn of the millennium, the Waterford Crystal Company redesigned the ball entirely. The current crystal ball weighs more than 1,000 pounds and is covered with 504 crystal triangles.
New Year’s Resolutions
One of the more popular New Year’s traditions is the setting of resolutions. People like the idea of a fresh start and a chance to change bad habits or set new goals. To do this, many people make promises to themselves. New Year’s resolutions usually involve making a change or doing something new.
The custom of making resolutions goes back thousands of years. Four thousand years ago, the Babylonians would resolve to return something borrowed from someone else at the start of the New Year. In ancient Rome, people would resolve to forgive their enemies at the start of a new year.
Today, many resolutions have to do with getting into better physical shape, eating better, losing weight, or doing better at work or school. While many people make these resolutions, they are often very hard to stick to. One survey revealed that more than half of people who make New Year’s resolutions have stopped following them by July 4th. The good news is that for some people, making resolutions is a helpful way to reach a new goal or change an unwanted habit.
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