Third Grade
Worksheets
Celebrating with Bube Rose
Celebrating with Bube Rose (Hanukkah)
Reading Comprehension for December 4
Aviva Levy hunched over the greeting card she was designing for her grandmother. She drew a silver menorah with nine lit candles on the cover. It was difficult to decide whether to write "Happy Hanukkah" or "Happy Chanukah" across the bottom. Neither English spelling was wrong; both denoted the Jewish festival of lights.
The Hebrew word for the holiday consists of five Hebrew characters. The first character represents a letter that has no equivalent in English. It isn't quite the same as an "h" or the "ch" digraph. Pronounced properly, the word starts with a guttural sound. Aviva repeated it a few times. "Chanukah. Chanukah." Then she decided to use the "ch" spelling and quickly finished the card.
The Levy family arrived at their matriarch's home early in the afternoon. Bube Rose's door was decorated with a quilted menorah wall hanging. Aviva smiled to herself. Bube always overdid the decorating. She claimed that it was for her grandchildren, but Aviva knew that Bube herself got a lot of enjoyment from the pretty things.
When Bube Rose opened the door, Aviva found herself wrapped in her grandmother's arms with her face pressed into Bube's bosom. As soon as Bube loosened her hold, she exclaimed, "Look at you, my little bubele! My, how you have grown!" Aviva kissed her cheek, gave her the card, and slipped inside the house.
