Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Myli Learns About the Krewes of Mardi Gras
Myli woke up very early on Monday. She bounced out of bed. "Is it time for the big Mardi Gras parade?" she asked her mother.
"Mardi Gras is always on Tuesday," said her mother, Linda, who was still in bed. "Remember, Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday." Today is Monday. You have to wait one more day. You can go back to bed, but I'd better get up and get my throws ready for tomorrow's parade."
Myli couldn't go back to sleep. She was too excited. She had a pretty princess costume to wear for Mardi Gras. A long gold dress, a purple velvet robe, and a sparkly, Mardi Gras-colored tiara hung in her closet. Myli grabbed her costume. She put it on pretending to be a Mardi Gras princess. She carefully placed the tiara in her hair. She looked in the mirror and imagined herself riding on the float with a krewe in the Mardi Gras parade. She held a tissue over her eyes pretending it was a mask and waved to the imaginary crowd.
Linda went to the back porch and looked over boxes of "throws" sitting on the floor. Each member of the Krewe of Iris purchased her own boxes of trinkets to throw from the float. There were beads, stuffed animals, plastic cups, doubloons, and other trinkets to throw to eager parade watchers. Linda tagged several special Mardi Gras bags filled with throws to give away during the parade to special people.
"What is a krewe, Momma?" asked Myli. She stood in the doorway wearing her princess costume.
"A krewe is a club or organization that puts on or is part of a parade during Carnival season. My krewe is called the Iris. It was named after the goddess of the rainbow."
"How long has the Krewe of Iris been in the Mardi Gras parade?"
"Iris is the oldest all-women's krewe in New Orleans. It has been throwing beads in the New Orleans Mardi Gras parade for a long time. It was founded in 1917," said her mother.
