Unit 14 Festivals
(Senior 1B)
Part 1 Topic : Festivals
I ( Knowledge)
1. Can remember the following words and expressions (by pronunciation, spelling and writing):
theme, parade, holy, Easter, symbol, fighting, conflict, argument, opinion, destruction, major, probably, honour /honor(Am.E), ancestor, principle, nation, purpose, creativity, faith, commercial, joy, light (v.), similar, generation, salute, kiss, cheek, nod, celebration, respect, gift, cycle, fool, invitation, self-determination, reminder
dress up, in one’s opinion, play a trick on /play tricks on, take in, in common
2. Can use the following structures in different situations:
1) Useful expressions in the text
in my opinion, play a trick on /play tricks on, take in, in common, have something/nothing in common with …,as well as, get together.
2) Expressions on expressing and supporting an opinion
In my opinion, we should… I believe we should…
I don’t think it is necessary to… We must decide…
I hope we can make a decision. If we do this, we can…
3) Modal verbs (2): must, have to, have got to.
3. Can be familiar with the following world festivals and talk about them:
Chinese festivals: the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao), Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), National Day, New Year’s Day, Chinese Youth Day, Party’s Day, Army’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Tree-planting Day…
Foreign festivals: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Ramadan, Day of the Dead (from Mexico), Bon Odori Festival/ Ghost Festival (from Japan) (盂兰盆节), Mardi Gras, Kwanzaa…
4. Can read the reading materials correctly, including pronunciation, intonation, pause and fluency. And recite five to eight beautiful or important sentences.
5. Can understand the teaching material well, and retell the text and have a discussion according to the text after class.
6. Can get further information about festivals through classes, magazines, newspapers, related books, Internet and so on.
II ( Affect )
1. To get Ss to enjoy festivals and customs from different countries, and enlighten Ss to enjoy the beauty and the importance of festivals and customs.
2. To encourage Ss to show positive and healthy attitude towards festivals and customs from different countries.
3. To get Ss to know how to hold effective and successful festivals.
4. To get Ss to further understand the differences between Chinese and foreign cultures by comparing Chinese and foreign festivals and customs.
III 技能目标 ( Skills )
1. To train Ss’ four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in different periods.
2. To make Ss’ know how to write an invitation in English.
3. To help Ss to develop the ability of learning English through different ways, such as reading newspapers, magazines and books, surf the Internet, etc.
Part 2 Pre-unit Activities: Preview Task
1. Find information about the following festivals as much as possible through newspapers, magazines, related books and Internet.
Chinese festivals: the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao), Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), National Day, New Year’s Day, C
hinese Youth Day, Party’s Day, Army’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Tree-planting Day…
Foreign festivals: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Ramadan, Day of the Dead (from Mexico), Bon Odori Festival/ Ghost Festival (from Japan) (盂兰盆节), Mardi Gras, Kwanzaa…
2. Read the following introductions of some famous foreign festivals.
Mardi Gras The America's most favorite celebration, and famous Mardi Gras takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. Carnival has religious roots associated with Judeo-Christian tradition. Mardi Gras is set to occur 46 days (the 40 days of Lent plus six Sundays) before Easter and can come as early as February 3 or as late as March 9. Known as the "biggest free show on earth", people there dress up in costumes for these events and enjoy this celebration by going to public parades where they catch "beads, doubloons, cups, and trinkets" that are all thrown from floats. They also have private celebrations, masquerade balls, held by clubs called krewes. The official colors of Carnival are purple, green and gold, chosen in 1872 by that year's Rex. The colors have meaning: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power. King Cakes are eaten during this holiday.
Valentine’s Day February 14th, Valentine’s Day, is sweethearts’ day, on which people in love with each other express their tender emotions. People sometimes put their love message in a heart-shaped box of chocolates, or a bunch of flowers tied with red ribbons. Words or letters may be written on the flower covered card, or something else. Whatever the form may be, the message is almost the same —“ Will you be my valentine?” The symbol of valentine is a picture with a Heart and Cupid armed with bow and arrow. Many universities, high or elementary schools hold a sweethearts’ Ball for the young students to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
the coming of winter and was the beginning of Halloween eve. Today, the religious meaning of Halloween has been weakened; instead, the holiday expresses man’s cherishing memory of Halloween via innovative, ever-changing modern masquerade.
Day of the Dead, Mexico On November 2nd, each house roasts bread of animal forms, broiling chicken, hot chocolate and sweet corns, plus laying some toys on the altar because Mexicans believe that the dead children will come back to their own homes in the midnight. The altar for the dead elder is stocked with belongings of the merriment as they do; therefore, their Ghost Festival is just like a carnival when people walk around with masks, eating skull-shaped candies. And even a ghost image is put on the bread. In the evening, the whole family goes to the cemetery and clears the grave. Women praise all night in kneeling or sitting position while men are talking or singing. The flickering midnight candlelight is filling up the cemetery whereas walking singers are chanting for the dead Spirits.
Easter Easter, with its religious character, falls on the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs on or after March 21st. Therefore, Easter happens sometimes in March, and sometimes in April. It commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb where he had lain for three days following his Crucifixion. His rise after three days indicates that he would accomplish his promise to rise again from the dead as proof of eternal life. As Christ’s return to life had occurred during the season of spring, some of the rites of Spring were still retained. Therefore, we see that although Easter is based on the events in the life of Christ, it has been influenced by older traditions. For example, the custom of dyeing eggs is still very popular among American children. Originally the egg symbolized fertility for the ancient Persians and Greeks who exchanged eggs at their spring festivals. But up to the Christian time, the egg symbolized the tomb from which Christ rose. For Christian lamb is the symbol of the sacrifice of Christ and pig the symbol of good luck. That is why both in Europe and in America, people have lamb and ham as their main meat on Easter Sunday. In all the spring season, people enjoy the Easter message of hope, joy and the resurrection of spirit.
Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving Day, which originated in America and was first celebrated in 1621 by the pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony, is the most typical and true national holiday of all the holidays observed in the United States of America. Because of the religious persecution by the established church in England, the pilgrims left their native land with the purpose of enjoying religious freedom. They first fled to Holland, and then sailed to America on a ship called the Mayflower. When they arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, it was November, 1620. The first winter was very difficult for them and over half of them died because of hunger and illness, hard work and severely cold weather. In the spring of the next year, 1621, a friendly Indian named Squants, who had been captured and released by other English men, came to help them in planting the corn and fertilizing the soil. Then Squants brought the Indian chief called Massasoit who also treated them in a friendly way. With the help of the Indians, the pilgrims had a bumper harvest that year. They thought the harvest was a kind of deliverance by God, so they decided to have a day
of celebration after their harvest to express their thanks to God. And they also invited the Indian chief Massasoit in gratitude and prepared a grand dinner out-doors. The celebration lasted for 3 days. On October 3rd, 1863, Lincoln issued the first National Thanksgiving Proclamation. Since then it has been the custom for the President of the United States to Proclaim annually the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day. The Thanksgiving dinner is mainly stuffed with roast turkey, squash and corn, pumpkin pie and Indian pudding a custard made from corn), etc. Today, American people have four days for this holiday, although the first Thanksgiving lasted three days. One is probably surprised to find the uniformity in the holiday scene of every family, wherever one goes in the United States. People go back home to enjoy the reunion of their family at the arrival of Thanksgiving Day.
Christmas Christmas Day, which is the greatest of the Christian festivals, falls on December 25th on which Christian people believe Jesus Christ was born, although no one can tell the exact date of his birth. This is the biggest and best-loved holiday in the United States, which is full of joy and gaiety, love and laughter, hospitality and good will. People usually have two weeks for this holiday. They begin to prepare Christmas long before the holiday comes. Small families and large business firms prepare the holiday differently. Stores are decorated with the traditional Christmas colors of green and red. Goods associated with Christmas become best sellers at this time. People like to decorate their stores and homes with Christmas tree, which is usually covered with strings of colored lights and a star fixed on top representing the star in the East which guided the three Wise Men to where Jesus was born. And Christmas food is special: peppermint-flavored red and white striped canes of sugar, bright colored hard sweets, chocolate bonbons, creamy homemade fudge and clusters of chocolate-covered raisins, walnuts or pecans, etc. On Christmas Eve families have a big dinner. Children hang their stockings by the fireplace, hoping that Santa Claus will fill them with sweets and toys.
Part 3: While-unit Activities: Five Separate Periods
Period 1: Warming up & Listening
Before having this period, the Students (Ss) are asked to collect information about the three festivals: Halloween, Bon Odori Festival, Day of the Dead.
Step 1 Lead-in
1. First, greet Ss with the questions “How are you feeling today?” “ Do you feel happy today?”
Then, Teacher (T) can lead in the topic festival/ holiday by asking some questions such as:
When do you usually feel happy? (Ss can give different answers)
Do you feel happy when there is a festival and you have holidays?
Then which festival or holiday do you like best? And why?
2. Chinese have many festivals. How many Chinese festivals do you know? And what are they?
( the Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival (Yuanxiao), Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming), Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu), Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival (Chongyang), National Day, New Year’s Day, Chinese Youth Day, Party’s Day, Army’s Day, Teachers’ Day, Tree-planting Day…)
Which is the greatest and the most important festival to our Chinese people? When do Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival? How long does the Spring Festival last? Why do Chinese people celebrate it? What is
the theme of the Spring Festival? How is it celebrated?
3.Different cultures have different kinds of customs and festivals. How many foreign festivals do you know? And what are they?
( Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Ramadan, Day of the Dead (from Mexico), Bon Odori Festival/ Ghost Festival (from Japan) (盂兰盆节), Mardi Gras, Kwanzaa…)
Step 2 Warming up
1. Show the Ss three pictures and ask them to discuss in pairs according to the following guiding questions:
Q1: Do you know the names of the festivals? (Halloween, Bon Odori, Day of the Dead)
Q2: Do you know which countries the festivals come from?
Q3: What are the people in the pictures doing? Why are they doing this?
2. Ask individual students to talk about the three festivals. The information of the festivals should include the name of the festival, when, where and how to celebrate it.
3. Which Chinese festival is similar to the three festivals? (Tomb Sweeping Festival)
Then get Ss to compare the Chinese Tomb Sweeping Festival with one of the three festivals. (Differences: time, people, place, the way of celebrating, etc. Similarity: ghost festival)
Step 3 Dialogue
Get Ss to work in pairs to make up a dialogue. One describes his/her favorite Chinese festival and the other describes his/her favorite foreign festival. Trying to compare them.
(The following form is presented for Ss to prepare.)
Festival
When is the festival celebrated?
Step 5 Summary
Help Ss to have a revision of the festivals learnt in this class.
T: Different histories and cultures have different kinds of festivals and customs. We should get to know they all play important parts in learning a country’s language. We should respect and show positive attitudes towards foreign festivals and customs as well as Chinese ones.
Step 6 Homework
1. Listening work: Listen to the listening material about Christmas in workbook on page 77.
2. Written work: Write a description of your favorite festival. The description should include 1) the name 2) the time 3) characteristics 4) activities, etc.
Period 2: Reading
Step 1 Revision
Get Ss to work in pairs to match the festivals in Column A with the information in Column B.
Column A Column B
1.Ramada A. celebrated on the 15th day of the
first Chinese lunar month
2.the Lantern Festival B. cho
colate, bunnies, colored eggs for its
symbols
3.Mardi Gras C. Muslims fast during the daylight day
4.Dragon Boat Festival D. catching “beads, doubloons and cups”
thrown by parades
5.Valentine’s Day E. honoring love and lovers
6.Halloween F. eating Zongzi to honor Qu Yuan
7.Double Ninth Festival G. the time of ghosts, spirits, gravestones
8.Thanksgiving Day H. meaning clear and bright, mourning the dead
9.Easter I. offering thanks, family gatherings and meals
10.Tomb Sweeping Festival J. on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month as Senior
citizen’s Day
Step 2 Pre-reading
1. Make a comparison of Chinese Spring Festival and Christian
Christmas.
T: Which is the greatest and the most important festival to Chinese people? (the Spring Festival) And which is the greatest and the most important festival to Christian people in western countries? (Christmas)
Both of them are quite popular in the world. What are the differences between them?
FestivalDifferentaspects Chinese Spring Festival Christmas
Time From the 1st day to the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month On Dec. 25
Preparation Do spring cleaning, do Spring Festival shopping (new clothes, delicious food, fireworks, New Year paintings, etc.), decorate the houses with Spring Festival couplets, paper cuts, Chinese knots… Do cleaning, do Christmas shopping (gifts, cards, sweet, cookies, etc.), decorate the houses with Christmas tree and colored lights…
Special Food New Year’s cake, dumpling ( jiaozi) , sweet dumpling (tangyuan)… Candies, cookies, pudding…
Gifts Anything (foods, fruits, clothes, drinks…) Anything (foods, fruits, drinks, desserts, Christmas decorations)
Major Activities Have family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, pay New Year’s visits, recreational activities (dragon dance, lion dance, stilt-walking…) Family reunion, have a big dinner on Christmas Eve…
purpose Bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new year, hoping for the best and the good future. Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ
Note: The italicized words in the form above are suggested answers.
Step 3 Reading
T: Do you know there is another festival which follows Christmas Day in America. It is an important festival to African Americans. Is there any one who knows the name of the festival? (Kwanzaa)
1. Fast reading: Read the text on page 10 fast and try to get a general idea of Kwanzaa from the text. T can present a diagram of the information about Kwanzaa to help Ss to finish this task.
(Questionnaire: When is Kwanzaa celebrated? How long does it last?
Who created the festival of Kwanzaa? (Dr Maulana Karenga) Who usually celebrates Kwanzaa? Why is it celebrated? What are the characteristics of Kwanzaa?)
T )
4) The African first-fruit festivals are completely different from each other. ( F ) ( to have many things in common )
5) Kwanzaa is celebrated on Christmas Day. ( F ) ( from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 )
6) Kwanzaa is based on old African festivals. ( T )
7) People who celebrate Kwanzaa light a candle for each of the seven principles. ( T )
3. Dialogue.
Suppose you are the reporter of Overseas Wind Programme of Huipu Students’ Broadcasting. Now you are chosen to interview the foreign teacher John about the festival of Kwanzaa. Make up a dialogue with your partner. One acts the role of the reporter, and the other acts the role of John. The dialogue can begin like this:
Reporter (R): Good afternoon, everyone. Here is our Overseas Wind Programme. Today, we have a foreign guest in our progamme. He is our foreign teacher John. Hello, John.
John (J): Hello.
R: Welcome to our Overseas Wind Programme. Today we have a topic about the festival of Kwanzaa. So would you like to introduce Kwanzaa to us? …
J: …
Step 4 Discussion
Topic1: Do you agree festivals can help us understand our history and culture? How do they help us understand our history and culture?
Topic2: Nowadays more and more festivals have been created in my cities for various purposes, such as developing local economy, making the city well-known, etc. Our city Linhai created the Festival of the Great Wall in the South. It has been celebrated for three years. However, some Linhainese think holding such a festival causes some problems to the city. What effects does the Festival of the Great Wall in the South bring to us? Make a list
Good Effects Bad Effects
… …
Step 5 Homework
1. Oral Work: Read and recite the new words learnt in this class.
Read and recite some beautiful and useful sentences in the text.
2. Written Work: Suppose you are the journalist of Huipu Sunshine Magazine. You are going to write a passage about Kwanzaa.
Period 3 Language Study & Grammar
Step 1 Revision
Get Ss to have revision of the text The Birth of Kwanzaa. Ss are required to answer the following questions about Kwanzaa.
Q1: Who created Kwanzaa?
Q2: Is it a young or an old festival? When was it born?
Q3: When is Kwanzaa celebrated?
Q4: Who celebrate the festival of Kwanzaa?
Q5: Why is it celebrated?
Q6: What are the characteristics of Kwanzaa?
Then T can ask individual Ss to give a short talk about Kwanzaa according to the questions above.
Step 2 Language points (in the text The Birth of Kwanzaa)
T: Now we have a good knowledge of Kwanzaa by reading the text. And there are some useful and important words and expressions in the text as well. It is necessary for us to learn and master them well. What useful words and expressions have you found from the text?
1. Let Ss do a word matching exercise to check whether Ss master the new words well.
1. nation A. a strong wish to succeed in doing something
2. faith B. large community of people; country
3. determination C. belief in something or someone
4. purpose D. an action meant to deceive (欺骗) someone
5. generation E. a reason for
doing something
6. ancestor F. the people born at a certain time
7. peace G. a person in your family who lived a long time ago
8. trick H. quietness and calm
(suggested answers:1-B 2-C 3-A 4-E 5-F 6-G 7-H 8-D )
Then check answers to the exercises in Word Study on Page 13.
(suggested answers: theme, faith, purpose, nations, determination, joy, ancestors, birth, peace, treated)
2. Deal with the language points in the text. Get Ss to enjoy the text by listening to the tape. Ask Ss to read after the tape in low voice, and pay attention to the pronunciation, intonation and pause while listening.
1) Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival celebrating the culture and history of African Americans.(现在分词作后置定语,表示名词中心词与分词是主动关系。)
Kwanzaa is a seven-day festival created to celebrate the culture and history of African Americans.(过去分词作后置定语,表示名词中心词与分词是被动关系。)
e.g.那只跟着王老师进来的狗是我家的狗。
The dog following Mr. Wang into the room is my dog.
elieve in … 信仰,信任,赞成
e.g. We believe in his good character.
11) light v. (lighted/ lighted; lit/ lit)
Step 4 Grammar
1. Presentation : Present a sign “No Rubbish”
.
Ask Ss “What can you see in the sign?” “What does the sign tell us?” “Can we throw rubbish in this place?”“Where must we throw the rubbish?” “What should we do if we cannot find a dustbin at once?”
T presents the following two sentences on the screen.
①We mustn’t throw the rubbish in the place with a sign“No Rubbish”, and we must throw the rubbish into the dustbin.
②We have to keep the rubbish in hand or in a plastic bag until we find a dustbin, if we cannot find a dustbin at once.
2. Get Ss to compare the two sentences above and explain how to use the modal verbs“must” & “have to”.
must is often used when you think that it is necessary to do something. have to is often used when someone else thinks it is necessary or there seems to be no other choice.
must is used to talk about an obligation that depends on the person speaking or listening, while have to is generally used to talk about obligations that come from “outside”.
must——subjective have to ——objective
e.g. I must be back by ten every night.( I think it is necessary for me to be back by ten every night.)
I have to be back by ten every night. ( I don’t want to be back by ten every night, maybe my mother thinks it’s necessary.)
3. Tell Ss in informal English, “have got to” can be used instead of “have to”. e.g. It is getting late, I’m afraid I have got to (=have to) go.
4. Forms in tense & Negative form
forms in tense: must, must have to, had to
negative form:
must——must not(mustn’t)(=not be allowed=be forbidden)
have to —— do not have to (don’t have to)(=needn’t)
e.g. It is a secret, you mustn’t tell others.
It is none of your business, I don't have to tell you about this.
Step 5 Practice
1. Look at the following table of greeting manners. Decide which are necessary and which are not. Make sentences using must, have to or negative forms.
Greeting manners
get off the bike when you greet someone salute
bow kiss on the cheek
Step 6 Discussion
Ask Ss to have a discussion of Dos and Don'ts at school, using the modal verbs: must & have to
Dos Don’ts
We must keep the classroom clean. We mustn’t jump the queue in the dining
hall.
We have to wear school uniforms We don’t have to use credit card in the every day.
school store.
… …
Step 7 Homework
1. Make sentences with the following expressions: get together, in common, honour (v./n.), as well as, with/for the purpose of (doing) sth., have/lose faith in …
2. Finish off the grammar exercises in Workbook
3. Collect information about Earth Day, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, Day of the Dead, and April Fool’s Day.
Period 4 Speaking & Integrating Skills
Step 1 Lead in
In this unit, we have learnt a variety of festivals in the world, and as we know all of them celebrate different things, so their themes are quite different. What themes of the festivals do you know? ( peace, family, environment, nature, memory of great men, etc.)
Step 2 Reading (Integrating skills)
1. Get Ss to read the four festivals Earth Day, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, Day of the Dead, and April Fool’s Day, and try to get information about each one as much as possible.
2. Ask Ss following questions about each festival.
(Earth Day): When is Earth Day celebrated? What does it celebrate?
What does it tell us? What could we do to celebrate Earth Day?
(Martin Luther King, Jr Day): When is Martin Luther King, Jr Day celebrated? When did it become a national holiday? What is the theme of the 2002 holiday? What do you think “A Day On, Not A Day Off!” means? Martin Luther King, Jr Day is created in honour of Martin Luther King, are there any other great men or women whose memory should be celebrated? How would you celebrate the memory of them?
(Day of the Dead):Is it an old festival? What does it come from? What’s the theme of Day of the Dead? What do people do on that day? Why do so many festivals honour our ancestor?
(April Fool’s Day): What do people do on April Fool’s Day? Have you ever heard of an April Fool’s trick? What happened? What do we call the person who is taken in?
Step 3 Speaking
Suppose our country is going to create a new holiday, and there are four choices. They are Peace Day, Happiness Day, Friendship Day, and Nature Day. What Day of the four days do you think is the best one?
Fist, get Ss to discuss in pairs.
Then, ask individual Ss to report their decision using the following structures:
I think that the new holiday should be________. On this day, ________are allowed. People will __________. The holiday will be celebrated on _________and people will celebrate by______________. I think this is the best idea because___________.
Step 4 Tasks
Task 1: Design your new favourite holiday or festival and give reasons.
Report your new holiday or festival, using the following expressions:
In my opinion, we should… I believe we should…
I don’t think it is necessary to… We must decide…
I hope we can make a decision. If we do this, we can…
Task 2: Create your own festival. Get Ss to write a short description of their created festival according to the form below.
Name of the festival: ________________________________
Date: __________________________________________
Meaning: _________________________________________
Principles: __________________________________________
How is the festival celebrated? ___________________________
What is the symbol of the festival? _______________________
Step 5 Writing
T: Now you have created your new festival, you may want your friends to join the celebration of your new festival. So you should invite your friends to attend your celebration activity. Then how will you invite your friends? Here an invitation is needed.
Period 5 Exercise
Exercising and assessing.
Part 4 Post-unit Activities: Extended Tasks
Task 1: Collect information about festivals learnt in this unit and make notes if necessary.
Task 2: Reflection
T’s reflection: Have all the teaching aims been reached?
Have all the Ss learnt a lot in the lessons?
What can be improved? …
Ss’ reflection:
Self Assessment
Unit 14 Festivals
Class ________Name _________No _________Date __________
In this unit, you learnt about festivals and customs. How comfortable do you feel doing each of the skills below?
1=Not comfortable 2=Need more practice
3=comfortable 4=very comfortable
Skills comfortable level
Talk about festivals and customs 1 2 3 4
Practice expressing and supporting an opinion 1 2 3 4
Use the new words and expressions 1 2 3 4
Use modal verbs: must, have to and have got to 1 2 3 4
Create new festivals or holidays 1 2 3 4
Write an invitation 1 2 3 4
Reflection
How many festivals have been learnt in this unit? ___________________
What impressed me most in this unit? ____________________________
What points haven’t I understood yet? ____________________________
In what aspect do I need improvement? ___________________________
By Christine
Huipu High School
Feb. 1, 2004
New SBI unit 14 Festival