Day 37

Holla,

have u ever been to festivals? they r an essential part of social life for teenagers!

Introduction

This is an integrated skills lesson, in which students will discuss festivals in their countries/ their favourite festivals. They will then work in groups of 3-4 to read and complete comprehension questions on different texts describing the reasons behind and the customs practised in four different festivals from different parts of the world. They will then share the information about their festival and discuss which one they would like to attend and why. Finally they will work together to invent and describe an imaginary festival to celebrate a calendar event such as the middle of winter, the first day of autumn, etc.

1. Warmer 

Show some pictures of festivals. Pictures of the ones described in the texts can be found at the following websites. http://www.cheese-rolling.co.uk/index1.htm https://ourc.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/maypole_dance.jpg http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/abruzzo/cocullo/travel-tips-and-articles/77158 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_diving http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheung_Chau_Bun_Festival

2. Vocabulary brainstorm 

• Begin a mind map on the board and brainstorm with the students: 

• What words do they know or what words can you introduce in the following categories? As a minimum, introduce the following words, which occur in the texts: 

• What: (festival, celebration plus collocations: hold a festival, celebrate something) 

• What happens: (procession, fireworks, music, musicians, band dance, dancers, decorate, wear costumes)

3. Lead-in 

• Put students in groups of 3-4. 

• Ask them to discuss the question: 

• What is your favourite festival? How does your family celebrate it? 

4. Jigsaw Reading 

• Put learners in groups of 3-4. 

• Give each learner in the groups a different text A, B, C. 

• Get them to find the meanings of the particular vocabulary in their text, using a dictionary. 

• They should then work individually to complete the table for their text. 

• Then get them to share their information, using the table they have completed, and to complete the table for all texts. 

• Ask them to discuss which festival they would like to see most and why.

5. Follow Up Task 

• Ask each group to invent a festival for a specific calendar event, using the table to structure their discussion. When they have completed the table, they should write a short description of their festival. You can display these around the classroom, or put them on Pinterest and ask students which festivals they would like to attend.

Text A 

The Snake Festival 

1. Find the meaning of the following words: snake statue 

2. Then read the text and fill in the table below. 

Every year on the first Thursday in May the small village of Cocullo in Italy sees thousands of visitors. They are all arriving to see the annual Snake Festival. The festival is held on Saint Dominic’s Day. St Dominic lived in the town in the 11th century. At that time there were many snakes in the village and many people died of snakebite. Saint Domenic got rid of the snakes and the people of Cocullo hold this festival every year to remember him. For some weeks before the festival, people collect snakes and then, on St Dominic’s Day, they put all the snakes on a statue of St Dominic. At midday they carry the statue and the snakes in a procession through the village. At the front of the procession is a band playing music and at the back are women in costume who give sweets and bread shaped like snakes to the people who are watching. At the end of the procession there are fireworks.

Text B 

The Land Diving Festival 

1. Find the meaning of the following words: tower, vines, harvest, bungy jumping 

2. Then read the text and fill in the table below. 

Pentecost Island in Vanuatu is famous for the Land Diving Festival, which takes place every Saturday in May. This festival celebrates the harvest, but there is an old story which says that it began when a woman had an argument with her husband and ran off into the forest. He followed her and she climbed a tree to get away. He climbed the tree after her and she jumped down. He jumped after her and was injured. She was unhurt because she had tied a vine to her ankle which stopped her hitting the ground. Now the men of the island hold this festival every year. They build a wooden tower, 20 to 30 metres high. They climb the tower and tie vines to their ankles. Then they jump off the tower. The people below sing and dance to encourage them. The islanders believe that the higher you jump, the better the harvest will be. In the 1980’s the New Zealander AJ Hackett developed the modern sport of bungy jumping, based on this festival.

Text C 

The Hong Kong Bun Festival 

1. Find the meaning of the following words: pirate, drive away, bun, tower 

2. Then read the text and fill in the table below. 

This festival is held on the island on Cheung Chau in Hong Kong in early May every year, around the time of Buddha’s birthday. The festival celebrates the god Pak Tai, who drove pirates and illness away from the island. In the festival, the islanders pray for safety from pirates and illness. The festival lasts for seven days. For three of those days everyone on the island is vegetarian. There is a procession through the village with lion dances, dragon dances and musicians. In the procession children in colourful costumes are carried high above people’s heads. The islanders make three 20-metre high bamboo towers and cover these with buns. At midnight on the last day people light fires and then climb the towers to get the buns. They wear bags on their backs to collect the buns and when they come down from the towers, they give them to everyone who is watching. Then everyone celebrates with fireworks.