Unit14Festivals

Unit 14 Festivals

Type of lesson: New Lesson

Teaching aims:

(1) Learn to use functional sentences, key structures, and

words.

(2) To know something about the festivals of different

countries and try to express their ideas about them by listening,

speaking, reading and writing.

Teaching contents:

1. Topic: Festivals.

Talking about festivals and customs.

2. Functional Sentences: Expressing and supporting an

opinion.

(1) In my opinion, we should….

(2) I believe we should…

(3) I don’t think it’s necessary to…

(4) We must decide…

(5) I hope we can make a decision…

(6) If we do this, we can…

(7) I think that…should…

3. Vocabulary:

(1) Words: theme parade holy Easter symbol conflict

argument opinion major probably honour ancestor principle

nation purpose creativity faith commercial joy light similar

generation salute kiss cheek nod celebration respect gift cycle

fool invitation.

(2) Phrases: dress up in one’s opinion play a trick on sb. take

in

4. Grammar: modal words--- must, have to and have got to Period 1 Warming up and listening

Teaching aims:

1. To get students to know something about festivals,

customs and habits.

2. To train students listening ability for catching specific

information.

Teaching aids: multimedia, recorder, and tape.

Teaching procedures:

Step1 Pre-task (Warming up)

Look at the pictures of these festivals on page 8 and answer

the questions:

(1) Do you know the Chinese names of the festivals?

(2) Do you know which countries the festivals come from?

(3) What are the people in the pictures doing? Why are they

doing this?

If students can answer these questions, that’s OK. If not, ask

the students to read the following description and match.

On October 31st westerners celebrate Halloween which

children like best, because they can enjoy themselves on that day.

When night comes, they wear all kinds of strange costumes and

masks as bad men, witches, ghosts or goblins, then they ask for

candies from door to door, shouting: “Treat or Trick? Happy

Halloween…”

The Day of the Dead is an ancient festival celebrated in

Mexico. The festival honors both the living and the dead. On this

day, people light candles for prayers to the dead and give sugar

skeletons to each other as gifts. It is not a sad day, but rather a

time to celebrate the cycle of life.

Obon is an ancient festival celebrated in Japan. The Japanese

float paper lanterns in memory of the dead. Step2 While task (Listening comprehension)

(1) Before listening, ask the students to have a competition

to match the festivals with the given information.

1. Mardi Gras A. It’s much like Halloween in the US.

2. Ramadan B. People celebrating the festival will not eat or

smoke.

3. Easter C. The name of the festival is “Fat Tuesday”.

(2) Martin Gras

1. Go through the three items with the students and make

sure what to listen before the teacher plays the tape.

2. Play the tape for 3-4 times and finish the multiple choice.

3. Let students check their answers in pairs and then with the

whole class.

(3) The teaching procedure of Ramadan and Easter: the same

as Martin Gras

Step3 Post task (Comparative study of Chinese and foreign

festivals)

1. Show some pictures about the Chinese festivals to the

students and have them try to identify the festival. Whether they

can identify the festival or not, ask them to read the short

description in English and share it with class.

(1) The Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is celebrated on the 30th day of the 12th

lunar month. It’s an ancient Chinese festival and it is the most

important one for Chinese. On that day, people will get together

to have a reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve no matter

how far he is. And children often get new clothes and money

from their parents or relatives

(2) The Dragon Boat Festival

Chinese celebrate the memory of a great poet Qu Yuan on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month. On this day, the people eat

some pyramid-shaped dumplings which are made of glutinous

rice wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves and they often have a

dragon boat race and throw some pyramid-shaped dumplings

into the Yangzi River so that the fish or animals in it wouldn’t

eat Qu Yuan.

2. Brainstorm: How many foreign and Chinese festivals do

you know through today’s study? Can you compare them in

details? Please work in pairs and compare a Chinese festival with

one from another country.

A Chinese festival A foreign festival

The name of the festival

When is the festival celebrated?

Who celebrates the festival?

How do people celebrate it?

Why do people celebrate it?

What are some important themes, for example “family”

and “peace”?

How old is the festival?