festivals around the world

Book 3 Unit 1Festivals around the worldPeriod 1 Warming up and readingTeaching goals1.To get the students to talk about festivals2.To learn about how festivals begin and how to celebrate festivals so as to enable them to learnmore about different cultures while learning different language3.To develop the students’ reading skills : skimming, scanning, summarizing, and finding outdetails.4.To arouse the students’ interest in festivals, cultures, especially those in China，thus promotetheir culture awareness.Important pointsprehension of the reading part.2.Knowledge accumulation of festivals and cultures.eful words and expressions concerning festivals.Teaching aidsA computer, a projector, courseware, a tape-recorderTeaching procedures1. Lead-in1)Greetings: T: Good morning, girls and boys. Happy New Year.Ss: Good morning. Happy New Year.2)Talk about winter vacation:T: Did you have fun/enjoy yourselves in the winter vacation? What did you do? Who’d like to tell us something about your winter vacation? Let’s share.S1, S2, …T: well, girls and boys, most of us seem to be happy during the winter vacation, old or young. The whole country was filled with joy and excitement. Can you tell me why?Ss: Because of the Spring Festival.2. Warming-up1) Show some pictures about the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival. Ask them to talk about what they did during the two festivals.T: Did you have fun during the Spring Festival/ the Lantern Festival? What do people do? What do people eat? What does it celebrate?2) Show some more pictures of festivals, ask students to guess what festivals they are.T: Look at the pictures, can you tell us which festival is it about? When does it take place? What do they celebrate? What do people do? Discuss with your partners.The Dragon-boat Festival, Mid-autumn Day, and the Double Ninth Festival.3)Well-done. In fact, there are plenty of festivals throughout the world, and different festivals3. Reading1) Fast readingT: Got it. You seem to know many festivals of China. But do you other festivals in different countries and how these festivals began? What do people do to celebrate? Luckily, the passage provides you much information. Read the passage quickly and find out the festivals mentioned here:Festivals of the Dead; Festivals to Honour People; Harvest Festivals; Spring Festivals2) Now, let’s get to know more about these festivals, listen to the tape and find out the informationParagraph 1:*When did ancient people celebrate?•at the end of winter•When good weather returned• a good harvest•animals caught•When they wanted a year of plenty*What about festivals now?have many origins, some religious, some seasonal, and some for special people or events…*Are there any similar festivals in China? What to do? What to eat?The Qing Ming FestivalAny other festivals which are meant to honour people in China? Who is honoured?Tree-planting Day -------Sun ZhongshanParagraph 4: Harvest Festivals1) Why are autumn festivals happy events?Because people are grateful and happy and a season of agricultural work is over.2) What do people do to celebrate it?In European countries, it is the custom to decorate churches and town halls with flowers and fruit; get together to have meals, win awards for their farm produce; admire the moon, enjoy mooncakes.Paragraph 6: What are the purposes of festivals?Festivals: To have fun with each other / To let us enjoy life / To be proud of our customs/ To forget our daily life for a little while / To honour the dead / To honour famous people / To celebrate harvest/To welcome a new year and look forward to the future / To ask people to pay attention to something4)Well-done. Since you have got to know the information related to these festivals, I’d like youto have a quiz to check whether you have fully understood the text. Use the information from the reading passage to answer the following questions.Suggested answers to exercise 2:(1). Festivals of the Dead are for honouring or satisfying dead ancestors or others, who somepeople believe might return to help or harm living people.(2). Autumn festivals are happy events because people are thankful that food it ready for winterand the hard farm work is finished.(3). At spring festivals, people usually have dances, carnivals and other activities to celebrate theend of winter and the coming of spring.(4). It is important to have festivals and celebrations so we can enjoy life/ be proud of our customs/ for get our work for a little while.(5). The Chinese, Japanese and Mexican festivals of the dead all have customs to honour the dead.The Chinese and Japanese go to clean their ancestors’ graves, and the Mexicans offer food, flowers and gifts to the dead. However, there are some differences. The Mexicans eat special food that looks like bones, something the Chinese and Japanese do not do..4. Pair workBased on the reading passage, what do most festivals seem to have in common? Why do you think these things might be important to people everywhere? Talk with your partner and fill in the chartThree common things might be from the following: food, music, entertainment, being with family and friends, dance, lights or fires, remembering events or peopleReasons why they are important to people everywhere will vary.5. Group workDiscuss in pairs which festivals you think are the most important and which are the most fun.Most funAnswers will vary.6. Homework1)Find out useful words and expressions, beautiful sentences and finish the exercises inLearning about Language accordingly.。