unit 14 festivals
step 1 lead-in
the birth of a festival
we have known many festivals, such as christmas, spring festival, mid-autumn day, and so on.
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?
festival
aspects 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 years 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 years eve, pay new years 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? ss:kwanzaa.
1.fast reading: read the text on page 10 fast and try to get a general idea of kwanzaa from the text.
what’s the topic sentence of the paragraph 1?
kwanzaa is a seven-day festival celebrating the culture and history of african americans.
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?)
step 4 careful reading:
get ss to read the text carefully to get more details. after reading, ss are asked to do true or false exercises. 优优作文网
1) african americans have a long history and a rich culture, so kwanzaa is an old festival. ( f ) (a young festival)
2) people created kwanzaa to celebrate american culture. ( f ) ( to celebrate african culture)
3) the word kwanzaa means first fruit in swahili, one of the largest languages in africa. ( 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 )
do you know any festivals for black people or african americans?
questions:
1what’s the name of the festival?
2when did the festival begin?
3what time do people celebrate it every year?
4what’s the meaning of the kwanzaa?and which language did the name come form?
5how many principle does kwanzaa have?
6.what things did the african first-fruit festivals have in common?
people would get together to celebrate their harvest,to give thanks for their harvests and for life, to honour their ancestors, celebrate their past, and the group or society they lived in.
step 5 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
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step 6. 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.
3. finish period 2 in winners
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