New Year’s Celebration

Objectives to develop reading skills to develop listening and speaking skills to develop group interaction skills to develop creative thinking to develop students’ cognition to stimulate students’ interest in the subject

Santa Quiz What color is Santa’s suit? Is Santa married? Does he have any children? Where does he live? Who makes all the toys? How does Santa know the children’s wishes? When does Santa give the children presents? How does Santa travel around the world? How many reindeer pull the sleigh? Who is the leader of the reindeer? What’s special about him? What are three things families put on the table for Santa? How does Santa enter the house? Where does Santa put the presents? Where does Santa park his sleigh? What does Santa say when he laughs? What does Santa give to bad boys and girls? What happens if children see Santa in the house?

Answers Red and white. Yes, he is. No, he doesn’t. North Pole. Elves. They write letters. Christmas Eve. By sleigh (it flies). Nine. Rudolph. He has a red nose. Cookies, milk and carrots. Down the chimney. Under the Christmas tree or into the stocking. On the roof. Ho, Ho, Ho. Coal in their stockings. They receive no presents.

New Year’s celebration around the world Read the descriptions about New Year’s celebration around the world. Can you work out which countries they are about? Look at list to help you. In _________ people gather in Times Square to watch a huge crystal ball descend from the top of a tall building as midnight approaches. At the final moment, people cheer and hug and kiss each other. In _________ people gather in Trafalgar square and listen to the chimes of a huge clock called Big Ben to mark the start of the New Year. Then they cheer and sing a traditional song: Auld Lang Syne. In _________ friends visit each others’ houses in the early hours of the new year, bringing with them some bread, some whisky and a lump of coal for good luck. This custom is called “first-footing”. In _________ people decorate the doors of their houses with pine branches and bamboo which symbolize long life and wealth. In_________ the New Year will start on January 24th. Loud drums and gongs are played to scare off the evil spirits of the old year. At the end of the day, friends and relatives have dinner together.

In _________ families stay up till midnight to eat a special kind of dumpling. The dumplings are boiled and served just after midnight. A coin is hidden in one of the dumplings. The person who finds or bites the coin will be the luckiest one in the New Year. In _________ New Year’s Day is also the festival of Saint Basil. Saint Basil was famous for his kindness, and Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year’s Day in the hope that he will come and fill the shoes with gifts. In _________ New Year’s Eve is called “Sylvester” and is named after a pope from the 4th century. People dress up in their best clothes and visit each others’ houses to drink a toast to the New Year. In _________ when the clock strikes midnight, it is the custom to eat 12 grapes, one with every chime, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead. In _________ families make a doll representing the old year. It’s made out of bits of old clothing from each family member and stuffed with straw and firecrackers. On a piece of paper every family member writes a fault or a bit of bad luck that they want to get rid of. At midnight the doll is set on fire and burns until nothing but ashes is left. Choose from these countries: Spain, China, Korea, Colombia, London (England), Scotland, New York (the USA), Greece, Germany, Japan.

Answers In New York (the USA) people gather in Times Square to watch a huge crystal ball descend from the top of a tall building as midnight approaches. At the final moment, people cheer and hug and kiss each other. In London (England) people gather in Trafalgar square and listen to the chimes of a huge clock called Big Ben to mark the start of the New Year. Then they cheer and sing a traditional song: Auld Lang Syne. In Scotland friends visit each others’ houses in the early hours of the new year, bringing with them some bread, some whisky and a lump of coal for good luck. This custom is called “first-footing”. In Japan people decorate the doors of their houses with pine branches and bamboo which symbolize long life and wealth. In Korea the New Year will start on January 24th. Loud drums and gongs are played to scare off the evil spirits of the old year. At the end of the day, friends and relatives have dinner together.

In China families stay up till midnight to eat a special kind of dumpling. The dumplings are boiled and served just after midnight. A coin is hidden in one of the dumplings. The person who finds or bites the coin will be the luckiest one in the New Year. In Greece New Year’s Day is also the festival of Saint Basil. Saint Basil was famous for his kindness, and Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year’s Day in the hope that he will come and fill the shoes with gifts. In Germany New Year’s Eve is called “Sylvester” and is named after a pope from the 4th century. People dress up in their best clothes and visit each others’ houses to drink a toast to the New Year. In Spain when the clock strikes midnight, it is the custom to eat 12 grapes, one with every chime, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead. In Colombia families make a doll representing the old year. It’s made out of bits of old clothing from each family member and stuffed with straw and firecrackers. On a piece of paper every family member writes a fault or a bit of bad luck that they want to get rid of. At midnight the doll is set on fire and burns until nothing but ashes is left.

Discussion Group One thinks it is better to have a quiet family holiday. A traditional way, the nearest and dearest people, to be at ease, to watch TV, to quit when you feel like it, etc. Group Two prefers celebrating at somebody’s place without parents. To be among friends, to prepare everything yourselves, to play loud music, noisy games, to stay up till morning, different competitions. Group Three chooses to go to a disco, a café or a club. Specialists take care of everything: food, music, decorations. To meet different people, make friends, interesting show, no cleaning and washing up, etc.

ABBAHappy New Year Fill in the gaps with prepositions and conjunctions. Verse I. No more champagne _____ the fireworks are through Here we are, me ____ you Feeling lost ____feeling blue It’s the end ____ the party ____ the morning seems so grey So, until yesterday Now’s the time ___ us to say Separate the words in refrain to make the lines readable. HappyNewYear Mayweallhaveavisionnowandthen Ofaworldwhereeveryneighborisafriend HappyNewYear Mayweallhaveourhopesourwilltotry Ifwedontwemightaswelllaydownanddie YouandI

Only the first words of the lines are put in the right order. Put the rest of the words in each line in the right order so that they could make sense. Verse2 Sometimes see/ I How new/ arrives / world / the / brave And how / I / it / see / thrives / In of/ lives / the / ashes / our Oh is / yes /man / fool /a And be / he / okay / thinks / he’ll / Dragging of / on / feet / clay / Never he’s / astray / knowing / Keeps on going anyway Refrain Read verse 3 of the song and choose and circle the right variant from given on the right. Verse 3 ____ to me now seems / seemed / seem / That the dreams we ______ before have / had / have had / ____ all dead nothing more is / are / were / Than confetti ____ the floor in / at / on / _____ the end of a decade it’s / it was / they are / In another ten years _____ time / period / gap / Who can ____ what we’ll find said / say/ to say / What _____ waiting down the line lay / laid / lies / In the end of eighty-nine

Home task Everybody will get a question card. Please think of an answer and write it in your exercise-books. Try to make your answer original. If it is difficult for you to use conditionals, you can use Future Simple tense (I will…). For higher-ability students: What would you do? What wouldn’t you do? Everyone’s at the table for Christmas dinner. It looks delicious. No one moves. What would you do? You are walking home wearing a Santa suit. On the way a strange man says: “Give me some money!” What would you do? One of your Christmas presents seems to be moving. What would you do? Someone puts a small present on your desk. There’s no name. What would you do?