Unit 14 Festivals The First Period Jiang Xianyin

I Lead-in the new lesson. Part 1 1 Chinese festivals Which festival is the most important and greatest one to our Chinese people? And we also know that there are some other important festivals in our country. Can you tell me the names of them? Lantern Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day, the Mid- Autumn Day, May 1 st, National Day, Teachers ’ Day …

2 Foreign festivals: Listen to a song. What festival is it? Is it a foreign or Chinese festival? How much do you know about foreign festivals? Can you give some examples? Christmas Day; Thanksgiving Day; Mother ’ s Day; April Fools ’ Day; Valentine ’ s Day … Maybe there are some foreign festivals that you don ’ t know. Let ’ s look at Warming up.

II Warming up

Halloween Time: October 31; Place: America; How: Children who are wearing ghost costumes, masks and witches ’ hats go to knock at neighbors ’ doors and threaten them whether they treat them or not. Otherwise they will play tricks on them. Neighbors always take out peanuts, apples and snacks to treat children. Ghost costumes, masks and witches ’ hats are very popular on Halloween. They want to frighten away bogeys in the dark.

Yu Lan Festival

Time: from August 13 to August 16; Place: Japan How: People have a 3-day holiday. They went back to their hometown in honor of their past ancestors back home. It has some in common with our Tomb Sweeping Day.

The Day of the Dead

Time: Nov,1(the young); Nov,2(the old) People visit different kinds of skeleton decorations at a market in the Mexico City, Mexico on Monday. Mexicans celebrate this day, known as 'Day of the Dead,' to pay homage to their dead relatives, preparing meals and decorating the graves as an offering. This tradition is based in pre-Hispanic culture.

Part 2 We talked something about festivals. Now if we want to understand a festival, what should we know? 1) When is the festival celebrated? 2) Who celebrates the festival? 3) How do people celebrate it? 4) Why do people celebrate the festival? 5) What are some important themes, for example, ” family ”, “ peace ” ? 6) How old is the festival? Work in pairs. Compare a Chinese festival with one from another country.

One possible example: NameTomb Sweeping Day Halloween WhenAfter the vernal equinox(April 4- 6) October 31 WhoAll Chinese around the world Americans HowVisit their family graves, sweeping away dirty and setting off offerings of food and spirit money. Hold fancy balls,dressing up in all manner of ghoulish costumes WhyTo honor past ancestors; to celebrate the rebirth of nature To frighten away bogeys in the dark. ThemesFamily; nature Safety;religion How oldFrom the Spring and Autumn Period From the 1840 ’ s

II Listening