LESSON PLAN

Holidays and celebrations

SUBJECT: English
GRADE: Eleventh
STANDARDS AND DBA:

Recognizes general and specific information in written and oral opinion texts and discussions on familiar topics
Understand and answer to instructions non-verbally
Writes narrative, descriptive and explanatory texts related to topics of interest or that are familiar to him/her
DATE TOPIC ACTIVITIES RESOURCES ASSESSMENT

April Introduction or motivation Texts Reading and writing

Books Creativity
Read the text about “A great summer
How to vacation on Christmas” and then Pictures Responsibility
express answer the questions
opinion Organization
Expressing opinion Presentation
Holidays and
celebrations What do you think about holidays and
celebrations around the world?
Analysis texts
Read the text about celebrations
around the world and then answer the
following questions.

 What holidays from around the world

does your family celebrate, and what
are your family’s unique traditions?

Read the text about Halloween and

answer the questions, then write a
composition about this subject
 Make a description about the typical
celebrations of your city. Use pictures to
illustrate each celebration

Final job

Make a little book about holidays or

celebrations around the world. Use a
pictures and make a short description
about each celebration
First text
A GREAT SUMMER VACATION ON CHRISTMAS
I just returned from the greatest summer vacation! It was so fantastic, I never wanted it to end. I spent eight days in Paris, France. My best friends, Henry
and Steve, went with me. We had a beautiful hotel room in the Latin Quarter, and it wasn’t even expensive. We had a balcony with a wonderful view.

We visited many famous tourist places. My favorite was the Louvre, a well-known museum. I was always interested in art, so that was a special treat for
me. The museum is so huge, you could spend weeks there. Henry got tired walking around the museum and said “Enough! I need to take a break and
rest.”

We took lots of breaks and sat in cafes along the river Seine. The French food we ate was delicious. The wines were tasty, too. Steve’s favorite part of the
vacation was the hotel breakfast. He said he would be happy if he could eat croissants like those forever. We had so much fun that we’re already talking
about our next vacation!

What city did they go to for their summer vacation?

1 Paris 2 Lyon

3 Louvre 4 Latin

How long was the summer vacation?

1 Two weeks 2 Eight weeks

3 Eight days 4 One week

What did their hotel room have?

1 A view of the metro 2 A balcony

3 A bottle of wine 4 A refrigerator

Who got tired walking in the Louvre museum?

1 Seine 2 Henry

3 Harry 4 Steve

What did Steve enjoy the most?

1 The hotel breakfast and the croissants 2 The wine and the food

3 The cafes along the river Seine 4 The Latin Quarter and the balcony

Second text
HOLIDAYS AROUND THE WORLD
Holidays and celebrations are some of the best times to gather with family to create lifelong memories, and families around the world cherish many
traditions together. Here are a few traditional holidays around the world you may not have heard of.

1. Christmas in Finland—A Time of Remembrance

On Christmas Eve in Finland, families place a single lit candle in the snow next to the graves of their loved ones. The candles are a symbol of resurrection
and a reminder that ancestors will live again. In this way, Christmas in Finland is a family-centered holiday. It is a time of remembrance and peace.
2. The Diwali Festival of Lights—The Triumph of Good over Evil

The Diwali Festival of Lights is a five-day festival celebrated in autumn by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains worldwide. Although the holiday is celebrated around
the world, it holds a different meaning and significance for each of the regions and religions that practice it. For some, it is a celebration of the return of
Lord Rama after his exile. Others relate the holiday to the goddess of prosperity and wealth, Lakshmi, and still others celebrate the triumph of Lord Vishnu
over the demon king Bali.

Despite the differences, there is one common symbolism to the holiday—Diwali symbolizes the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. Families
celebrate by illuminating their homes using clay or oil lamps and creating intricate designs made from rice or flour in front of doorways or shrines.
3. Eid Al-Fitr—The End of a 30-Day Fast

Eid Al-Fitr, meaning “Festival of Breaking the Fast,” is a three-day celebration observed by Muslims worldwide. With Eid Al-Fitr, Muslims celebrate the
end of Ramadan, a 30-day dawn-to-sunset fast. On the first day of Eid Al-Fitr, the community gathers for prayer and a sermon. After this gathering, families
and friends join together for breakfast, the first meal in a month eaten during the daylight. People give gifts to children, donate to charities, visit family,
and honor their ancestors at cemeteries.
4. Festa Junina—A Summer Harvest

Festa Junina is celebrated in Brazil on June 24 to mark the end of the summer and the beginning of the harvest season. It originated as a Catholic holiday
and celebrates three Catholic saints: Saint Anthony, Saint John, and Saint Peter.

Families celebrate Festa Junina by dressing in rural, harvest-themed clothes and building bonfires in the street in front of their homes. As June is a colder
month, the bonfires help establish a warm area for the community to gather. In Brazil, most corn is harvested in June; because of this harvest, much of
the food eaten during Festa Junina is made with corn.
5. Maslenitsa—The End of a Harsh Winter

Maslenitsa is a Slavic holiday that is celebrated right before the Great Lent in March. Also called Pancake Week, Maslenitsa is a weeklong holiday in which
the Russian people eat blinis, thin pancakes covered in toppings that can range from sweet to savory.

Blinis represent the sun with their circular shape and warmth and usher in a welcome end to winter. The week of Maslenitsa also includes snowball fights,
family gatherings, and community events. At the end of the week, it is traditional to burn a straw effigy, “Lady Maslenitsa,” that represents the winter
season.
6. St. Nicholas Eve—Sinterklaas’s Birthday

On December 5, the eve of Saint Nicholas Day, Dutch children are told that Sinterklaas comes to Holland all the way from Spain to deliver toys. Sinterklaas,
according to tradition, leaves his steamboat at a port and rides through the town on a white horse. His helpers, all called Piet, help him deliver presents
to the children who have been good. Naughty children, by contrast, are said to be taken to Spain for a year to learn to be nice.

St. Nicholas Eve and Christmas are separate holidays in Holland. Christmas Day, known as Eerste Kerstdag, is a more reverent and family-centered holiday,
with family meals, church services, and Christmas stories.
7. Tu B’shevat—Celebrating Mother Nature

Tu B’shevat is a tradition celebrated by Jews on the 15th day of the month of Shevat (January or February, depending on the Hebrew calendar). Its purpose
is to celebrate the end of the rainy season and to emphasize the responsibility to care for and nurture the earth. People plant trees, eat fruit, and celebrate
the beauty and magnificence of our planet.
8. Qingming Festival—Honoring the Past and Celebrating the Future

China’s Qingming festival is a time for families to honor their ancestors and celebrate the beginning of spring. The holiday is also called “Tomb Sweeping
day” or “Pure Brightness”—the literal English translation—and usually falls between April 4 and 6.

As the name suggests, the Qingming festival is a time for families to show reverence for their ancestors by visiting, cleaning, and repairing their ancestors’
tombs; sometimes, families also leave wreaths or food offerings in front of the tombs.

Qingming is also a celebration of rebirth and the beginning of spring. During Qingming, people often fly kites or colored lanterns, participate in sports, or
simply spend time outside to enjoy the new greenery and blossoms of spring.
The holidays we celebrate and traditions we practice are a significant part of what binds our families and cultures.

The FamilySearch Memories App can help you record your family traditions as you are celebrating. Create a deeper bond with your past, present, and
future family by preserving your family traditions from holidays around the world.

Third text

HALLOWEEN
Halloween (also referred to as All Hollows' Eve) is a holiday that's celebrated in America on 31 October of each year, regardless of what day of the week
this date falls on. Although it is rooted in religion, Halloween today is enjoyed mainly because of its decorations, costumes, candy, treats, and general
excitement, and furthermore, it is enjoyed by most everyone.

Before Halloween, many individuals carve a design into an orange-colored pumpkin, or a solid, durable vegetable. Once a personally satisfying design is
carved, a lit candle is typically put inside a pumpkin, thereby making it a Jack-O-Lantern. At night, this design lights up against the darkness.

Besides carving pumpkins, some celebrate Halloween by putting decorations up. Supernatural (referring in this case to non-natural creatures that're
typically based in fiction) figures, including vampires, ghosts, werewolves, zombies, and more, generally account for most of these decorations. Bugs,
spiders, cobwebs, gravestones, and anything else that can be considered creepy (or unusual and possibly scary) can also be found on Halloween, in
decoration form.

Only some adults celebrate Halloween, and they generally do so by attending parties. Inversely, the vast majority of children dress in costume
(Halloween costumes can be based upon anything, from the mentioned supernatural creatures to the stars of today's films) and walk from door to door
in search of candy—a practice known as trick or treat—on Halloween. After knocking on a door (houses that participate in Halloween usually leave a
light on), one says, "Trick or Treat" and a piece (or pieces!) of candy is given to him or her.

When does Halloween take place?

1 14 February 2 Eight weeks before Christmas

3 31 October 4 25 December

What day of the week does Halloween fall on?

1 Halloween is always on Friday 2 Halloween's day of the week varies by year

3 Halloween is always on Saturday 4 Halloween is always on Monday

 How do most children celebrate Halloween?

1 By hanging ornaments on a Christmas tree 2 By studying schoolwork

3 By dressing in costume and trick-or-treating 4 By producing candies

One can expect to see all of the following types of decorations on Halloween except:

1 Spiders and other bugs 2 Vampires

3 Snowflakes and ribbons 4 Gravestones and zombies

Some adults celebrate Halloween in which of the following ways?

1 Trick-or-treating 2 Buying Christmas gifts

3 Attending Halloween parties 4 Going to bed early