Festivals and
Celebrations
The
stories of festivals around the world are rich and varied since all human
groups have own traditional notions of time and own celebrations. Festivals
often mark the cycles of time, the changing of seasons and represent, for this
reason, what man has found important throughout his life. As matter of facts, celebrating
holidays of major importance and understanding why man celebrates, can foster
positive multicultural interactions and understandings among students.
There
are two basic themes in all festivals: they are expressions of joy and they are
shared experiences. This time of joy is meant to be celebrated in harmony with
the larger community. As a consequence, studying the various holidays
around the world can be enlightening for student : sharing celebrations of
other peoples can enrich our lives and help us to understand our own beliefs
better.
To stimulate
learning and to promote appreciation of the many customs and festivals of
differing cultures, this module will focus on different resources such as:
culture boxes, films and slides, documentaries, magazines, newspapers,
international cookbooks, international dinners, international music, folktales,
fables, and field trips.
The module I’ve planned, addressed to a Foreign
Language class in the third year of Scuola Media, is focused on the
accomplishment of a multicultural calendar of festivals and celebrations,
provided with background information, on several spring and autumn festivals
around Europe and specifically on
Italian folk traditions.
The calendar can be used as a resource around
which to plan activities such as comparative studies of time concepts among
various peoples such as the wide use of lunar and solar calendars, and
recognition of the customs of celebrations within nationality groups. Through
the calendar students can gain a broader understanding and become more aware of
the events and time structures that shape the lives of other peoples. This
consciousness-raising can be accomplished through the study of a variety of
multicultural areas including: family life and roles, foods, religion, leisure,
folk crafts, history and mythology, science, art.
This module is not intended to be a comprehensive
program, but rather a supplement to many other activities in the classroom to
be realized and used by educators of all disciplines (Italian culture, History,
Geography, Science, Religion, Art, Music, Technical education) in order to help
students develop a sensitivity to and understanding of other ethnic cultures as
well as an effort to make children become more responsive to the human
condition, individual cultural integrity, and cultural pluralism in society.
The background information is written so that it can be read to students if the
teacher chooses.
Old Traditions, old Roots: Autumn and Spring
The origins of festivals are ancient. Pagan
celebrations, Judaic and Christian traditions, and history give us the reasons
why we celebrate certain days. Clearly the first festivals originated in
response to seasonal changes. Human survival was dependent on the pattern of
the seasons, from spring to winter, from seedtime to harvest. The early
festivals originated in celebration of these natural wonders. They give us an
insight as to how early man saw life, the world, and the heavens.
Historically people who have lived close to the soil
have celebrated autumn as a season for rejoicing in their harvest rewards.
Looking at the calendar, from September through November, one can see that
Harvest festivals are held in many cultures. While the customs vary, there are
some common themes. It is a busy time when people are united through long hours
to harvest the crops that they have nurtured since spring. After the long hard
work has been finished, they celebrate the successful completion of their work
and the results of their labour. Harvest dances, accompanied by feasting and
drinking, are celebrated around the world. This is also a time of thanksgiving
in which people of the community gather together to offer thanks to the gods
they worship. Some of the customs of the autumn season originated in the fears
of people long ago whose livelihoods were subject to the unpredictable forces
of nature. People thought that their crops would be harmed if the gods were
angry with them, so they offered sacrifices of various kinds to avoid offence.
Once the crops were harvested and stored for the winter, people still feared
that something bad might happen to the crops. Evil, destructive spirits, bad
witches, goblins, demons, the souls of the dead were thought to roam the
countryside at this time of the year. Fire, ceremonies, and chants were used to
scare away the evil spirits. Although Halloween no longer has this meaning, it
originated in these fears of earlier peoples.
Whenever spring comes, people react as if it was a
holiday. Everyone is happy that the cold and dreary winter is over. Spring
festivals are joyous occasions in celebration of the rebirth of nature. This
time of rebirth has also been regarded as the beginning of the New Year. The
earliest calendars were lists of festivals celebrating the natural changes of
seasons. According to this natural cycle of events, the year began with Spring.
As with many holidays, spring festivals were
originally celebrated as fertility rites. Earlier man’s society was
agricultural and survival was dependent on fertility. Spring rituals were taken
very seriously. If not, the people feared that the sun would not warm the earth
and the plants would not grow.
Great changes in these ancient spring rites and
ceremonies took place with the advent of Christianity. The church abolished all
pagan rites and ceremonies. Even though the form of many of these rituals
changed, the people would not give them up. For most of man’s history, these
rites had been a way of life. Consequently, the church had to adapt Christian
festivals to fit the pagan rites and beliefs. Many of our religious festivals
today have their roots in the rites and ceremonies of the distant past. Today,
spring celebrations include water and fire festivals, feasts and pageants
complete with traditional foods, costumes, and music.
Spring and Autumn Festivals Around the World
SCHOOL: Scuola
Media
CLASS: 3rd Year
LANGUAGE LEVEL: A1- Basic user
MODULE NUMBER: 3rd
SUBJECTS INVOLVED: Italian
culture, History, Mythology, Geography, Science, Religion, Art, Music,
Technical Education
TIMING: 20 hours
TITLE OF THE TEACHING UNITS:
Unit 1: The origins of Festivals and Celebrations: Spring and Autumn
Unit 2: Different people and different traditions
Unit 3: A multicultural calendar
Unit 4: Let’s celebrate together
PRE-REQUISITES
GRAMMAR
-
use and position of
adjectives
-
wh questions
-
plurals
-
demonstratives
-
possessive adjectives
-
negative and interrogative
forms
-
prepositions
-
Simple present
-
Simple past (Regular and
Irregular)
-
Present perfect
VOCABULARY
-
vocabulary related to
seasons, harvest, seedtime
-
vocabulary related to
celebrations
-
vocabulary related to
natural cycles (lunar/solar calendar)
-
vocabulary related to
places, customs, habits
FUNCTIONS
-
to ask and answer
comprehension questions
-
to listen to recorded
stories
-
to discuss about familiar
topics
-
to describe places,
situations and events in a simple way
-
to talk about the
features, habits and values of their
own culture
-
to express likes and dislikes
-
to talk about the
features, habits and values of a certain culture
COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES
-
Can find specific
information in simple everyday material such as culture
capsules, magazines and
newspapers, fables, recipes
-
Can understand enough in
order to be able to meet needs of a concrete type
related to areas of immediate priority such as
personal and family information, local geography, etc.
-
Can identify the main
points of short recorded messages, films and slides, documentaries, songs
-
Can handle short social exchanges on topics of interests
-
Can ask for and provide
factual information
-
Can ask and answer
questions about habits, routines, pastimes and past activities
-
Can write brief and simple
texts relating to matters of immediate
need
-
Can give simple
description or presentation of people and places, living conditions, like and
dislikes, events , etc.
OBJECTIVES
GRAMMAR KNOWLEDGE and USE
-
Prepositions of place,
time and movement
-
Consolidation of question
words such as When?, How?, Why?
-
Consolidation of the
Simple present, Simple past (Regular and Irregular), Present perfect
-
Linkers: but, however, or,
therefore, so, furthermore, etc.
-
Frequency adverbs
VOCABULARY
KNOWLEDGE and USE
-
Words and expressions used
when talking about people
-
Adjectives used for
expressing opinion
-
Words and expressions used
when talking about family life and roles, foods,
religion, leisure, folk crafts, history and mythology
FUNCTIONS
-
Asking for information
about family celebrations and traditions
-
Expressing opinions on
ancient habits and costumes
-
Describing past and present festivals and their attraction
-
Talking about people and
places
-
Agreeing and Disagreeing
COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES:
Listening Comprehension
-
Can understand the main
points of a clear standard speech
-
Can identify general
messages and specific details
-
Can understand the main
points of short talks on familiar
topics
-
Can follow films and
videos in which visual and actions carry much of the meaning
Reading
Comprehension
-
Can read factual texts
with a good level of comprehension
-
Can locate specific information in magazines,
leaflets and brochures
-
Can identify the main
points in a newspaper article or other argumentative texts
Written
Interaction
-
Can convey information and ideas on the topic
-
Can ask about and explain
doubts in a reasonable way
-
Can write straightforward,
detailed descriptions on topics within his/her field of interest
-
Can write a brief article
summarising, reporting and giving his/her own opinion about accumulated factual
information on the topic in discussion
Spoken Production
-
Can reasonably fluently sustain a straightforward
description of places, situation and
events in a linear way
as a sequence of points
-
Can give detailed accounts of feelings and reactions
to the topic
-
Can exchange information
and express personal opinions on other cultures
-
Can express thoughts on
cultural topics
-
Can participate in short discussions on the
topics taken into account
-
Can discuss on how customs
and beliefs are passed from one generation to another and from one part of the world to another
-
Can compare holidays observed in Europe and
contrast them to the Italian customs of celebration
-
Can discuss on seasonal and human cycles and the
holidays which correspond with these cycles
-
Can list common themes, similar customs, differences
-
Compare and contrast
different kinds of calendars used around the world
-
Can discuss on ethnicity
and nationality groups
PEDAGOGICAL AIMS
-
Comparing the different
cultures, evaluating and possibly adapting
the best
practice to his/her own
world
-
Increasing social and
cultural awareness
-
Observing different ways
of living and comparing them with one’s own
-
Respecting different
habits and cultures
-
Encouraging students to
examine information from different frames of reference
-
Respecting differing
viewpoints and values through critical thinking
-
Stimulating learning and
promoting appreciation of the many customs and festivals of differing cultures
COMPETENCES INVOLVED
General Competences
-
Knowledge of the world: knowledge concerning the
countries in which the L2 is spoken, such as its major religious, cultural and
geographical factors
-
Sociocultural knowledge: knowledge of the society
and culture of the countries in which the L2 is spoken, such as its living
standards, race and community relations, religious groupings, tradition and
social changes, arts, etc
-
Intercultural awareness: knowledge and awareness of
the regional and social diversities both among the English speaking countries
and their own world of origin
-
Intercultural skills: bringing the culture of
origin and the foreign one into relation with each other
-
Existential competences: consolidating/arising
feelings of openness towards new experiences, people, traditions,
celebrations, societies and cultures
Linguistic Competences
-
Lexical: phrasal verbs, idioms
-
Grammatical : present/past verbs, prepositions of time, space and
movement,
frequency adverbs, adjectives
-
Semantic: synonyms and opposites; denotation and connotation;
semantic fields
Socio-linguistic Competences
-
Politeness conventions: expressing admiration;
expressing regret, contradiction; expressing like and dislike
-
Socio-cultural knowledge: interpersonal relations;
values; beliefs; attitudes
-
Intercultural diversity: regional and cultural
diversities
Pragmatic Competences
Discourse competence: the student should be able
to
-
organise, structure and
arrange sentences in order to carry out a discourse through natural sequencing
-
respect the thematic and
logic organization, the coherence and cohesion, the style and the register
Functional competence: the student should be
able to
-
identify factual
information and report it in a simple way
-
ask and answer questions
on the topic
-
describe habits, people
and traditions
-
express likes/dislikes, agreement/disagreement,
interest, disappointment, surprise
TEXTS TO BE USED
Spoken : news
broadcast, songs, documentaries
sequences, interviews
Written: articles
from magazines, newspapers and the internet, folktales, fables,
leaflets, extracts from guides, web
pages, extracts from textbooks, recipes,
lyrics of international music
TASKS TO BE
PERFORMED
-
reading articles for
general information
-
reading leaflets, guides
and brochures for specific information
-
answering comprehension
questions
-
true/false questions
-
open discussion: classroom
interaction on real life tasks in real life situations
-
group and pair work
-
interview people on their habits and
celebrations/festivals
-
writing of little reports
-
guided research on the
internet
-
preparing decorations,
pageants, feasts, dancing and folk singing
-
preparing recipes from
different countries
-
decorating
the room with visual signs for a multicultural focus with objects,
pictures/figures of clothing (the
festival attire) of their regions during the celebrations
-
make simple folk crafts
-
make simple holiday
decorations (lanterns, masks, costumes)
- make
simple folk instruments
STRATEGIES
Reception:
§
Can identify unfamiliar
words and extrapolate their meaning
from the context
§
Can skim texts to grasps
the general meaning of it
§
Can scan texts for
specific information
Interaction:
Production:
AIDS
-
Photocopies, worksheets,
folktales extracts, maps, recipes, etc.
-
Newspapers and magazines
-
National and international
Tourist guides
-
Leaflets and brochures
-
Internet sites
-
Videos
-
Calendar
-
Mythology and History
essays
-
Tape recorder and
cassettes
-
VCR and video cassettes
-
Blackboard /OHP
-
Boards, scissors, colours,
glue and other stationary materials
REMEDIAL WORK
-
to be defined according to
the outcomes
ASSESSMENT TOOLS and
CRITERIA
Summative assessment
Multicultural Calendar: Create a calendar illustrating all festivals and celebrations provided
with very short background information on the several spring and autumn
European and specifically Italian
traditions. A calendar of listing dates for holidays of all the world’s
religions, national holidays, and other celebrated days. Multicultural calendar
creation need not be limited to Foreign Language teachers but to be developed
in conjunction with teachers of other disciplines in order to stimulate
interest in cross-curricular and multicultural education
Assessment tools
structured:
-
true / false questions
-
find/ list/write down
specific information/ expressions
-
matching words and their
meaning/synonyms/antonyms
-
fill in the blanks
activity
semi- structured:
-
essay
-
summaries
-
final report / essay /
summary of work by
students
-
group work : division of roles and responsibilities, organisation, management,
conduct and result of group work
CRITERIA FOR CREDIT
GRANTING
Written
assessment criteria
|
Complete and well arranged |
Complete |
Sufficient |
Incomplete /Insufficient |
|
Grammatical correctness |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Vocabulary
Range and Spelling |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Organization |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Personal elaboration |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Knowledge
of the foreign society |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
Oral assessment criteria
|
Complete and well
arranged |
Complete |
Sufficient |
Incomplete /Insufficient |
|
Grammatical
correctness |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Range of vocabulary (size, domains, control,
register) |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Coherence |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Fluency |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Interaction (turn-taking) |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
|
Pronunciation |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2-1 |
minimum
mark 2-1 = fail
minimum mark 3 = pass
minimum mark 4 = pass with merit
minimum mark 5 = pass with
distinction (outstanding)