P1: Dear friends, today’s English party is devoted to Christmas. Perhaps no other holiday has developed a set of customs and symbols as rich and varied as that of Christmas.
Song
THE SNOW STARS.
How quietly the snow
Is falling on the ground,
It’s falling on the country-side
And softly on the town.
And children’s eyes are bright
With wonder and delight,
For tiny stars of snow are falling
From the sky tonight.
P2: Christmas Day, December 25th is probably the most beloved, the most exiting and the most important holyday of all in Britain. Christmas is a festival when both children and adults are filled with anticipation and excitement.
P3: Preparations start long before the holiday, but on Christmas Eve everything is rush and bustle. Offices and public buildings close at one o’clock, but the shops stay open late. Cities and towns are decorated with colored lights and Christmas trees, the largest of them being placed on Trafalgar Square.
(Хор исполняет популярный хорал).
“O Christmas tree”
O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree,
With faithful leaves unchanging.
Not only green in summer’s heat;
But also winter’s snow and sleet.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
With faithful leaves unchanging.
P2: On Christmas Eve trains and buses are crowded with people travelling from all parts of the country to be at home for Christmas. Families prepare for this holiday weeks before: cleaning rooms, buying special foods and gifts, choosing a fur-tree and then decorating it with colored lights.
P3:
It’s Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Yes, it’s merry, merry Christmas,
It’s time for handing stockings,
It’s time for riding sleights,
It’s time for jolly greeting,
Snow and holly, overeating,
Oh, I love you merry Christmas,
You’re the best of holidays.
P4: There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas but the most important one is the giving of presents. Family members wrap up their gifts and leave them at the bottom of the Christmas tree to be found on Christmas morning. Children leave a long sock or stocking at the end of their bed on Christmas Eve.
P1: And who brings presents for us?
Children. Santa Claus!
Song.
You better watch out, you better not cry,
You better not pout, I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bar or good,
So be good for goodness sake!
With little tin horns and little toy drums
Roofi -toot-toots and rumma -tum - tums
Santa Claus is coming to town.
The kids are girls in boyland.
Santa Claus: I’m glad to see you again. And as a rule I have presents for you. But only those who know poems about Christmas and me can get them.
(Дети читают заранее выученные стихи, а Санта раздает подарки.)
P4: Do you know that the first Christmas card was created and sent in 1843? And now it is a tradition to send Christmas cards to you nearest and dearest. And we want you to try and draw a card for you friends.
(Несколько учащихся, пожелавших принять участие в конкурсе, выходят и рисуют открытки. Бумага, фломастеры готовятся организаторами заранее. Время 5-7 минут.).
P3: While the children are busy drawing and writing their cards we want to show you a film about the history of Christmas.
(Показывают презентацию, приготовленную участниками школьной видеостудией.) (Презентацию можно взять у автора).
P4: Are you ready? Would you show us your cards? (Дети демонстрируют нарисованные открытки)
Santa Claus. Great! Well done!
(Учащиеся выбирают наилучшую приветственную открытку).
P5: And what Christmas without Christmas dinner. Turkey, goose, Christmas pudding, nuts and oranges…every year the traditional Christmas dishes appear on the dinner table of Britain.
P1: And did you know that Christmas pudding was first made as a kind of soup with raisins and wine in it.
P3: The earliest puddings were nothing like the ones people enjoy today. They were long and round and shaped like a thick sausage.
P5: Today, a Christmas pudding is a brown pudding with raisins, nuts and cherries. It is served with custard and brandy butter. Traditionally silver coins were hidden in it.
P4: We have baked one pudding for you and want to treat you to. (Один из участников вечера разносит угощение гостям). Do you like it? Then you can try and bake it at home. We give you the recipe.
Recipe
- 1 cup butter (margarine)
- 2 cups of bread crumbs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 700g flour
- 1 cup seedless raisins
- 1 cup dried currants
cup lemon
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cloves
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon nutmeg
- 4 well beaten
- eggs
- 1 tablespoon of baking
- soda
- 1 spoon warm water
- 1 wine glass of brandy
P4: Bake and enjoy yourself.
P1, P5: It’s interesting to know what our guests know about Christmas. We have prepared some questions and want you to answer them.
- What were trees decorated with for many centuries? (Apples, cakes, sweets)
- When was the “Jungle Bells” composed? (1857, by James Pierpont)
- When and where was the first Christmas stump released? (1898, Canada)
- When was the first Queen’s Christmas speech televised? (1957)
- Who invented the electric Christmas lights similar to the ones we use today? (Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, 1895)
P5: Thanks a lot. You know the history of Christmas quite well. And we think it was interesting for you to stay with us. At the end of our party we want to sing “Jingle Bells”. Join us.
Участники и присутствующие на вечере поют песню.
Литература.
- “Английский язык в школе” №4(16)/2006.
- “ Страноведение. Англия” Н.М. Нестерова изд. “ Феникс ” 2001г.