Цель: обобщить знания учащихся о праздниках; развивать умения и навыки монологической и диалогической речи; развивать творческие способности; воспитывать у детей чувства интереса к изучаемому языку.
Оснащение праздника:
1. Видеокассета с записью песни “Happy New Year” в исполнении АББА, аудиокассета с песней “Jingle Bells”.
2. Красочные плакаты “Happy New Year”, “Merry Christmas”, плакаты с изображением камина с горящим в нем огнем, вязаные носки.
3. Новогодняя елка, игрушечный Санта Клаус.
4. Класс, оформленный снежинками и гирляндами.
Участники мероприятия: ученики 3 класса, учащиеся старших классов.
Звучит песня “Jingle Bells”. В украшенный зал входят дети, рассаживаются мо местам.
T.: Dear children and guests! I am delighted to see all of you at our party today. We`ve gathered to have a talk about such beautiful, wonderful and magic holidays as Christmas and New Year. The smell of conifer, lights of candles, snowflakes in the dark window, decorated fir-tree – and all of a sudden, all troubles and sorrows are far away, and we enter the magical and mysterious world of our childhood. Christmas and New Year bring us joy, happiness, fun, belief that our future will be better that our past, belief that all our dreams will come true. Christmas is a very special time to people all around the world. It`s a time of giving. It`s a time to spend with your family. It`s a time to share your love.
As you know, Christmas and New Year are winter holidays. And now I want to introduce you the pupils of the 3rd form, who will recite poems about winter.
P1: “Winter” by Dorothy Aldis
The streets cars are
Like frosted cakes
All covered up
With cold snowflakes.
And anywhere
The people go
With faces tickled
By the snow.
P2: “New Year” by Odhen Nash
Come, children, gather round my knee;
Something is about to be
Tonight`s December thirty-first,
Something is about to burst.
Hark, it`s midnight, children, dear.
Dark! Here comes another year.
P3: “Snow! Snow! Snow!” by Kathryn Jackson
What is it going to do today?
Rain or snow? The bunnies say
They look at the sky, all wolly gray,
And watch the way the wind is blowing –
`Cause it`s suddenly snowing!
P4: “The best of all” by Alice Very
December is the best of all
Snowflakes dance, snowflakes fall.
People see the New Year in –
When December ends, it will begin.
P5: “December” by Margaret Wise Brown
December comes with white snow
And cold winds begin to blow;
From the cold and starlit sky;
They fall softly in the night,
All are still, all are white,
P6: “The Runaway Snowman” by Hilda I.Rostron
One winter`s day
When clouds hung low,
I made a snowman
In the snow
He stayed with me
All next day
The sun came out
He ran away.
T.: Thank you for reciting these poems. Let`s applaud them! Before we continue our party I`d like to ask you some questions, connected with celebrating Christmas and New Year:
1. When do the English celebrate Christmas? (at the night from the 24th to the 25th of December)
2. What happen that night? (Jesus Christ was born that night)
3. What day is known as Old Christmas Eve? (the 5th of January)
4. What are the symbols of Christmas? (holly, ivy and mistletoe)
5. What do holly`s berries symbolize? (Christ`s blood)
6. What does ivy mean? (immortality)
7. What can you say about mistletoe? (You may kiss everyone you like under a mistletoe)
8. What do the English celebrate on the 1st of January? (an official Bank Holiday)
9. When was New Year`s Day declared an official Bank Holiday? (in 1972)
10. When was Gregorian calendar introduced into Britain? (in 1752)/
P1: What does it mean: Georgian calendar? To understand this meaning I must say to you that we live and celebrate some dates according to Gregorian calendar. But many years ago, even not years, centuries ago people lived according to so`called Julian calendar, which was hopelessly inaccurate. And now listen, please, to some information of how Gregorian calendar was introduce into Britain.
P2: Until the time of Julius Caesar the Roman year was organized round the phases of the moon. On the advice of his astronomers Julius instituted a calendar centred round the sun. the month of Quintilius was renamed `July` to commemorate the Julian reform. Unfortunately the Julian calendar overestimated the length of the year by one day every one hundred and twenty-eight years. By the 16th century the calendar was ten days out. In 1582 reforms instituted by Pope Gregory XШ chopped off the spare ten days. This new Gregorian calendar was adopted throughout Catholic Europe. But Protestant Europe was not going to comply with the new rule brought by the Pope and kept to the old Julian calendar. By the time England came round to adopting the Gregorian calendar, in the middle of the 18th century, England was eleven days ahead of the Continent.
P3: Excuse me, please. Let me continue. A Calendar Act was passed in 1751 which stated that in order to bring England into line, the day following 2 September 1752 was not to be called 3 September, but 14 September. Unfortunately, many people were not able to understand this simple manoeuvre and thought that the government had stolen eleven days of their lives. Before the calendar was reformed, England celebrated Christmas on the equivalent of 6 January by our modern, Gregorian, reckoning. That is why 5 January is known as Old Christmas Eve.
P4: Oh, I see. It`s so interesting! And I want to tell you about Christmas spirit. Christmas evening is the time for terrible stories about ghosts, witches and many others evil creatures. Now people only laugh at them and nobody is frightened, nobody believes in these evil creatures of the night. But many years, many centuries ago everything was in a different way. It was also a lucky time for good spirits. The Irish believed that the gates of Paradise were opened on the hour of midnight so that if anyone should die at this time they could go straight up into heaven.
P5: And I `d prefer to talk about Christmas preparing. People start to prepare for Christmas long before the 24th of December. Right after the last Thanksgiving decoration is taken away at the end of November, people bring down from the attic large boxes with Christmas decorations. They decorate the doors of their houses with large red bows and put figures of Santa Claus and the Bethlehem Scene on the shelves.
P4: It`s clear why people decorate their shelves at home with figures of Santa Claus, but why do they put the Bethlehem Scene on the shelves?
P5: Jesus was born in a stable in Bethlehem. That`s why houses are decorated with the Bethlehem scene too. It`s one of the most charming traditions to decorate the outside of the house – the walls, the roof, the windows, the trees around the house with lights, so when darkness comes, the town looks so unreal and beautiful, that you feel you`ve entered a fairy tale.
P6: Another significant part of preparations for Christmas is Christmas shopping. People start to think about getting gifts somewhere around October. It`s very important to get presents not only for the members of your family, co-workers and friends, but also for people who do services for you during the year, like the cleaning lady or the postman. Although the tradition of giving presents on Christmas has its origins in pre-Christian times, nowadays it has a significant religious meaning. People give each other presents in the memory of the Three Wise Men who came to greet the Baby Christ with gold, myrrh and oils. To people all over the world Christmas is a time of giving and receiving presents.
P7: Christmas is not only a time of giving and receiving presents. It`s also a time to come home. No matter where you may be the rest of the year, being “at home” for Christmas is “a must”. This is a holiday to share with your family. It`s impossible to do any nasty thing at Christmas time. It`s impossible to pass by a beggar and not to give him something. The reason for this is the Christmas spirit, that you can feel everywhere, that changes you and makes you kind, thoughtful, openhearted. For many people Christmas will always be a wonderful feeling of sharing joy with the people they love. It`s a tradition to decorate Christmas tree. But where did it come from to us?
P8: The tradition of decorating trees to celebrate Christmas began with Martin Luther on Christmas Eve around the year 1500. He was walking through snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of a group of small evergreens. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moonlight. When he got home, he set up a little fir tree indoors so he could share this story with his children. He decorated it with candles, which he lit in honor of Christ`s birth.
T: As you know, abroad in such countries as the USA, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Italy, France and many others after Christmas New Year comes. And now I offer to watch video with ABBA`s song “Happy New Year”.
Звучит видео-клип песни АББА.
T: It`s a beautiful song, isn`t it? Everything that connected with Christmas and New Year is beautiful. And poems from Christmas poetry are beautiful too. Our pupils will recite some of these poems for you.
P9: Christmas carol
The Christ-child lay on Mary`s lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O, weary, weary is the world,
But here is all aright.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary`s breast,
His hair was like a star.
(O, stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary`s heart
His hair was like a fire.
(O, weary, weary is the world
But here the world`s desire.)
The Christ-child stood at Mary`s knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.
P10: Christmas carol
The kings they came from out the couth,
All dressed in ermine fine,
They bore Him gold and chrysoprase,
And gifts of precious wine.
The shepherds came from out the north,
Their coats were brown and old,
They brought Him little new-born lambs –
They had not any gold.
The wise-men came from out the east,
And they were wrapped in white;
The star that led them all the way
Did glorify the night.
The angels came from heaven high,
And they were clad with wings;
And lo, they brought a joyful song
The host of heaven sings.
The kings they knocked upon the door,
The wise-men entered in,
The shepherds followed after them
To hear the song begin.
And Mary held the little child
And sat upon the ground;
She looked up, she looked down,
She looked all round.
The angels sang thro` all the night
Until the rising sun,
But little Jesus fell asleep
Before the song was done.
P11: Voices in the mist
The time draws near the birth of Christ:
The moon is hid; the night is still;
The Christmas bells from hill to hill
Answer each other in the mist.
Four voices of four hamlets round,
From far and near, on mead and moor,
Swell out and fail, as if a door
Were shut between me and the sound.
Each voice four changes on the wind,
That now dilate, and now decrease,
Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,
Peace and goodwill, to all mankind.
T: Charles Dickens said, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year”. Let`s honour Christmas in our hearts and try to keep it all the year.
Дети встают, берутся за руки и поют песню “We wish you a merry Christmas”.
P12: Christmas is a chance to look into the eyes of people who are near you and say, “I love you with all my heart! I wish your dreams to come true! Be happy!” If all people did it, we think, our life would be better! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!