Tasks: to learn some basic words describing Christianity
to complete two texts about Easter preparations and celebrations
to talk about Easter traditions in Ss’ country
Preparation: make copies of the worksheet (1 copy per student)
Skills: reading, speaking
Language: words related to Christianity and Easter
general grammar and vocabulary
Sources: Task adapted from E. & M. Tierksy, The U.S.A. Customs and Institutions, Longman 2001.
Task adapted from Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture and
WIKIPEDIA (en.wikipedia.org) – the FREE encyclopaedia
■ Elicit Easter as the topic of the lesson and Jesus Christ (or the Polish equivalent) as the most important person behind this holiday.
■ Divide your Ss in pairs and distribute the worksheets. Ask your Ss to complete the table in this task with Polish equivalents of the four words. Check the answers with your group. Make sure that your Ss know how to pronounce these words. Point out the spelling of the words (cf. capital letters).
Key
· (Jesus) Christ – (Jezus) Chrystus
· Christians – chrześcijanie
· Christianity – chrześcijaństwo
· Christian – chrześcijański
■ First, ask your Ss to connect the pictures with the labels underneath. Check the answers.
■ Explain that their next task is to complete the text in this task. They have to complete the text either by (i) using the words introduced in this task, or (ii) adding appropriate endings to the stem CHRIST– (thus, reinforcing words from Task ).
■ A few more difficult words are explained (both in English and Polish) in the glossary box on the right.
pictures [starting from the left]:
world – bunny – egg – Resurrection
On Easter, ChristIANS around the WORLD celebrate the RESURRECTION (= the coming to life again) of Jesus Christ, the founder of ChristIANITY. According to ChristIAN beliefs he was the Son of God. Easter is always on a Sunday, but the date varies from year to year. Symbols of rebirth, new life, and fertility are common Easter decorations. These include the Easter BUNNY and decorated EGGs. It’s also traditional to wear new spring clothes on Easter, and many communities have an Easter parade. Easter has also become a very popular time for holidays, since many schools close for several days or more.
■ Ask your Ss to complete this task (a set of facts about Easter preparations and traditions) by crossing out unnecessary words. Only one word in each pair is correct.
■ Ask Ss to justify their choice, e.g. by saying:
· People get 79 PENCE in Maundy Money because people in the UK do not use CENTS.
■ Check the answers and explain any other words your Ss may not know.
· Easter marks the end of the forty days of Lent. Lent is a period when we prepare for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.
· Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter. On this day Christians celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem, when people spread palm leaves on the ground for his donkey.
· Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, when Jesus washed the feet of his Apostles. In the UK, this day is known as Maundy Thursday. The Queen traditionally distributes Maundy money. As Elizabeth II turns 79 in 2005, 79 men and 79 women will each get 79 pence in Maundy Money on March 24. People can use all Maundy coins (back to 1822) when they do the shopping.
· Good Friday is the Friday before Easter, when Christians remember the crucifiction of Christ. It is a public holiday in the UK.
· Holy Saturday is also known as Silent Saturday because churches are very quiet, as there are no masses on this day.
· On Easter Sunday people celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
· In some countries, Easter lasts two days. The second day is called Easter Monday.
The picture in this task depicts Maundy Money.
■ Ask Ss to think about typical Easter traditions in Poland. Working in pairs, they should come up with some words or phrases describing the three days. Collect their ideas on the board, improving and/or correcting their language at the same time.
suggested answers for Polish students:
· Palm Sunday – people go to church with their palma wielkanocna (Easter palms) to bless them; this is a symbol of Jesus entering Jerusalem
· Silent Saturday – people go to church to bless their Easter baskets; they usually have some bread and salt, eggs, meat, sugar (or chocolate) etc.; they eat/share all the food from the basket on Sunday morning
· Easter Monday – on this day people sprinkle each other with water; this Polish tradition is called śmigus-dyngus; some people stay at home because they are afraid they will get soaking wet (against their will)
■ [SPEAKING] Ask your Ss to be ready to describe their last Easter (or this year’s Easter). Ask them to describe some of the things they did, using the vocabulary from this lesson (particularly the phrases collected in the last task).
Designed by Bartosz Michałowski for Pearson Longman 2
k-krawicka